Sadly we missed 2 ports in Greenland, Paamiut and Qaqortoq, due to weather conditions. It was too icy for the ship to get through the ice and sail up the fjords. So on to Nuuk in Greenland where we were able to dock. We had 2 extra days at sea which I’ll talk about in my post about Regent of the Seven Seas Splendour.
Nuuk is the capital and largest city of Greenland and offers a blend of traditional inuit culture and modern urban life. Nuuk is situated along the southwestern coast of the world’s largest island, and small colourful houses are dotted along the landscape against a backdrop of rugged mountains and icy fjords. The colours of the houses signify different industries. Yellow buildings signify hospitals, red buildings signify churches and schools, and black buildings signify police stations. Of course there are other colours too but this is to give you an idea of what different colours represent.
Nuuk’s history is deeply rooted in it’s indigenous inuit heritage, with evidence of human settlement in the area dating back over 4000 years. The city is situated at the mouth of the stunning Nuup Kangeriua fjord, which stretches for more than 99 miles inland. Nuuk’s mix of cultures is evident in its language, with Greenlandic being the primary language and Danish serving as the official language. Traditional dishes include whale blubber and seal meat!
So once in Nuuk I headed off on a fjord boat tour. We cruised into the beautiful Nuup Kangeriua fjord in an attempt to see whales but to no avail. However we passed 2 icebergs, which were very blue, (the blueness occurs when the iceberg is underwater and the air bubbles are squeezed out and washed away. Then, when light encounters the dense, compressed ice, much of the light penetrates it. The ice absorbs longer wavelengths of colors, such as red and yellow. Colours of shorter wavelengths, like green and blue, reflect the light). We then sped past the uninhabited island of Sermitsiaq, where we could see a saddle-shaped mountain rising from the island’s heart. When the weather warms and the snow and glaciers melt, a waterfall usually thunders off the mountain and into the crystal clear waters of the fjord below. We also spotted a frolicking seal. On our return to port, we saw Nuuk from the water as depicted in the photos below.
Another fact is that Greenland is a North American island autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the larger of two autonomous territories within the Kingdom, the other being the Faroe Islands; the citizens of both territories are full citizens of Denmark. The population is around 56,600. There are no roads connecting any of the cities so you either travel by boat or by plane.
On our second day in Nuuk, I went on the Paradise Trail hike. It was raining on and off and it was slippery climbing over rocks and stones. The scenery was very typical of Greenland; mountainous, bleak and full of waterfalls. Of course we got up close and personal with the snow on the mountainside which was actually ice. An exhilarating walk/climb. Now back to the ship to set sail for Reykjavík, Iceland, our last port of call and our final destination.
