Aug
16– Uummannaq – City Walk
Uummannaq
is considered one of the most beautiful towns in Greenland. Located on a small
island about 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, this tiny, picturesque
village lies at the foot of a heart-shaped mountain. (the heart of a seal) This
is where the extensive polar exploration by Alfred Wegener on a
propeller-driven sled onto the Greenland Ice Cap.
Since
we had another strange port time (11:30 to 3:30) we had a long brunch to
accommodate having breakfast and an early lunch. Greg just grabbed some of the
early bird pastries in the lounge and some fruit and we ate them in the cabin
while we got ready to go to the movie Nanook of the North. It was a silent
movie with an introduction in English. It was explained by Bernd that though it
was marketed as the real life of the Inuit people, he said though it did
portray much of their real life, the 2 women and the children in the movie were
not really his. It did show how hard life was. In one scene we cracked up at
the “clown kayak” (like a clown car) when he gets out of it and then out pops
one of his wives, then the other, then all 3 kids and finally the family dog.
(all tucked in somehow into the hollows of the enclosed kayak.
After the movie we had a quick lunch and then headed out for our city walk.
What a fun day. We went by the school and several of the kids wanted us to come talk to them. The tour moved on, so only 1 lady went over and caught up with the tour at the next stop.
Uummannaq also hosts an orphanage, which is known all
over the world as the children here are taught different instruments and
singing and going on worldwide tours. They used to let Iceland
Pro visit, but they no longer offer that. Orphanage doesn't necessarily mean having no parents; it may mean that they were taken away from a hostile environment.
We climbed up a hill to get some great views. While we were up there a young boy came and hung out with us. Then 2 young girls came to visit with us. Greg said one of the girls picked up a packet with a condom hanging out of it and was showing it to everyone.
They
were so cute, and they were eating hotdogs on sticks. They kept holding them up
to us like they wanted us to have a bite. The girls both had cameras and one in particular wanted
photos of all of us. She wanted selfies of each of us and all 3 of them gladly
posed for our photos.
They followed us on the entire city walk. This island doesn’t get many tourists and I think we were great entertainment for them.
After the city walk, we had free time until it was time to catch the Zodiac back. We popped into the grocery store to have a cold drink and a pastry. We ate them outside on a picnic table. It was a warm day and I had peeled off my jacket and had it wrapped around my waist for most of the tour.
This is also the place where many letters get sent to Santa. There is a huge mailbox with letters to Santa. One of the other tours was a hike to Santa.
We still had plenty of time, so we walked back to an area to look for birds. Back at the Zodiacs the 3 kids that followed us were now enamored with the Zodiacs. They were sitting in one and wanted a ride. They were told they would need life vests and they jumped out a quickly put them on before getting back in the boats. Unfortunately, they were not allowed by the Coast Guard and or Iceland Pro to go for a ride. They finally got out and then decided it would be fun to help hand out the life vests to passengers waiting to go back to the ship.
Once we were on the Zodiac, the driver asked us all if we minded going on a short iceberg viewing cruise before going back to the ship. Everyone said YES!
This
was followed by a port talk on Qeqertarsuaq before dinner.
After dinner there was another party out on deck to celebrate our Northernmost Point in our Journey.
Uummannaq,
Greenland https://photos.app.goo.gl/gPw5LHLKVRKq7rR6A
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