Tassilaq, Ammassalik Island, Greenland

Aug 9 – Ammassalik Island, Greenland

We had an early start for our arrival at Tassilaq on Ammassalik Island. The island is characterized by several glaciers, jagged peaks, rivers, lakes, and waterfalls. There are vast green valleys and deep fjords with newly calved icebergs dropping off the ice cap into the sea. Tassilaq is the largest town in East Greenland with a population of approximately 2,000 people. The people here are more Asian than European and are what we used to refer to as Eskimo. (not a derogatory term here, despite the rest of the world wanting to call them Inuit) This was one of my favorite stops. First sighting of all the cute monopoly houses painted in bright colors. Also, I had never seen a seal skinned, gutted, and then cut up and thrown to the sledge dogs. 

from the ship arriving in port

Breakfast was served from 6:30 to 8:30 and Zodiacs started at 7:00. Our tour started at 8:00 and we grabbed the first Zodiac to town so we could wander around before it started.

There were several excursions offered as well as it was considered “an open town” which meant that the church, the dog feeding, and the drum dance were free to anyone on an excursion or not.

We chose the Flower Valley Hike which was about as difficult hiking as I’m up for these days. It was a beautiful hike, and they had a lead guide and one at the rear to make sure no one got lost. Everyone spread out and just went at their own pace which made it pleasant for everyone. Thilo explained that once we got to the waterfall those that wanted to catch the sled dog feeding could turn around there. He said the rest of the hike beyond that was purely for exercise as the paths were gone and the scenery do different.

We passed the East Greenlandic sled dog packs and the cemetery of Tassilaq town. 

We stopped at the cemetery which is called No Name Cemetery where Thilo explained that the locals decorated with plastic flowers and there are no names on the grave sites since they won’t visit the graves again since they believe the soul leaves the body and the person they knew is no longer there. They feel that the person is still always with them. They don’t speak the deceased person’s name for a year so they can pass over to the other side. Then they freely speak the name as that is how they feel they keep that person with them.

the old church is now a museum

walking around before the tour started

Seabourn Venture in port with us

the craft shop was named Stunk (probably means something in their language

caged spiral staircase

zodiac landing and stairs to town

Seabourn Venture in port with us

start of the tour walking through town

hike to cemetery

No Name Cemetery

the older ones have lost their flowers 

not sure why this one had a headstone

looking back towards town

Now totally out of town we enjoyed the flowers which mostly were the Greenlandic Bell Flower and the Dwarf Fireweed. The hike took us between crystal blue lakes and arctic herbs in all colors towards a small waterfall.

Greg

this is a tree, just doesn't stand up due to the severe conditions

see the large insect? That's why most of us wore hat nets

Greg

this is where we turned around

We turned around at the waterfall to catch the dog feeding. What an awesome experience! They had a dead seal and the woman proceeded to skin it and cut up the meat to throw to the dogs. There were puppies that were so adorable. The couple keeps most of their dogs on an island where they are free to roam without people around. They have a few in town for tourism. I was glad that we made it back to see the feeding as it was very interesting to see how she skinned the seal.

the man is a Dane, and she is Inuit

howling and eager to eat

the dead seal

cutting and pulling the skin off

they let people hold the puppies

head of the seal

pulling out the innards

slicing off the meat to throw to the dogs

she had fed the puppies last

We then walked around the town and ended up at the church which is now a museum. The people were so friendly here. They all waved and smiled and said hello. With so few lovely days they were all out walking with their families. They use more of what we used to call a baby carriage and I peeked in and this adorable round face smiled at me and I said, “what a cutie” and the mother said, “Thank you”.

out enjoying the warm day

the new church

we had some time to kill so we checked out the small market

cool house by the museum

We stayed for most of the drum dance before it was time to catch a Zodiac back to the ship.

waiting for the Drum dance to start

this poor kid was barfing loudly for a long time

start of the show

the drum - they only beat the rim, not the skin

from the Zodiac

Lunch was later today between 12:30 and 2:00 followed by a lecture by Bernd on Greenland in the 20^th Century.

It was Tea Time which always had piano music by Harpa. That was followed by a lecture on the Geology of Greenland by Dieter.

It was cocktail hour with more piano music and then dinner. There were many small icebergs and we saw some huge pods of Orcas and some other whales, possibly Fin and Sperm. 

Orcas

bird catching a fish

Sperm Whale

After dinner they had a movie (with popcorn) called Inuk. It was actually a silent film that was presented at the Caan Film Festival, but it was unfinished and just ended. It followed the life of a teen Inuit (Eskimo) living with an abusive father and the rest of the family. It was meant to portray how Denmark thought they were helping the Eskimos by taking them out of their normal ways of life and moving them to the city. Feeling useless and missing their ways of life many of the men turned to alcohol and became abusive. It was interesting and it would have been nice if it had been finished, but it was rejected by Caan so they dropped the project.

Bernd stopped the movie when he got word that there was a blue whale just outside the windows. He quickly started opening the shades and we got some great views of this huge guy (yet still not a full-sized one) coming up right in front of us. It came up a few times before taking off. Bernd ran to the other end of the ship, but he said it was gone. One lady (who complained about everything) said it wasn’t big enough to be a Blue Whale, but Bernd said that they grow and this one probably wasn’t full grown yet. All I know is that it was the largest whale I have ever seen. The width alone was amazing. Bern pulled the shades and resumed the movie.

Tomorrow, we have a sea day as we transit Prince Christian Sound.

Ammassalik Island, Tassilaq, Greenland https://photos.app.goo.gl/BKSTvmKPtxGZtpd19

Videos of the dog feeding, drum dance and the Sperm Whale are in the online album. (too large to post here) They are unedited.