Trips

Tues., 8/6 - Paamiut, Greenland

The fog was very thick and the captain waited an hour to venture into his anchorage spot. One tender was lowered when the fog lifted enough for us to see land, but not the village of Paamiut, Greenland. The tender went in to check out the “port.” The captain and this crew had not been here before. The fog thickened and the captain decided to cancel this port of call.

We headed out to sea and could not see all morning. So, we had an added day at sea with lectures and rest.

Flag of Greenland	License Plate
Paamiut, Greenland	Possible whale sighting
Wed., 8/7 - Nanortalik, Greenland Since we “sailed” all day yesterday at only 5 knots per hour, or less, in the fog, we woke up this morning in the mouth of the Tasermiut Fjord at the very southern tip of Greenland. We could see land very near us, a very rocky shore and small islands. Greenland is the world’s largest island. Tender service started at 8 AM and we went ashore at 9 AM to visit the village of Nanortalik, which means “place of polar bears.” The settlement dates back to the late 18th c. when Norsemen arrived and stayed although paleo-Inuit people were here much earlier. After the Norsemen left, neo-Inuit came down from the north, crossing the ice from Canada. The village of 1300 is 90% Inuit today. The fog stayed high and the sun actually came out around 11 AM making it very pleasant walking around on the two, mostly gravel, roads and crossing the stone outcrops. There is no village “green” but some smooth rock up-heaves that are easy to walk up on allowed us to see most of the area. The temperature today was supposed to be a high of 45° but it sure felt more like 55° with very little wind. We went into the gift shop and I returned later to buy a key chain for $11 US (or 10 Euros or 69 Danish kroner). There were no souvenir spoons. T-shirts were $30 so we didn’t get any.
Approaching the port	Part of the port and town
Interesting language	House
House	Fish Market
Restaurant	Offices
	Local art work
Cargo ship	A gas pump
ATM Machine - I wonder if it stays there in the winter?	We browsed through one of the two supermarkets. They are always interesting and tell a lot about how the people live. The fresh vegetable section was almost empty, but the frozen meats, fish, and vegetables were well stocked as were canned goods and dried foods. There were household goods and some clothing - all the necessities. There was no peanut butter, only Nutella!
Frozen turkey dinner	Veggies, I assume
Fresh veggies	Old timber church built in 1916 - being renovated!
One area of the town has been maintained as an open air museum. The buildings (about 20 of them) were mostly built in the late 1800s or early 1900s by the Danish settlers. Over the years they had served several functions and now have museum exhibits. The buildings were signed with some English and the large new building traced the history of Nanortalik with posters and photos done in three languages one of which was English. The tall observation tower that served as a widow watch provided wonderful views of the town and mountains.
	Open air museum - observation tower with the flag above it
Cute see-saw in the foreground	Looking at town from the observation tower
Looking at town and the mountains beyond from the observation tower	Looking at the port and the MS Zuiderdam from the observation tower
The buildings included a house with a coal burning cook stove, antique ice skates, and flat irons, and an organ; a soddy dwelling with a 5-foot ceiling and bed to sleep a bunch of people - the walls were 3-foot thick dirt; fish drying racks outside; a blubber boiling house which at one point made oil for trains; a hospital and dentist office; a radio station; a bakery and brew house; fish house; etc.	The kitchen
Ice skates and flat irons	An organ
Sleeping area	Sod house
For fish drying	Drying fish
We walked back toward the tender port among the colorful houses - no two alike - vivid red, green, blue, yellow. I stuck my head into the modern fish market with frozen fish, a bag of sardines, and nothing else I could read! Marge had a great time with her camera. A container ship docked beside our tender dock. This village is probably well stocked. The people live by fishing and a growing tourism business for a few short months. A red helicopter might have been a “flight-for-life” service.
Rock carving	Cemetery, houses, and mountains
Town view	Rugged mountains in the distance
Struggling flowers	Out with the children
Native shopping at one of the stands for tourists	Morning gathering to enjoy the sunshine
Beyond the town	Back on the ship after three hours in the village, we watched several ice bergs and growlers and wondered where they came from. Tomorrow we cruise Prince Christian Sound. Maybe we will see glaciers.

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