Our first trip to Greenland started off with a beautiful scenic cruise of the Prince Christian Sound in the Southern area of Greenland. This was the second new country we have been to this year if you count Antarctica which is a continent but not really a country. Our initial view of this northern country was spectacular as we cruised down several large fjords and looked at many glaciers on the mountains and waterfalls running down the steep cliffs. We were told we were the first cruise ship to be able to navigate Prince Christian Sound this year since ice blockages prevent many ships from getting through. Although we saw many small icebergs in the water, we did not see anything that seemed too intimidating. The glaciers we were seeing are either part of, or off shoots from, the world’s second largest ice sheet – the Greenland Ice Sheet. This massive ice sheet is second only to Antarctica’s and is larger than the entire state of Alaska. It is 2 miles thick in some areas and if it were to melt all the oceans would rise 25 feet around the world! It was a great morning to cruise and see this beautiful country made up of so much ice. The water was a crystal clear blue and the fjords we went through were majestic.
Early in the afternoon we stopped at Nanortalik which is a very small town on the Southern tip of Greenland. The name of the town means “Place of Polar Bears” and there are only around 1000 inhabitants. Unfortunately, once again we didn’t see any polar bears. There were not a lot of available tours in the area, and we spent most of our time walking around this small town. There were certainly many colorful houses in the area. Most of these homes had been built 80 years ago and some had been turned into museums. When World War II came along, Greenland changed dramatically with many US military bases being built there and the native people, the Inuits, saw an entirely different type of lifestyle. Following the war they began building houses and educating their children more formally than prior to the war. They built more factories for the fishing, whale, and seal industries. Although many of the Inuit traditions remain, their lifestyle was changed forever by seeing how other people in the world lived. We enjoyed our walk around the town and walking through the museums which just showed how their lives had changed over the last 100 years. Off the shoreline you could see small icebergs floating in the water. We even saw one larger iceberg “calve” why we were watching it and a huge chunk of ice fell into the water causing a mini tidal wave that washed ashore. It made a large sound when it cracked, and we wished our camera had captured what happened, but it caught us by surprise. After a few more pictures we headed back to the ship because this was really our first day of rain during this cruise. It was a light steady drizzle but with the temperatures in the 40’s it wasn’t a great day to stay out too long after you started getting a little wet.
The following day we arrived at Qaqortoq and although it was supposed to be rainy, it turned out to be a very nice day. We started off the day with a tour of the Seal Factory called the Great Greenland Furhouse. I am not sure what we expected but it was really a strange experience to see them process seal fur. It was extremely sad to find out how many seals were hunted by the Inuits. It was their way of life and they used everything from the seal for food, oils for lighting, and fur for clothing. The factory was created to start a seal fur export business which seems to be successful although it is very interesting to see how many countries will not allow any of the products to be imported. There still are many countries that want their products, but we are proud that the US has said no to importing seal fur. We saw all aspects of how they processed the fur and even made various products out of the fur. Although we were repeatedly told that no baby seals were hunted or processed in the factory, many of the skins seemed very small. It was an eye-opening tour, but we probably would have preferred being a little more ignorant of this factory. After leaving the tour, we walked around the town. This was a “large” town in southern Greenland and had 3000 people living there. Because it was the largest town in the southern region, it was also the main educational center where children from the entire region would come to go to high school and trade school. All high school students were boarded at the school until graduation. The town was built on the side of a small mountain and walking around this town required some real climbing. The houses at the top of the hill had some great views but they had a LONG walk to get to the downtown area and there weren’t a lot of cars in the area. On the far side of town was a large inlet where they were constructing large office buildings and modern residential complexes. Behind where all the schools were located was a large cemetery where every grave had a large white cross. It was amazing how many crosses ran up along the hillside. We missed the kayak demonstration they were having but ran into the person who was doing the demonstration. He showed the local kayaks that were used for transportation, fishing, and seal hunting. These were very light kayaks with wooden frames surrounded by seal fur on the outside. One of their main sports there was kayak racing. This again was a very colorful town surrounded by colorful boats out in the harbor. Although many people think of white when they think of Greenland, the people there go out of their way to use bright colors on their homes, businesses, and boats. It is actually very scenic. We enjoyed our two stops in Greenland and now off to Canada for our final two stops.
We arrived in L’Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland two days later. As we were getting ready to board the tenders the captain announced that he felt the waters were too rough to have a safe tendering operation into the port. They canceled this port stop but fortunately we didn’t have any specific plans for this stop. It would have been a new port for us and we were excited to see what was there. Unfortunately, we will have to see it next time we are up in the area.
The following day we arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia where we had a tour set up to see the Fortress of Louisbourg. Although we had been to Sydney before, we had never seen this National Historic Site. It was a fully reconstructed fort and town that was built originally in the early 1700’s. It is very similar to Williamsburg in the United States where people are dressed up in the clothes people wore during that time. Historically this fort was built by the French to control the Grand Banks fishing industry. Unfortunately, the British did not like this idea and just after the fort was completed in 1745, it was attacked by New Englanders who were still British at that time. It took 46 days to defeat the troops in the fort. Three years later the French returned as part of a treaty agreement. This didn’t last long because in 1758 the British were back with 150 ships and 13,000 troops to put the fortress under siege. After the French surrendered again, the British tore apart the entire fortress and town. It was never rebuilt until the reconstruction efforts over the last 30 years. The village outside the fortress was very interesting to walk around seeing the people dressed up in their 1700’s outfits and looking at some of these beautiful, reconstructed buildings. We even saw a cannon demonstration where they fired a cannon over the water. It was a very nice tour and very educational. When we got back to downtown Sydney, we walked around the shoreline and into town. Sharon was able to go back to the restaurant (Governors Pub and Eatery) where she had her very first lobster roll and sure enough, she had another one. We went back to the port and spent another hour or so shopping at the large craft area inside the port terminal where they have 20 or so local crafts people selling their wares. Sharon found a nice shawl that she couldn’t pass up.
As we headed out of Sydney which was our last port stop of this 28-day cruise from Norway to Iceland to Greenland to Canada and finally to the USA, we were treated to one of the nicest sunsets we had ever seen. The sunset was made more beautiful with the scenic view of the houses along the shoreline. These homes could be seen so vividly with the sky on fire above them. It was a great end to a great cruise!
We always let people know about our upcoming cruises in case anyone wants to join us. Here is a list of our planned trips over the next 2 years.
Regards,
Sharon and Greg
Early in the afternoon we stopped at Nanortalik which is a very small town on the Southern tip of Greenland. The name of the town means “Place of Polar Bears” and there are only around 1000 inhabitants. Unfortunately, once again we didn’t see any polar bears. There were not a lot of available tours in the area, and we spent most of our time walking around this small town. There were certainly many colorful houses in the area. Most of these homes had been built 80 years ago and some had been turned into museums. When World War II came along, Greenland changed dramatically with many US military bases being built there and the native people, the Inuits, saw an entirely different type of lifestyle. Following the war they began building houses and educating their children more formally than prior to the war. They built more factories for the fishing, whale, and seal industries. Although many of the Inuit traditions remain, their lifestyle was changed forever by seeing how other people in the world lived. We enjoyed our walk around the town and walking through the museums which just showed how their lives had changed over the last 100 years. Off the shoreline you could see small icebergs floating in the water. We even saw one larger iceberg “calve” why we were watching it and a huge chunk of ice fell into the water causing a mini tidal wave that washed ashore. It made a large sound when it cracked, and we wished our camera had captured what happened, but it caught us by surprise. After a few more pictures we headed back to the ship because this was really our first day of rain during this cruise. It was a light steady drizzle but with the temperatures in the 40’s it wasn’t a great day to stay out too long after you started getting a little wet.
The following day we arrived at Qaqortoq and although it was supposed to be rainy, it turned out to be a very nice day. We started off the day with a tour of the Seal Factory called the Great Greenland Furhouse. I am not sure what we expected but it was really a strange experience to see them process seal fur. It was extremely sad to find out how many seals were hunted by the Inuits. It was their way of life and they used everything from the seal for food, oils for lighting, and fur for clothing. The factory was created to start a seal fur export business which seems to be successful although it is very interesting to see how many countries will not allow any of the products to be imported. There still are many countries that want their products, but we are proud that the US has said no to importing seal fur. We saw all aspects of how they processed the fur and even made various products out of the fur. Although we were repeatedly told that no baby seals were hunted or processed in the factory, many of the skins seemed very small. It was an eye-opening tour, but we probably would have preferred being a little more ignorant of this factory. After leaving the tour, we walked around the town. This was a “large” town in southern Greenland and had 3000 people living there. Because it was the largest town in the southern region, it was also the main educational center where children from the entire region would come to go to high school and trade school. All high school students were boarded at the school until graduation. The town was built on the side of a small mountain and walking around this town required some real climbing. The houses at the top of the hill had some great views but they had a LONG walk to get to the downtown area and there weren’t a lot of cars in the area. On the far side of town was a large inlet where they were constructing large office buildings and modern residential complexes. Behind where all the schools were located was a large cemetery where every grave had a large white cross. It was amazing how many crosses ran up along the hillside. We missed the kayak demonstration they were having but ran into the person who was doing the demonstration. He showed the local kayaks that were used for transportation, fishing, and seal hunting. These were very light kayaks with wooden frames surrounded by seal fur on the outside. One of their main sports there was kayak racing. This again was a very colorful town surrounded by colorful boats out in the harbor. Although many people think of white when they think of Greenland, the people there go out of their way to use bright colors on their homes, businesses, and boats. It is actually very scenic. We enjoyed our two stops in Greenland and now off to Canada for our final two stops.
We arrived in L’Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland two days later. As we were getting ready to board the tenders the captain announced that he felt the waters were too rough to have a safe tendering operation into the port. They canceled this port stop but fortunately we didn’t have any specific plans for this stop. It would have been a new port for us and we were excited to see what was there. Unfortunately, we will have to see it next time we are up in the area.
The following day we arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia where we had a tour set up to see the Fortress of Louisbourg. Although we had been to Sydney before, we had never seen this National Historic Site. It was a fully reconstructed fort and town that was built originally in the early 1700’s. It is very similar to Williamsburg in the United States where people are dressed up in the clothes people wore during that time. Historically this fort was built by the French to control the Grand Banks fishing industry. Unfortunately, the British did not like this idea and just after the fort was completed in 1745, it was attacked by New Englanders who were still British at that time. It took 46 days to defeat the troops in the fort. Three years later the French returned as part of a treaty agreement. This didn’t last long because in 1758 the British were back with 150 ships and 13,000 troops to put the fortress under siege. After the French surrendered again, the British tore apart the entire fortress and town. It was never rebuilt until the reconstruction efforts over the last 30 years. The village outside the fortress was very interesting to walk around seeing the people dressed up in their 1700’s outfits and looking at some of these beautiful, reconstructed buildings. We even saw a cannon demonstration where they fired a cannon over the water. It was a very nice tour and very educational. When we got back to downtown Sydney, we walked around the shoreline and into town. Sharon was able to go back to the restaurant (Governors Pub and Eatery) where she had her very first lobster roll and sure enough, she had another one. We went back to the port and spent another hour or so shopping at the large craft area inside the port terminal where they have 20 or so local crafts people selling their wares. Sharon found a nice shawl that she couldn’t pass up.
As we headed out of Sydney which was our last port stop of this 28-day cruise from Norway to Iceland to Greenland to Canada and finally to the USA, we were treated to one of the nicest sunsets we had ever seen. The sunset was made more beautiful with the scenic view of the houses along the shoreline. These homes could be seen so vividly with the sky on fire above them. It was a great end to a great cruise!
We always let people know about our upcoming cruises in case anyone wants to join us. Here is a list of our planned trips over the next 2 years.
- Greek Isles/Mediterranean cruise in October
- No staterooms available on ship
- Vietnam/Singapore/Bangkok/Hong Kong cruise in January 2024
- Two back-to-back cruises available
- Wonder of the Seas Caribbean cruise in February 2024
- Over Winter Break in Fayette County GA
- Kenya/Masai Mara Safari in July 2024
- Very limited availability
- Viking Christmas Market River Cruise in December 2024
- Group rates available
- Amazon/Brazil cruise in January 2025
- Miami to Rio de Janeiro on Oceania
- Transatlantic to Cape Town cruise & Safari in February 2025
- Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town on Oceania
- Northern Lights cruise in March 2025
- Viking cruise from Bergen, Norway to London
- French Polynesia/Hawaiian Island cruise in April 2025
- Distinctive Voyage
- British Isles Cruise in July 2025
- London to Edinburgh
- Tahiti/Bora Bora Cruise in September 2025
- Out of Tahiti on the Paul Gauguin Cruise Line
- Pre-cruise extension to Swim with the Newborn Whales
Regards,
Sharon and Greg
Nanortalik, Greenland
Tasermiut Fjord is 70 miles long and between 1-3 miles wide in southwestern Greenland. It is the most scenic and largest fjord in the world. Also, famous for the most desired climbing walls - over 4 hours to climb in some areas.
Tasermiut Fjord is 70 miles long and between 1-3 miles wide in southwestern Greenland. It is the most scenic and largest fjord in the world. Also, famous for the most desired climbing walls - over 4 hours to climb in some areas.
Enjoyed our visit to Qaqortoq, Greenland. A very friendly and colorful colonial town, largest city in South Greenland with a population of 3,300.
Our last port stop did not disappoint - stopped at our favorite restaurant for lobster rolls and a visit to Fort Louisbourg.
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