Transatlantic Cruise: Days 22-24: Seas Days and then Greenland

Day 23

Saturday, September 07

Saw our FIRST ICEBERG today. 

Out on deck again about 11 pm to see if the Northern Lights are dancing around.  We tend to watch for the astronomer who is on board as a lecturer.  Last night he came out on deck, looked up at the skies, and said “Doesn’t look promising tonight….so I’m going to bed!”  We quickly followed him back inside as there was no point in standing out in the cold.

Day 24

Sunday, September 08

Nanortalik, Greenland

We arrive in Greenland, which is the world’s largest island.  The center of the island is permanently covered with a blanket of ice that is two miles thick in some places. We think Iceland and Greenland should have their names reversed.

We tender into Nanortalik

 Nanortalik is Greenland’s most southerly town and lies in a scenic area consisting of some of Greenland’s most picturesque fjords, small woodlands, and steep mountainsides. This we could not see as there is fog and a slight mist in the air today.  When we dropped anchor in the harbor this morning, we were able to see some icebergs floating along and the town was visible from the ship.  The town’s name means the “place of polar bears”, which refers to the polar bears that occasionally pass by the town in the summer in conjunction with the field ice from the Arctic Ocean.

The people of Greenland are of Inuit (or Eskimo) descent.  The primary language is Greenlandic (East Inuit), but Danish and English are also taught in the schools.

Based on the buildings and homes we saw, Nanortalik is not very well off; a lot of the homes looked to be only one room, or maybe 2-3 rooms in one of many multi-family “row houses”, though still colorful if somewhat dilapidated.

Nanortalik has only 1,400 inhabitants and is visited by relatively few tourists each year.  With only a limited number of local guides available, there were no organized ship tours.  Instead the townspeople offered performances of folk singing and dancing.    The sports center where they were held could accommodate a large number of people throughout the day.

I think we are going in the right direction.

We found our way to the sports center and welcomed getting out of the heavy mist that was now coming down.  Coffee and cake were offered to us as we sat at tables to wait the start of the performances. 

 

I think that says "Sports Center"

The Kaffe-mik (coffee party) is an old tradition where a family invites many guests into their home in celebration of weddings, birthdays, etc.  Coffee or tea and Greenlandic cake is served.  The cake was more like a sweet bread.

The Greenland flag

We were in the sports center for the first round of performances.  It included the church choir, singing in their native language and then folk dances performed by the children in town.

One lady slipped in late, but she did have on the native clothes

When the repeat round of performances were about to start, we left the building and simply walked around the town a bit.  Our destination was to the church for a photo and then the Visitor Center to buy a post card to mail our grandson from Greenland.

With that being accomplished, we joined the line to tender back to the ship so we could get warmed up and dry.  The temperature today was a chilly 41 degrees and we had had enough.

 

The local kids interacting with us tourists.

We’re happy we made it Greenland; it is a port that is often skipped due to inclement weather conditions.  Had we better weather, our afternoon activity would have been a hike up the mountain behind the town for views of the Nanortalik and Tasermiut Fjord.