11th – Stroking my ego

We had a late wakeup call at 0730 which meant we got to sleep in today which wasn’t unappreciated. During the night we had relocated to the town of Ittoqqortoormiit, more or less the only settlement on the east coast of Greenland.

After the authorities had visited the ship and OK’ed passports and stuff we were allowed to get into our zodiacs and land in town. We spent a couple of hours here just walking around and taking in the sights before returning to the ship and had lunch.

Ittoqqortoormiit seen from the ship.

Ittoqqortoormiit seen from land.

The main attraction in town was the husky puppies that resulted in a lot of oohs and aahs, but otherwise there wasn’t much. It was a small town with a couple hundred inhabitants and houses in colourful variations. There obviously was a supermarket, church and school, but also a tourist office and a science station could be found. At the tourist office we got to taste a bit of musk ox; it was quite gamey but unfortunately also quite chewy.

Guides Heidi and Annette getting their ration of cuddles.

Never underestimate a good butt scratch.

When booking the trip, the 51 Chinese on the ship did not need visas to come to Denmark (which Greenland is part of), but a month before departure the requirements changed and which meant that they now did need one. Unfortunately maybe only half of them got theirs in time, so the rest were unfortunately not allowed to come on land and had to settle with driving up and down along the coast in zodiacs. I can’t imagine how big a disappointment that must have been.

After lunch we were meant into a specific fjord but due to 40+ knot winds and high swells we had to change plans and instead we went to Vinkingebugt for a walk. And that plan changed, too, as there were polar bears in the area, so instead we once again went into the zodiacs and tried getting closer to the two separate bears. The area also had beautiful icebergs and basalt columns. 

Snow red from algae.

Basalt columns.

The weather today was as other days; cool, overcast and limited visibility with the occasional drizzle. In the afternoon during the cruise it had turned into actual rain so we ended up getting quite wet from being outside. But with the sightings it was worth it.

Even though icebergs are made from the same thing the differences in size, shape and structure is astonishing.

During the afternoon’s relocation the ship photographer grabbed hold of me and asked to see some of my photos from the tour so far. It does feel great having a professional photographer tell you she wants some of one’s photos so they might be used for the end-of-tour slideshow. And she is struggling with her equipment – we have the same camera body/lens combo and yet mine tend to turn out much sharper than hers. While it is a technical issue and not a matter of lack of skill on her part it still feels, on some level, great being told that she prefers mine photos over her own.

Like yesterday, I have no expectations for northern lights tonight.