Greenland

From Iceland, we crossed the Irminger Sea.to Greenland. The seas were calm and we were able to keep up a higher speed than necessary as we made the crossing. It is the usual practice in waters such as this to make up time early on if possible to allow for possible bad weather and/or ice to slow the ship down. In this case on the second ses day allocated to the crossing we had almost reached the southern tip of Greenland and the Captain was able to make an announcement that we would be diverting through Prince Christian Sound for some scenic cruising.

Prince Christain Sound

The Prince Christian Sound connects the Labrador Sea with the Irminger Sea. It is around 100 km (60 miles) long and it is narrow, sometimes only 500 metres (1,600 ft) wide. There is only one settlement along this sound, Aappilattoq.

The long fjord system is mostly surrounded by steep mountains in general reaching over 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), one of them 2,220 metres (7,280 ft) high. Many glaciers go straight into its waters where they calve icebergs. There are often strong tidal currents limiting the formation of ice.

There are many passengers onboard who have cruised Alaska, Norway and New Zealand Fiordland. All of them we spoke to agreed that the trip through the sound was more spectacular than any of the previous cruises.

My pictures and videos don't do justice to the sometimes very narrow waterway and the zig-zag turns we had to do at some points.

During the day we saw glaciers calving and ice falling into the water, waterfalls from the high cliffs, ice of all sorts of shapes and sizes and even some wales as we left the sound. Most of which I failed to film.

At one point we came across three hunters in Kayaks in the middle of the Fiord which must have been one hell of a surprise for them. This was close to the one settlement in the sound which we passed around the halfway point.

Nanortalik

After our cruise through the spectacular scenery, we headed out to sea to spend overnight away from the icebergs around the coast and headed into Nanortalik in the morning.

Nanortalik is a town in Nanortalik Island, Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland. With 1,185 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the eleventh-largest town in the country. The name Nanortalik means "Place of Polar Bears" or "Place Where the Polar Bears Go" (from Greenlandic: nanoq). It is the southernmost town in Greenland with a population of over 1,000. We were informed that 3 polar bears had been seen in the area in the last week and all had been shot as per the standing practice. So perhaps the town should be renamed to "Place Where We Shoot Polar Bears"

The day started out quite foggy as we arrived and anchored in the harbour. It remained foggy as we used the ship's tenders to get ashore and find our way to another dock to board the smaller boats for our trip among the icebergs. This involved putting on overalls and lifejackets in preparation for setting off at speed in the small rib to hunt icebergs. We found them. Some amazing scenes as we got up close to the small bergs in the bays and inlets around the town.

In the video, Kathy can be seen but not easily identified. I am the one with the Red life jacket and the selfie stick.

After returning to the ship the weather improved and we set up in the buffet at the front of the ship for the sailaway. As we moved out of the harbour large Icebergs could be seen everywhere and it was as if the Captain was playing an old video game as we moved left and right to avoid those monsters in our path. The icebergs did not photograph well through the glass and seemed a lot closer in real life than they show in the photos but it was a memorable experience.

With the sunset being well after 10 pm the Captain opted to navigate the ice that evening and take us into our next port early rather than play this game in the dark.

Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town and the municipal capital in southern Greenland and the fourth or fifth-largest town on the island. Once more it was a tender port with small boats being used to ferry passengers to the shore. On this occasion, there was also another cruise ship in the harbour so the population of the town was more than doubled for the day.

For this port, we had splashed out on our first ever Helicopter tour. The plan was to visit a hot spring for a dip and then continue on to a landing on a Glacier before returning to the town.

We were joined by a couple from South Carolina and we arrived early at the heliport and waited in the sunshine while the Swiss pilot completed all of the necessary pre-flight checks. While waiting we spoke to an Irish geologist who was catching another helicopter with his workmates. He explained they can only operate for the summer season and have to use helicopters every day to get to where they are working.

A quick safety briefing and then it was time to load us into the fragile-looking craft, don the headphones and take off.

All our pre-flight jitters came to nothing. Once in the air, there was no fear of heights even when sitting in the front seat and peering at the ground through the floor. The views were amazing, both during the flight and at the two stops. Firstly stopping at the hot spring at Uunartoq where a local family was already enjoying the 37-degree water before we arrived. In some of the photos, you can see me relaxing in the hot water while icebergs float by behind me in the fiord. Just above my head is the plastic flask of Grand Marnier we took with us from the ship. The fancy effect was from my 360-degree camera software and I can assure you I am wearing a swimming costume.

Our next stop was on a glacier close to the Ice Shelf which stretches across the rest of Greenland to the North and to the East. The ice was soft and more like spring snow where we landed and the view of the ice sheet was hard to take in.

The short video shows both landing spots.

For those who want to see more of the flight itself here is another video I took during the leg from the hot springs to the Glacier when I was sitting in the front seat.

As you can see the Helicopter tour was truly stunning.

We returned to the port and then to the ship. A long line to get back on the tenders moved relatively quickly. There was one group of passengers just behind us who were in the queue for the Coral Princess when they were actually passengers on the Holland America ship which was using a different wharf.

While we were out of town for most of our visit other passengers walked around and photographed the town and its inhabitants. One passenger posted some photos of a wedding that was taking place on the day. While we did not see this ourselves I wanted to add them to this blog as they are both great photos and a reminder that at the places we stop there are real people living their lives in fantastic outfits.

Back onboard, we moved once again to the buffet at the front of the ship to observe in the sunshine as the captain navigated between the Icebergs to reach the open sea and set a course for Canada!