Marilyn's Odyssey: Ilulissat, Greenland

Friday, September 15th we woke to brilliant blue skies which could not have been better for the wonderful day we had ahead of us visiting Ilulissat and the Sermeq Kujalleq Glacier. The glacier sits 250 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle and reaches out to the sea at the Ilulissat Icefjord. This glacier is one of the most active and fastest moving in the world and calves more than 35 cubic kilometres of icebergs into the iceberg alley annually. In 2004 the Ilulissat Icefjord was admitted onto the UNESCO’S World Heritage List. Two kilometres north of the Icefjord is the town of Ilulissat whose population of 4500 is swollen by 6000 sled dogs. It is the Center for shrimp and halibut fishing and as we arrived in the harbour there was a very strong smell of fish coming from the fish packing plant.

We started the morning with a 2 hour zodiac cruise amongst the icebergs. Our ride started out quite eventfully as the engine died just after we left the ship. There was a brisk wind blowing and the seas were fairly rough and we had to do a zodiac transfer at sea. It was not everyone’s most graceful moment but all made it successfully to the second zodiac though a couple, not us , had quite a hard time of it. Once off being down at sea level and gazing up at the massive icebergs was breathtaking. Some of these icebergs will take years to disappear. After our tour we landed in the harbour and took a 30 minute walk through town and up to the ice museum. The building is an incredible architectural feat with wonderful lines that really seems to fit into the surrounding nature.the massive curved roof is made to be walked on and is a wonderful viewing point. From the center there is a boardwalk of approximately one and a half kilometres that takes you out to the glacier while protecting the tundra and all the arctic plants. The views as you approach the glacier are fantastic and once we reached the end of the boardwalk we were able to clamber up onto the rocks to get views from several angles. The sheer size and magnitude of this ice field was hard to absorb and it was wonderful just to sit and take in this wonder of nature. As we sat there we heard a loud calving in the distance which added to the experience. As our time in Ilulissat ran out we reluctantly hiked backed to town and after a quick look around it was time to reboard the ship. As the ship left the harbour we stayed out on deck as we were surrounded by ice and the Captain had to manoeuvre between the large pieces. What a stunning day!