Arctic Journey: Nuuk

July 26th began overcast and rainy, but fortunately, this did not cancel any landings; the Explorer was still sailing towards Nuuk, population about 16,000 and the capital of Greenland. Several presentations were given before lunchtime.

First, Eyal Aronoff  -- founder of Quest Software (acquired by Dell), co-founder of Fuel Freedom, and autism activist -- gave a talk, Ending Our Oil Addiction, which made the point that humanity won't end its oil fossil addition by regulation or by fiat, by but developing less expensive alternative fuels. It was truly an eye-opener. Then the National Geographic photographers Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Coulson gave a talk (with lots of photos) of their assignments over the years, which was much fun.

After lunch we arrived in Nuuk, with overcast skies and intermittent drizzle.

Not the best day to show off the town, but we did what we could. Possibilities arranged for us were a city tour by bus, shuttles to/from the Greenland National Museum, and kaffemik (a visit involving coffee or tea and Greenlandic cake) with a Nuuk family. Joan and I had time for the city tour and the museum -- "Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu" in Greenlandic.

The city tour took us over all the major routes in Nuuk. We drove past or around the space-limited Nuuk airport, the nine-hole golf course, the University of Greenland (est. 1987), Queen Ingrid's Hospital, and through the newest developments in Qinngorput, middle right on this map, where Nuuk plans to expand. Due to the weather and the bus windows, I didn't take any usable photos during this jaunt. 

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Joan and I disembarked at the National Museum, where we spent some time. Although photos were allowed the lighting was barely sufficient, and sometimes insufficient, for my point-and-shoot (or, as I learned on this trip, "aim-and-create") camera. Here is a picture of a typical Greenlandic dwelling interior.

There is no timber in Greenland, but as this sign explains, traditionally the Inuit collected driftwood that originated in Siberia.

The transportation building (kayaks, umiaks, dog sleds) gave me the opportunity for a few photos (click to enlarge).

There is a variety of style and innovation amongst the kayaks.

The area exhibiting dress and costume had wonderful clothing and gear on display, but lacked much explanation of the different pieces. It was fun to look at, but without explanation, we weren't tempted to linger.

Other photographs from the museum:

Interesting artwork with figures that, superficially, look grotesque but perhaps represent different spirits, emotions, or mythical figures.

The most moving part of the museum was the exhibit of the "Greenland (Qilakitsoq) mummies." These mummies were discovered in 1972 and have been dated to 1460. The six women, one boy, and one baby were buried under rocks and essentially freeze-dried in the cold and windy conditions. Their 78 pieces of clothing were also highly preserved. Half of the mummies are here, including the baby, and the others are currently at the Danish National Museum.

The mummies are displayed in a separate, black-walled room, kept in a large climate-controlled case that fills half the space, or so it seems. It is a very touching sight, and it inspired a reflective, somber mood in me. Although I could have, I did not take any photographs here. It seemed inappropriate, too superficial and perhaps "touristy."

We sailed from Nuuk and then, after dinner, landed in a fjord that the expedition staff recalled from the Explorer's previous trip to Greenland; in 2008 they had located the foundations of a Norse longhouse here. At the beginning all we found was an earth-sheltered cattle barn.

Joan is practicing the "Greenland wave." The bugs were out in force this evening, and although they didn't bite, they enjoyed landing on uncovered skin. Take a deep breath and you would get a tiny protein-rich snack, but having just had dinner, I kept waving. This is why south Greenlanders have a reputation for being friendly -- they are waving all the time.

Here is the interior of the barn.

This barn didn't look very Norse, so several of us tromped on through willows and high grass in search of the longhouse, stopping occasionally for photographs.

Joan and I and a couple of others tromped pretty far, but we never found anything. Given the bugs and the lack of directions to the supposed Norse longhouse, folks began drifting back to the cafe/bar of the small holiday resort that had been established here (center of the photo below, click to enlarge). Some of us had never gone further than the bar.

It was finally decided that the longhouse foundation wasn't visible any more, and possibly the barn had been built over it. Possibly. Eventually we all straggled back to the Explorer, which resumed its northward course. We're almost back to the Arctic Circle.