Greenland, Illulisat, Tuesday, 28 July 2026

 We sailed overnight and awoke once again to bright skies. After the morning stretch session and breakfast, we had some time before out group would leave for the town of Illulisat, population about 4,600 and 220 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the third largest city in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. We took the Zodiacs to a dock landing in town, near the ubiquitous port of containers and cranes and large construction company buildings. After a short bus ride, we got off at the UNESCO World Heritage site which includes miles of boardwalk over the tundra and the stunning Icefjord Center. The boardwalk went about 1.5 miles to hike out to a cliff, over terrain that in other places we have hiked on, but since this town gets a lot of tourism, they protected the terrain with a boardwalk. At the cliff, we learned that during times of no food, this is where elderly people were told to jump or might have to be pushed, to their deaths. If the elderly dying was not enough to protect the community during starvation times, sometimes the youngest babies were also sent to their deaths own the cliff. Life was hard here. 

In the distance from the cliff we saw the largest icebergs we have seen on this trip. Anne told us at breakfast that because of the Gulf Stream, iceberg would break off the gigantic the world’s most active glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq, float north, and then follow the Gulf Stream over to Canada, and this is likely how the huge iceberg which sank the Titanic reached the area off Newfoundland where the Titanic was sunk. It is not hard to believe, because the icebergs were 15-20 stories tall, so big that we could not even see the glacier behind them. As we walked back, we saw a boat, incredibly tiny next to the glacier, which gave some perspective to its size. The Icefjord Center was a large angular building swooping a bit like an iceberg, with steps that could take you to the top of the roof for an incredible view. Inside, there was a short film about how the process goes from precipitation to snowflakes to crystallization to precipitation to glacial formation to icebergs. A unique feature was how they presented some artifacts and explanatory materials. Each was encased in a clear resin shaped like a small iceberg, and instead of multi-lingual signage, there was a large multi-lingual book off to the side nearby which explained each item. There were also displayed ice core samples from the current time to 160,000 BCE. 

After a ride back to the ship, we had a very quick lunch and prepared to board the small local boats which would take us into the ice field. There were only seven guests on our boat, with a captain named Nik, who drove us through the ice fields and through a maze of enormous icebergs. It was quite cold, like being in a refrigerator, and breathtaking, coming up close to the giant icebergs we had seen from the coast a few hours before. They were every shape and size: smooth and glossy like soft meringue, sharp and pointed like new mountains, tabular as we had seen so often in Antarctica, dimpled as if it had recently rained, finely grained like powdered sugar, or with giant lines on them which looked lie ski trails. One of the largest icebergs we saw had three “waterfall” of snow coming off the side into the waters with such force that they came far out from the wall of ice. We crunched through the ice, often quite a bit of it, in the distance we saw a seal, and there were many birds flying over the boat. There was a small calving incident but not near us, though it made me think how if a large piece came off one of the huge icebergs it would definitely swamp the boat and yet  somehow the captain knew it was safe to go there. Nevertheless we all arrived back safely, hardly able to describe what we saw. It was certainly something I will never forget. 

Greenland, Uumannaq and Qilakitsoq, 27 July 2026

We woke up to beautiful, almost blinding sunshine, instead of fog. After breakfast, we landed on a pontoon dock, and walked right to the center of town of Uumannaq, dominated by two huge mountains and with icebergs all over the small bay. First we visited the musuem, which was fairly small, two rooms, featuring quite a collection of traditional clothing, tools both pre-and-post colonization, and lots of historic phots. Life here was still fairly traditional at least until the 1940s, based on the photos. We visited a turf house in the center of town, the “blubber house” where vast quantities of whale blubber would have been stored, now turned into an art gallery and museum of skulls, skeletons, and taxidermy. There was a small bench made of some whale vertebra and walrus tusks, as well as toys, games, and many tools. We went into the stone Lutheran church, which was cut from the grey and white marble that had been mined nearby for decades, though the mine is now closed. Here agin we saw a menorah on the altar, which seemed puzzling because Greenland has almost no Jewish population. Later I looked this up (there is only one permanent resident in all of Greenland who is Jewish), and learned that what I thought was a menorah was a traditional Scandinavian Lutheran church feature. It evokes the light of heaven, and is based on the description of the seven-branched lamp described in Exodus, in the Temple of Jerusalem.  We also stopped briefly into the main grocery store, which had quite a wide selection of food including a large section of various gummies (given the proximity to Scandinavia I guess) and all sorts of snacks and even things like cup o’soup, as well as frozen chicken hot wings and many kinds of yogurt. We then walked up several ills to the Dog Town area, again almost outside of town. There was a dog trainer who had some adult dogs and some pups that we could see a bit closer than the ones wandering through that area of town. It was nap time, so the pups and adults were mostly sleeping, and all these were of various shades of tan rather than the creamy off-site color we saw  in Sisimuit. Back to the center of town, where there were two clearly Instagram photo spots, one a giant red and white sleigh, the other a 15-foot tall Santa post box, where apparently people from all over the world write letters to Santa here, which are often answered by local children. Reuben asked us to get photos of ourselves on both to he could add his AI polar bear, so we did that, and walked leisurely back to town to catch a Zodiac back to the ship.

After lunch, we went with Dan to Qilakitsoq, an area outside of town on an inlet which is an historic and current burial ground. We needed to be very careful to follow Dan and not step on any graves, which here are formed of piles of rocks. We walked amongst the now-familiar tundra vegetation of willows and crowberries, and saw several 500-6– year-old turf houses, one with three separate units (each with its own entrance) probably for an extended family, and one larger one that came later and was communal. Dan told us that the native Greenlanders were very conflict-averse, as the health and welfare of the community depended on everyone doing their jobs. Rather than fight with weapons over a dispute, such as angry words or competing for female attentions, men would have something like a humor face-off in which the community would decide the winner by clapping or shouting, to avoid people attacking each other with weapons which might mean losing a valued hunter from the community. If a man died, his wife might marry another relative (even in the other man already had a wife) so that she and her children could still be provided for and contribute in their own way. They did not have an official marriage ceremony, but more a community confirmation of the relationship. There was sometimes gender-fluidity, where if a man had four daughters, two of them might be designated to be hunters like boys would be, and take on that role instead of the childcare, cooking, sewing of hides, and rendering of hunted animals and birds that were the women’s typical role. He explained that everyone had a role, even children, and if roles were missing it could be devastating for the community. Near this area were found in the 1970s eight mummies, six women and two children, perfectly preserved by the cold, dry air, the subject of a major National Geographic article. They were buried with a umber of articles of clothing, tools, and amulets, and Hildreth were placed on top of the women, whose bodies were also stacked. Scientists were even able to distinguish the characteristic tattooing on their faces, which significance various life events such as the onset of menses, marriage, childbirth, and widowhood.  A group doing the strenuous hike went all the way up to where the mummies had been required, but we stayed in the lower gravesite area.  It had been a quiet and introspective experience, being in a graveyard. We hiked back to the beach where we took the Zodiacs back to the ship.

Before dinner at the recap we heard about plans for the next day, and for dinner the next evening which would have a Filipino theme - almost all the waters, culinary, housekeeping, and maintenance staff are Filipino - as well as something of a talent show by the crew and staff, which we are looking forward to.  On the summary for this day, the notes said “sunrise: none, sunset: none,” meaning that the sun never went below the horizon, only dipping to the bottom of the parabola of its course, thrust the land of the midnight sun. BY the time we went to bed, around 11:00pm, it was still quite bright outside.

Greenland, Disko Island Sunday, 26 July 2026

 There was massive fog again when we woke up, and it was definitely colder, high today is expected to be about 42 degrees. We are definitely much farther north. This area is called Iceberg Alley, as there are literally hundreds of icebergs small and large which have separated from various glaciers and floated to this area were they tend to stay until the melt.

This morning we had an astonishing Zodiac ride with Lars, viewing the basalt rock formations and water falls of Disko Island, the second largest island in Greenland. While I am not always the most enthusiastic about geology, the crazy angles and appearances these rocks was amazing. First we went through a cool arch, and then along the coast to see the rocks up closer, the caves, and even went behind a waterfall. It looked like a giant jenga puzzle with pieces of rock going every which way, some spread like a fan, others as spires going toward the sky, others bent where volcanic forces intervened. I will post some photos later. As we were in the Zodiac, we saw the small town where Lars lives with his family, a collection of houses similar to others we have seen, perched all over a rocky hillside with areas of green.

My knee was a bit sore from kneeling in the morning stretch class, so I chose to go on the short walk on another part of the island. It was lovely, about a mile, and we stopped at a small promontory where we had a nice coast view. Our guide Dan said that he like to take a pause on the short walks, have folks sit or even lay down, and be quiet for 15 minutes. It was brisk but sunny, so I sat down and then laid down on the tundra vegetation. It was so beautiful, quiet (although one guy did start snoring), and I could hear things I had not heard before, and even smell the vegetation. Then we picked some blueberries and crowberries and ate them - a bit tart - and headed back to the ship. I’m very glad I did the short walk, as the moderate walk Barney did turned out to be quite a slog with some serious bushwhacking, long diversions through paths going up and down and up and down, a lot of elevation change, holds in the tundra and channels of really soft area. The particular guide for his group, Rob, did not seem to have a good sense of the best path, the other group’s experience was much better. Afterwards he and John and Reuben went to the hot tub to soak, which helped a lot.

The evening was our second dinner with our second group, which went well. I redid the place tags, this time with a whale that had fins, which everyone liked. There was a good chemistry at the table and folks enjoyed themselves. I really enjoy bringing people together like this. We hung out in the lounge for quite a while afterwards, and as we went to bed, it was still bright out at 11:30pm!

Greenland, Sisimiut, Saturday, 25 July 2026

We awoke to the largish town of Sisimiut, one of the largest in Greenland, and we were getting off at an official dock. This morning, of the three options, we chose the archaeological hike to Sallinnguit (Tele Island). It was about three hours of serious hiking, clambering up rocks and stepping up and down two or three feet on rocks. Fortunately, Barney was always there to give me a hand, as I’ve found that going down a steep rock on my “bad” knee is OK, going up on my good knee is harder as I cannot bend back as far as I used to. We covered a loot of territory, and saw a number of remains of turf houses from the 16th century and onward, as well as graves and fox traps made of stones. The graves all had a view of the waters which was considered essential in the Greenlandic culture. we saw the dog island, where owners let their dogs roam free for the summer, so they don’t become too domesticated, and establish hierarchy which helps with sledding. After a long and quite strenuous hike, we enjoyed a nice lunch and heard about the morning town tour which visited a place called Dog Town. We’ll go there later.

In the afternoon, we boarded a shuttle bus that went between the ship, the Sisimuit Museum, the large grocery store, and the edge of town where the Arctic Circle Trail starts and where Dog Town is. First we headed into town to see the Sisimuit Museum is. It was made up of eight old wooden buildings. The Old Shop, built in 1825, held the ticket office, a small gift shop, and some historic photographs.  Behind it in a open area was the most interesting part of the museum: a series of dog sleds made in different parts of Greenland, and a tent of the type used in the summer, with a below-grade entrance to the large skin tent, with an elevated platform for sleeping and a lower area for cooking, which we could go inside. Thinking about how few materials possessions these folks had, as they migrated with various game and the seasons, made us realize how little people really need to survive. The Museum also included an old Lutheran church which had been restored, a turf house replica from the 1990s, which included the two sleeping platforms, one for each family, separated by a skin curtain, the Colonial Manager’s Residence from 1865 which had a schoolroom and historical photos, and the Old House built in 1756 with an extensive exhibit in Saqqaq culture and artifacts. 

We then caught the shuttle bus to the edge of town, to go to Dog Town. As we walked down the paved and then gravel road, we wondered, where is the facility? We were expecting some sort of large kennel with Greenlandic Sled Dogs, but all we saw were dogs hanging out on various small rises, some laying in the sun, some nursing their puppies, others playing. We realized that this was Dog Town, and when I looked it up, we found that this whole area was designated for the dogs to live most of the year. They specifically do not want the dogs to be too domesticated, and we had been told not to approach or try to pet the dogs. So for a while we simply admired them from the road, and a few times a curious puppy approached us, only to be herded back by a watchful mother dog. One mother dog even followed us up the street a bit to make sure we were moving on. And then it happened: one dog started to howl, and then others joined in, until the whole little valley of dogs was howling, for well over a minute. It was magical. And then suddenly, it was over. we walked back up to the bus stop, and headed back to the ship. We went to the cocktail our and recap, then dinner, and chatted with our friends a bit about future National Geographic Expeditions - we are considering going to Svalbard - and  headed to bed.

Greenland, Eternity Fjord, Friday, 24 July 2026

 The brilliant sun rose about 4:00am, and fortunately there are blackout curtains. The sun reflecting off the water was almost blinding, and it looks like it will be a lovely, sunny day. 

We sailed up rom Nuuk where a brief stop had been made overnight to let off a crew member who was ill.   we sailed into the Eternity Fjord, and after breakfast had a wonderful lecture by Dan about human history in the Arctic, Just as he finished, some humpback whales were sighted so almost everyone left to see them. I could see the blow as they surfaced, and we once saw a fluke, which was exciting. We sat in the library area in the bow on the top deck, which gave us a wonderful view of the fjord, and I spent some time looking at the expedition catalog of future trips.

With a beautiful day - at last 55 degrees - an outdoor barbecue was planned. we got a table with a great view of the glacier at the end of the fjord, and enjoyed some wonderful food and sunshine. We even had to put on sunscreen and hats for the first time. After lunch, we had the opportunity for a Zodiac ride with Boris, where we saw a huge cliff with thousands of Terns, Kittiwakes, Gillemots, Glaucus and other gulls. We went quite close to the glacier which dropped some bits into the water. Then we went for a kayak ride, going close to the walls of the fjord and across the water, we are getting used to kayaking again and it was fun.

Another wonderful dinner, and some nice time afterwards with our friends. We are putting together another dinner for Sunday evening.

Greenland, Qoornguarsiaq Fjord, Thursday, 23 July 2026

We went to work out before breakfast in the fitness room, which was quite well equipped and made us feel very  virtuous. It was cloudy again, and rain was a possibility. After breakfast, Dan did an interesting lecture about some field work he did in an extremely remote island in the Russian Arctic, where they uncovered evidence of a group of people living there who subsisted entirely on female polar bears, the only bones found there. Hard to believe, but apparently polar bears (and other marine mammals) have a lot of Vitamin C so people in the Arctic do not get scurvy. Their conclusion was that the polar bear cubs were traded to get other items they needed, and possibly were traded on to become exotic and prestigious gifts, one had been discovered given as a gift to a leader in the Middle East.  The second lecture was on lichens and other ground lands, but I had to do some client work so was in the room doing email while listening to the lecture.

After lunch, it was time for a hike on a boggy area in Qoornguatsiaq Fjord. This is in the Sermersooq municipality, which at 205,368 square miles, is the largest municipality in the world. Vast areas of it are uninhabited of course - a municipality in Greenland is more like a state in the US, as there are only seven of them in this giant island. The hike was through a slightly melted area of permafrost so rather boggy, and several times we had to cross little creeks. It was warm so we shed a layer, and the mosquitos were vicious. I am so glad we got the mosquito nets, although they look rather ridiculous they are a lifesaver. I would have been eaten alive without the net. We saw two caribou skulls with antlers, and an Arctic Fox skull smaller than my hand. The focus of the hike was vegetation, and we saw many of the plants mentioned in the various talks over the past few days, including some bright and apparently somewhat poisonous mushrooms. This was by far the most strenuous hike we had, and I was very glad we both had our hiking sticks, we both fell only one time each.  As we were somewhat late getting back to the ship, I ran up to get Barney some cookies from the afternoon tea.  We were both quite sweaty from the hike and needed showers.  It was still quite warm outside, so we sat on the balcony, I finished my book and Barney read as well. Refreshed, we went to dinner and had a nice time, going up to the lounge afterwards for more wonderful conversation. Barney and I are discussing future trips, as this is as far as had planned anything. There are so many interesting places to go. 

Greenland, Bratthild Farm and Tunulliarflik Fjord, Wednesday, 22 July 2026

 We are up early and ready to go well before the 8:30 departure time. We find out this will be a et landing so a quick changed is needed. We hike with our group around the tiny village of about 80 people, up a steep hill to where there is a large statue of Leif Erickson. His father Erik the Red journeyed from Iceland in 982 CE and settled in this area with his family. It would have been welcoming, with large flat area under some hills, plenty of grass for grazing, and a good harbor. Although Erik the Red did not like Christianity, his mother did (Norway and Iceland were converting to Christianity) so he allowed her to build a small church in the settlement, and the remains of the church and multiple other buildings were all over the lower area of town. We also went into a replica longhouse, where 20-30 people would ahve lived; it had a central cooking and heating area, the walls would have been lined with elevated areas for sleeping, a weaving loom was set up at one end, and a small private room was perhaps for the newly married. A small room above was for maidens, who would pull up the ladder after the last one entered, and bring it town in the morning, as girls were married in their teens. Leif inherited the land from his father and was a chieftain for the area. he also famously journeyed to the New World, to an area he called Vinland, returned to Greenland, and died about 1025. Norse settlers remained in the area and left after about 400 years. The reasons why are not fully known, but probably have to do with the cooling of the climate in that period and the inability to feed themselves and their animals. We also went into a small house that had belonged to a man named Fredrickson who married an Inuit woman and had 7 children. The house was filled with family photos, some furniture, two parlor organs, some cooking equipment, and a display about the family. The sun came out during our hike and we stripped off our outer windproof jackets, it was probably at least 45 degrees but felt warmer due to the hiking. When we came in, the culinary team had made some adorable polar bear cookies.. 

After a nice lunch, we had an interesting lecture about how Viking ships were made of wood, which complemented the lecture we had on Monday about how Inuit kayaks are made of small amounts of wood and sealskin (kayak is an Inuit word). A lovely charcuterie afternoon tea was nice, and we came back to the room for a short rest. The evening included some wonderful scenery as we sailed out of Qassiaresuq Fjord. Before the evening recap, we spent some time in the Lounge with John and Reuben, and Reuben amazed us with his ability to do all sorts of interesting AI images with Olaf bears: a polar bar DJ, an Uber Eats driver, one in a hula skirt, one dressed like Elvis, and one next to a pyramid in Egypt. He is incredibly creative. After dinner, we watched a film made in about 1930 called the Wedding of Palo, about a young Greenlandic woman named Naravana, who is being courted by two men in East Greenland, one of whom is named Palo. She and her family and the others in their settlement live in the traditional way, in sealskin tents, hunting in kayaks, eating seals and whales and fish. The scene of the men bringing back some dead seals and her slicing it open and expertly trimming the blubber and eat from the skin was amazing. The man who made the film was half Inuit, half Danish, so he had insight into the culture. Quite something to realize how people were living here only 100 years ago.

Going to sleep to some gentle rocking, which was nice.