Greenland – Day 4 can be found here.
We woke early this morning to the most wonderful sound in the world – the clatter of the Silver Cloud dropping its anchor into the harbour outside of Nanortalik.
It was almost enough to make up for the fact that it was 5:45 am. This was shaping up to be an incredibly busy day.
My wife got the kids up as I started to pack, then we were off to La Terrazza for a whirlwind breakfast – so quick I didn’t even have time for a cappuccino. But I did have time for a lovely cheese omelette, bacon, hashbrowns followed by a healthier course of yoghurt, berries and granola.
Back to the rooms to finish packing, and we had scarcely reached Deck 3 before they called Zodiac group 3 to disembark – at 6:50 am, roughly 10 minutes ahead of schedule.
We were told that the town was ready to receive us, though the café and cultural centre would be closed this morning. The open-air museum, tourist centre and grocery store would be open, however, and a nature walk was planned for 8 am.
We landed at a jetty, and then we were free to explore the town on our own. Silversea had positioned expedition staff throughout the town to help direct us. Most of the sights were located within a kilometer or two from the jetty, so we wouldn’t have far to go.
We started with the open-air museum, which had some beautiful cultural artifacts and historical relics.
We then walked back through town to try and catch the nature walk before it left. We stopped briefly at the tourist centre (aka the souvenir shop). They had quite a range of Greenland-themed souvenirs, but nothing caught our eyes so we were soon headed back through town.
The town itself was rugged and real, but still picturesque. The bright coloured homes and rusting industrial sites seemed a fitting complement to the harsh beauty of the surrounding ice and rock.
The nature tour continued, but we elected to branch off on our own for a while. We were thoroughly impressed by the local soccer pitch – astroturf, of course – and then wandered down one last residential side street before we went back the ship.
This proved to be one of the highlights of our day – seeing the children and parents of Nanortalik making their way to school, chubby cherubic fingers clutched around bright sub-Arctic flowers, wrapped in their parents’ parka-covered arms.
Waving to the little ones and nodding our greeting to passers by, we briefly felt as though we were part of this remote, beautiful community.
But then a quick glance at my watch revealed that almost three hours had already passed since our arrival. Time to return to the Cloud.
Back to Panorama Lounge, where the kids celebrated another successful outing with hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookies and a round of cards. The view in town had been stunning, but the view out the back of the Cloud was no less impressive – brilliant blue icebergs drifting beneath granite shadows.
And cause for a moment of celebration. According to another guest, we’re the first cruise ship in a while to reach Nanortalik – the past four had been blocked out due to ice. So as frustrating as it’s been to adjust to a changing schedule, it clearly could have been much, much worse.
Off to the pool – which, unfortunately, proved to be a lot cooler than it had been during our day at sea. We still managed about a half-hour of swimming before the kids’ teeth started to chatter, at which point we went down to our staterooms for steaming hot showers before heading to the Restaurant for lunch.
Another fabulous meal – beef spring rolls, pulled pork fajitas, pan-friend Cajun snapper, capped with a round of Mississippi mud pies.
The kids then settled in to have a bit of quiet time in the room, and I went off to collect my drysuit in preparation for sea kayaking this afternoon. I’m completely torn between my desire to kayak among the icebergs and my terror at kayaking among the icebergs, so we’ll see which wins out.
I’m also hopeful that I might be able to have a soak in the hot spring at Uunartoq – which is actually heated through the movement of tectonic plates as opposed to volcanic activity.
It’s kind of strange to think of plate friction heating a pool – what if it suddenly accelerates and squishes us while we’re in the pool? Then again, volcanos erupt all the time. Maybe it’s better if I just don’t overthink this.
Expedition Leader Darryn also mentioned that they would need to step up the bear monitoring team as polar bears had been spotted at the site – the Greenlanders are using downstream hot water runoff to boil muskox heads, and polar bears have caught on. But the threat of bears is low, or so we have been told.
And we’ve arrived early, so we should be heading to Uunartoq at 3 pm rather than 5 pm. Also – tomorrow is going to be extremely busy, much like today, with stops in both Qaartog and Hvalsey.
Back to the Panorama Lounge, where Entertainment Host Daniel is irritated to discover that the moved-up expeditions are once again conflicting with trivia. So we merged forces with another group and seemed well on our way – except I had to leave, because it was time for kayaking.
I have done quite a bit of kayaking in the past, but I am not too proud to admit that I searched up “sea kayaking fundamentals” on YouTube. And I will also admit that I tried to put on the booties and then the drysuit. So it was not the most auspicious start.
But once we were underway – well, you can see for yourself:
Kayaking. In Greenland. With icebergs.
What else can be said?
Well, I will add that this is the first time I have used rudder controls, and that I didn’t make a complete hash of it. And I was paired with someone else, and we didn’t murder each other. Also – this is apparently the furthest from the Cloud that our zodiac driver had ever picked up guests before. So I suppose there are some bragging rights in there too.
I was also hoping to manage to squeeze in a very quick trip to the hot pots – but that was not mean to be, as the wind had shifted and it was well past time to be on our way.
Hot springs photo courtesy of Greenland.com
I met up with my wife and kids back in the mudroom. They had thoroughly enjoyed the hot pots, particularly the part where Silversea had surprised them with champagne and treats just outside the hotpots themselves. Less enjoyable was the ride back, which has to be have been one of the coldest, roughest zodiac rides of the trip.
But some very hot showers on their part – and a very large glass of Glenmorangie on mine, at the suggestion of my paddling partner – we were all feeling much better and ready to head to Dolce Vita as a stopover on the way to dinner.
At Dolce Vita, we had another chance to talk to the group of pole-to-polers that have been so welcoming – which has proven to be a wonderful side benefit of cruising on Silversea, the chance to talk to well-informed travellers.
One of the points mentioned was how much better the service had gotten once the guests were closer to around the 180 mark, as opposed to the 200+ level that they were during our previous leg. And I would be inclined to agree.
Service on Silversea is generally quite exceptional, but at the 180ish mark there is none of the occasional “lag” that you experience on other voyages – which is rare, but does tend to occur from time to time, particularly when you’re in the Restaurant immediately after a briefing has been let out, along with 90% of the other guests.
This is all avoidable, but it requires some advance planning and the willingness to go against the grain – booking in at the Grill for some dinners, and at La Terrazza for others. Or picking less-than-common dining times. But it is a bit of a pain, as no one wants to be sitting down for dinner at 9 pm when they’re going to be leaving on a zodiac at 6:30 am the next day.
I’m sure this will be the fodder for much future vacation planning. But in the mean time, I’d suggest not shying away from less-attended cruises, as they can offer some truly exceptional levels of service. And rumour has it that the upcoming Greenland cruises will be even quieter, with only 130 guests.
And – finally – I was pleased to hear that our son’s new trivia team had placed second in the day’s ad-hoc contest. More prize points to throw on the pile. At this rate, we’re going to need a larger safe.
Off to dinner – foie gras terrine followed by lamb rogan josh (sadly not pictured because I inhaled it immediately). Kids also ordered what our daughter lovingly refers to as “the porcupine dessert” – a scoop or two of ice cream along with chocolate and caramel sauce, and as many chocolate slivers as the crew can stick into it without it collapsing into a black hole.
Exhibit A
And now the hour is upon us – I’d love to tell you that we were going to stay up late and watch the sun set on Greenland, but tomorrow starts early and sleep is poised to claim us all. To think only yesterday we had lamented the coming of a less-than-packed day, wishing for more excitement.
Careful what you wish for…
Tomorrow’s Chronicle:
The sun sets on the Cloud:
Continue reading Greenland – Day 6 here.