East Greenland Cruise - September 2006

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Day 2 and 3

The next day we entered Scoresbysund, and the sea calmed down a lot. We had a good breakfast, and there were a surprising amount of people around that I had never seen before - they had clearly spent the cruise prostrate in their bunks until now. This happened to me a lot though, because there are two dining rooms and no one communal area on the boat, there are still people I see in photos now that I don't recall ever seeing before - strange given there were less than 50 people and we were on the boat for 10 days.

After lunch we approached this little settlement called Ittoqqoportoormitt (yes, the Greenlandic language likes plenty of consonants, why do you ask?). There was a particularly vicious katabatic wind blowing, but we landed anyway (and I slowly lost all feeling in my feet).  The zodiac boarding and landings are pretty easy - the Russian crew help you on and off the boat if you need it, and we were quite lucky not to land anywhere with a swell, so we didn't get wet.

The town is really desolate, and it felt a bit rude in a way to be wandering round staring at the people. There are a lot of dogs still in use as transport, although the snowmobiles are taking over.

Ice Cruise

Denmark Island

And so to Denmark Island and our first walking expedition. We arrived on shore and stayed together in a single group for a shore walk and explanation of the island. We then divided into groups, one lot to hang out on shore and take photos, and two other groups to head up the hill, one medium and one fast walking group. Unfortunately the organisation fell apart completely and a number of us ended up in the fast walking group when we really, really, really did not want to. So we marched, and marched up this hill. And then the next one. And then another just for good measure.

Finally, we were descending again. Only we went the wrong way, ended up at a sheer cliff, and had to climb the hill again. And then repeated the process. Only this time they decided we should attempt to climb down the cliff - with wellington boots on. If you can see past my ludicrous hat (hey, it was warm), observe how thrilled I look in the following photo:

After this I remained on the beach with the 'meditative walkers'! Still, I made it, and it didn't kill me, but huge thanks to a fellow traveller John, without whom I would never made it down.

Ittoqqoportoormitt

The next day we sailed into a protected fjord called Viking Bay - loads of icebergs, and a large glacier at the end of it. We went on an 'ice cruise' where we piled into zodiacs and pootled around the icebergs. There are some amazing shapes and colours, particularly in the old pieces of ice.

Tarik (the expedition leader) was our boat driver and guide, and he was great at allowing us loads of time to take photos.

Denmark Island