Monday, 15 August 2022

The Fjords of Greenland

Leaving Nuuk we visited a couple of the beautiful Fjords of Greenland. There are no roads between any of the towns and villages of Greenland due to the topography and this is the reason more people own boats than cars.  Another interesting fact is that north of the Arctic Circle the only breed of dog that one is allowed to have is the Greenlandic sled dog in order to preserve the purity of the breed.
The first fjord we ventured down was the Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord which is 75 km long and 2300 feet deep.  It is framed on both sides by towering mountains which are some of the most popular climbing spots in Greenland.  At the head of the Fjord a large glacier reaches down into the water.  We explored the glacier by zodiac and sat amongst the floating ice chunks listening to and watching the glacier calf off large pieces.  Surrounded by snow covered peaks it was magical.
All trips come to a close and we finished this one by sailing down the Kangerlussuaq Fjord to the town of the same name which has a population of 500 and boasts Greenland s International airport.  The airport was previously a US airbase during WW II.  From here we flew out on a private charter to Toronto on our way home.


The light on the mountains of Greenland at sunset was spectacular 

Travelling down towards the glacier the water was a beautiful green due to run off from the ice

A smaller glacier with pristine snow at higher elevatio

The Ocean Endeavour anchored so we could go exploring 

Getting close to the glacier in the zodiacs

Birds having a rest on the chunks of ice that have calved off of the glacier

This puts into perspective how thick the glacier is at sea level and it gets much thicker as it goes up the mountain

Even with mostly cloud cover we caught some beautiful reflections in the ice covered water

Looking back at the ship with the jagged peaks behind

The different forms that the ancient ice takes on as it has been compressed over the years was fascinating. The brown at the waters edge is also ice

Sailing up towards the airport

The route we took on our Heart of the Arctic trip with Adventure Canada 

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