Wow, Greenland! This is one place I never thought I would have a chance to glimpse. Admittedly we only had one day ashore in Qaqortoq and another day cruising through the Prince Christian Sound, but what a neat experience.
We were tendered ashore in the village of Qaqortoq. This community of about 3000 is rather what I had expected from images I had seen previously. What you can’t absorb from photographs is the feel of a place. This is a place where life is hard. Everywhere you walk is on a hill and it is cool and damp. This is not to say it is not beautiful, it is just a place for tough rugged people.We chose to spend our time ashore going for a hike around Tasersuaq Lake which is just inland of the town site. It provided some great views of the town and surrounding areas.It was a perfect day for our hike. The fog and clouds kept it cool, but lifted often enough that we were not deprived of the views.It took us 4 hours to circumnavigate the 11km loop. I would be lying if I didn’t admit I was happy to stop and enjoy the view many times. My legs appreciated it.When the sun tried to poke through, it was incredible. It just kept hitting me time after time how tough the people must be who live here. As you look around there is no forgiveness in the landscape.Even though we pretty well just had to keep the lake in sight. You quickly understood the vital importance of rock cairns, both big and small, to aid travellers in navigating the landscape. Yes I know, we have GPS now, but batteries still die and this is not a place to be lost in.We happily boarded the tender and made our way back to the comfort of the ship at the end of our walk.After a great nights sleep we opened our curtains to be greeted by ice floating on by. It was beautiful.We spent about 9 hours slowly sailing through the Prince Christian Sound, named after Prince Christian of Denmark. Greenland is an island country within the Kingdom of Denmark.We were allowed on the bow of the ship which provided a great perspective of the ship in relation to the rocky shores.Due to the proximity of the glaciers and the ice cap there was no lack of photo opportunities with waterfalls.As we neared the end of the sound we had a couple of glimpses of the edge of the ice cap which covers most of Greenland.The perfect way to end our short time in Greenland was sitting outside with the most incredible views sliding by as we worked on some of the photos we had taken.As we exited the Sound another cruise ship passed between us and an iceberg. It gave an excellent idea of the size of some of these chunks of ice. Awe inspiring.
Being able to get to see a bit of the largest island on the planet was a fantastic opportunity. Seeing these sights was worth having to bundle up in some fall/winter clothing in the middle of August. Oh, the sacrifices we make to travel.
hahahaha nice to see your in the zone !