Day 5 May 18 Ittoqqortoormiit
Today, I signed up for a guided walk at 9:45 am on the ice with a naturalist. I put on the snowshoes which were heavy for me. I walked too slowly and eventually I left the group and walked on my own back to the village. It took me an hour to get there and I was relieved to take off the snowshoes. I went to explore the village on my own. I spent some time in the museum, visited the church and walked to the school. I also went to the supermarket to see what are available and the price. I found the price for basic daily necessities comparable to those in Denmark. But there are few choices.
As it would be too strenuous to walk back, Alex, the expedition leader, kindly took me back on a snow mobile. So, I was able to return to the ship without hassle and enjoyed a nice lunch at Restaurant NUNA.
I was tired and had a nap after lunch. Then I spent time on ice with lovely local children coming to visit the ship. Then the local boys had a football match with the expedition team members. Good fun! At 5:45pm I watched a movie “Polar Kid” which is a story of Loic Blaise, a French aviator who at 34 in 2014 was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He did not give up. Instead, he took off in 2017 to Far North of Russia and Greenland aboard a prototype ultralight seaplane: Polar Kid. In 2018, he together with a Russian cosmonaut and test pilot Valery Tokarev successfully completed the first round-the-world flight around the Arctic Circle aboard Polar Kid. A moving life story!
In the evening, I attended a guitar show by Wilhelm Danielsen, a musician from Ittoqqortoormiit. He is a self-taught musician who composes and writes poems. Not too many guests turned up. But I hope and believe our presence is an encouragement for him. I wish him success!
Day 6 May 19 Ittoqqortoormiit (am) and Sailing (pm)
We spent the morning in Ittoqqortoormiit so that the last group of guests could have their dog-sledge experience and village visit. I had a lazy morning and took this opportunity to practice cross-country ski. I had tried to learn downhill and cross-country ski when living in Europe between 1987 and 1990. I found walking with ski was definitely easier than the snowshoes with less weight on the hips. I was glad that I completed a small loop without falling.
We set sail after lunch and were very lucky to spot a playful young female bear not too far from the ship (5th sighting). I watched this curious, and lovely bear roaming freely, rolling over and over again and posing for us from 3:30 to 3:55pm. I took some 110 photos! At 4 pm, I attended a lecture “Hunting in Greenland, how and why” by Julien Caquineau who lived in Greenland for 17 years and was a hunter. Hunting and fishing are the way of life of the locals. As long as hunting is controlled and not for commercial purposes, I see no objection: these activities are essential for them to get sufficient nutrients/food for cold weather and to keep their lifestyle and culture. We had a recap too. After dinner, I enjoyed a concert performed by Aleksandr Bocharov, a classical pianist.
Day 7 May 20 Davy Sound, Northeast Greenland National Park
We began sailing along the coast of the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s largest national park. First established in 1974 and famous for its serenity and pristine natural beauty with unique geology, landscape and wildlife, it now has an area of 972,000 km² with no permanent population. An estimated 5,000 to 15,000 musk oxen, numerous polar bears, walrus, Arctic fox and hare, Greenland wolf, seals, narwhal, and beluga whale are found near the coastal regions of the park.
Today’s highlight was the Davy Sound, a spectacular sound discovered and mapped in 1822 by Sir Humphry Davy. Stretching about 20 km long and 12 km wide and serving as a gateway to the inner fjord networks, this strait connects the Greenland Sea to King Oscar Fjord while geographically separating the Jameson Land peninsular on the mainland from the southwestern coast of the large Trail Island.
At 9 am, we had a lecture by Laura Jourdan on “50 Shades of Sea Ice”. She gave a good and illustrative presentation that helped me recapping the various types of ice I have seen since my first voyage to the Antarctica in 1999. After the talk, I had great fun trying in the Main Lounge to get into a safety immersion suit in case of emergency. The outfit is simply too heavy and difficult to put on by myself.
Then we heard announcement of an Arctic fox and a bear. When I managed to put on warm clothing and take my camera, I was just in time to catch a glimpse of the fox on Deck 5. I managed to take two photos. But no bear was in sight! As I was already dressed up, I decided to go up to the Observatory Lounge on Deck 9. As soon as I walked into the lounge, I realised the bear was just sitting in front of the bow. It must have been around for a while. In any case, I was lucky to catch a glimpse before it walked away (6th sighting).
The ship was docked in packed ice. Some went out on polar hike, while others took walks of different levels. I was content with a short walk and spent time in the pool for my daily aqua exercise. I also attended a talk by Mike Louagie, Photo Ambassador on “The ABC of Photography”. A comprehensive check list for ease of reference! After having heard such talks many times during expeditions, I remain a poor photo-taker without techniques or skills.
Tonight there was an Officers Cocktail and Gala Dinner. Maria and Heidi preferred to skip formal events. So, I joined my friends Alison, Neil and others for a sumptuous delicious dinner. After dinner, I watched a show “Piaf Eternal” with timeless classics of Edith Piaf.
Day 8 May 21 Northeast Greenland National Park
I attended a conversation on polar bears given by Marc and Axel. Then the Captain announced the sighting of walrus. We rushed out and watched for over half an hour. Unfortunately, we could only see a dark brown patch on ice: it was sleeping and not moving at all. The Captain finally decided to move on.
We had all sorts of activities on ice after lunch. Some went off for a polar hike of four and a half hours. Others took long and medium hike while I was happy to take an easy and relaxing walk of an hour and a hour with Fanny, a passionate naturalist. She stopped frequently and explained the flora and fauna in the area, rock formation etc. It was sunny and hot: I was boiling as I had too many layers on! I was back on the boat before 4 pm and had time to spend half an hour in the indoor pool before dinner.
The ship always arrange something to entertain the guests. Today, we had “Tasting Of Pata Negra” and Spanish music and dance on Deck 9 at 6:45pm. The sun was shining and everyone was in a joyful mood drinking champagne and tasting Spanish charcuterie. After dinner, the Captain announced “bear” (7th sighting): I stayed on Deck 9 till 10:30pm enjoying the white world while watching three bears (a mom and cub in one location and an adult bear at the foot of a hill) and four muskox. But, they were so far away that I could only manage to see them with the aid of binoculars set up by experts.
Day 9 May 22 Bontekoe Island, Northeast Greenland National Park
We spent a day close to Bontekoe Island. My zodiac cruise was scheduled at 10:15 am. I had a leisure breakfast on Resturant Sila with full view of the white icy world with the sea in pastel blue colour: unearthly empty, serene and beautiful! While waiting for the zodiac cruise, I heard others talking about a bear near the shore. We were cruising when our zodiac driver Anne announced sighting of the bear that was moving towards us. We all got excited. Indeed, it came into full view at 10:45am (8th sighting) and we spent the next 30 minutes following it. At one time, it might be less than 100 metres from the zodiac and I took 120 photos! It was incredible to be so close to this majestic polar king!
In the afternoon, I attended a lecture by Fanny Thibon on “Fjords and Glaciers of Greenland”, which is informative and a good introduction of the land formation of Greenland where some 80% of the land is covered by ice and glaciers. We still had time for free roaming off the ship on ice from 3 pm to 6:30pm. I used the ski and took a short walk for an hour. At 6 pm, I watched my friends taking the polar plunge. They had perfect conditions for a plunge: sunny and not windy. I have done this three times ending with a scaring experience on West Greenland in 2015. After getting into the water off a beach, I temporarily lost my eyesight for half an hour: all things were out of focus. I did not know the cause and wondered whether the nerve of the eyes or the brain had a shock from the freezing water. In the evening, I saw a show”Beyond the dreams”.
Day 10 May 23 Vega Sund, Northeast Greenland National Park
We sailed towards the Vega Sund in the morning. At 11 am, I attended a lecture by Alison Thieffry on “Greenland:Why foes it capture global attention?” Greenland has indeed been in international spotlight since President Trump wanted to buy it from Denmark. People of Greenland who want to be independent, have made clear that Greenland is not for sale. In the complex geopolitical world of today, it is not easy for a small population occupying a vast territory of security importance to find its feet. Its political future is closely under global gaze.
As usual we had a recap today by Alex at 6:45pm and other naturalists. After dinner, I went to the Main Lounge for Anna Rita Scano’s solo musical performance “Dolce Vita”. Great atmosphere!
Day 11 May 24 Cape Brewster
The Captain and the expedition team decided to spend time at Cape Brewster where we could find icebergs. I attended the 9:30 am lecture “Jean-Baptiste Charcot, the polar gentleman” by Oriane Laromiguiere. I had watched the film before and this talk furthered my understanding about his background, aspirations and achievements. Then we saw a mom and her cub after the lecture (9th sighting).
At 2:20pm, we had a zodiac cruise to see icebergs and bird cliffs. We saw many many auks on the cliff and some guillemots on water. Unfortunately I did not have my camera nor binoculars with me and missed the only opportunity to take a closer look at the auks. On the way back to the ship, we were told an arctic fox (2nd fox) was at the bottom of the cliff. We got there just in time to see it running down the cliff.
We had recap followed by Caviar Tasting before dinner! At 9:30pm, there was a concert “History of Jazz”. I know little about music. But I enjoy the lively and moving rhythms and spontaneous improvisation. Then we had a great time watching a big male bear with blood on its shoulder, front and back paws coming up to our ship at sunset (10th sighting). Incredibly beautiful sunset!
Day 12 May 25 Scoresby Sund
We had activities on land in the morning. The expedition team set up the perimeter where we could walk up to the glacier using ski or snowshoes. The round trip might be 5km. My group did not get ashore till 10:45am. As I found the snowshoes heavy, I walked even more slowly. I walked less than 1 km before heading back as we were supposed to return to the boat by 12:30pm. Anyway, it was too strenuous for my hip and knee which had problem in the afternoon. I conclude it would be my last time to walk with the snowshoes! I would be better off with my own snow boots.
While having lunch, we discovered a bear on ice floe not far from the boat. We all rushed out with our camera and watched it swimming a great distance to reach another ice floe (11th sighting). At 3pm, I attended a talk by Zhou Li, a Chinese naturalist on Ponant who has lived in Greenland and really knows about life in this remote part of the world. Interesting! We had a recap at 4:30pm. In the evening, I watched the show “I-40 Tennessee Connection”.
Day 13 May 26 Kangertiva Fjord
Before 8 am, the Captain announced excitedly the sighting of a mom and two cubs (12th sighting). I put on warm clothes and went to Deck 5. They were far away and the cubs huddled together while the mom lied down in another spot and not next to the cub. While we were watching the bears, an Arctic fox (3rd one) appeared and roamed around. After half an hour, the two cubs got up and moved to lie down close to the mom. No action! I went to Restaurant Sila (Deck 9) for breakfast with the bears in sight. No movement yet. I thought I should move to the Observatory Lounge on Deck 9 to keep on eye on the bears. Before I even arrived at the lounge, the three bears got up and were walking away. I followed them for another 20 minutes. It was freezing and I returned to my cabin.
According to the plan, we could roam free for the last time on ice from 11am to 1 pm. I planned to attend a lecture at 11 am before taking my last walk on ice. Guillaume Mercier gave a brief but comprehensive overview on “Greenland’s seabirds, sentinels of the oceans”. They include auk, fulmer, kittiwake, tern, guillemot, and gull. I enjoyed the lecture and put on warm clothes ready for the walk. Then I discovered the plan was changed as the mom and cubs had returned: they were less shy and were walking towards the boat. I had time to take a good look at the three bears before they walked away and disappeared in a distance. The cubs looked so cute and curious! I was happy to finally see a mom and two cubs.
I had delicious grilled lobster on Deck 9 for lunch. At 2:30pm, I was in the theatre again for a presentation of the scientific project by the scientific team on board. Each of them talked about their area of research including the auks and showed us a film on their ice-diving. We were taken by surprise when seeing a gigantic Greenland shark of over 3 metre-long on the screen! They were also surprised by the appearance of the shark in this part of East Greenland.
After the talk, the Captain announced in a thrilling voice the sighting of a mom and two cubs (13th sighting). By the time I put on warm clothes and got to Deck 5, I only had a quick glimpse of three of them. Then they moved away. We were incredibly lucky to see six in a day! Good-bye Polar Bears!
At 5:15 pm I attended another lecture “Fridtjof Nansen: one man – a thousand lives”. I have learned about his life and achievement as an explorer, scientist and diplomat during my travel in polar regions since 1999. It is still interesting to hear his legendary life from time to time. I rushed to the pool for aqua exercise before joining the Captain’s Farewell Cocktail. As usual we all cheered for the hard working of the Captain and the crew, and the expedition team. Captain’s energy, enthusiasm and passion are captivating. We had been truly lucky with the weather, the scenery and the number of polar bears we had seen.
I went to Restaurant Nuna for the Gala Dinner around 8:30pm by myself as Maria and Heidi went to Deck 9 for a quiet dinner. I sat by myself when a graceful lady in red invited me to sit with her and friends who all happen to Belgian. I told them I had lived and worked in Belgium from 1987 to 1990. They all speak both English, French and Flemish. I indeed had a wonderful and most enjoyable dinner with my new friends. Mike, the Photography Ambassador, was on the table too. I was surprised he had also travelled on Ortelius to the McMurdo Dry Valleys. We talked happily about this unique journey and the flight to the valley on helicopter looking at the amazing geological features, splendid scenery and incredible mummified seal carcass. It was well after 10:30pm when we finished the dinner. I was tired and went to bed instead of joining them for a night cap.
Day 14 May 27 At Sea in the Denmark Strait & Arriving in Reykjavik
Connecting the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic Ocean, the Denmark Strait is a spectacular stretch of sea located between Iceland and Greenland. It is the largest underwater waterfall in the world: as a result of the differences in temperature and salinity, massive amounts of cold dense water sink beneath warmer waters, creating an invisible drop of more than 3,500m. It is also rich in wildlife. However, the weather conditions can be harsh and rough. Indeed, the sea was rough and some passengers including Maria had sea sickness.
We had a busy day getting ready to disembark the following day. We had a final recap of the voyage and watched some clips of the video. After lunch, I saw some 200 photos taken by guests submitted for the photo competition: the five winning photos are amazing! Then we were greeted by many humpback whales, dolphins and birds on our way to Reykjavik. When we arrived at the cruise terminal around 6pm, we were greeted by a band at the pier while having black truffle and champagne in the Observatory Lounge. After dinner, I went ashore for a drink with Karen and Tony, my HK friends from Sydney who would take the following cruise from Reykjavik to Longyearbyen (May 28 – June 13). It was about 11 pm when I was back on the ship. I finished packing and left my suitcase outside before I went to bed.
May 28 Disembarkation in Reykjavik
My wonderful journey came to an end today. I had breakfast at 8am and said goodbye to some friends. Maria and I had to walk 400m to catch a shuttle bus at 9 am to the bus terminal. We boarded the Flybus at 9:30am to the airport. There was not much to do at the airport. My flight to London departed around 4:30pm while Maria had to wait two more hours to fly to Toronto.
Remarks (to add)