QAQORTOQ

I was looking forward to returning to Qaqortoq, Greenland. When we had been there before on the Grand Princess, the town had several special events planned. An elderly kayaker showed off his fishing techniques by leaping off the bridge into the harbor several meters below while strapped in his kayak, doing flips showing how easy it was to fool large fish by hiding behind the kayak, sneaking up to within arm’s length to pierce their prey, all the while staying absolutely dry in the below-freezing elements.

The new church on the hill had a chorus of local Inuit singers in native dress performing a nice concert. One could chat with them afterwards, learning about local customs and dress design by the Inuit women.

These attractions were not available this time. There were two smaller ships in the harbor, the Ocean Princess and the Saga Ruby. There are always a lot of local elderly townspeople out and about to welcome visitors. A lot of people headed to the Old Church (Savior’s Church) just a short walk from the Town Square. Another popular spot was the General Store, filled with boxes of modern appliances, all fresh from the supply ship’s delivery from Denmark. One has an opportunity to meet a lot of friendly Inuits and people of Danish heritage who live there. Katrina said she hoped to see me when we returned 10 days later from St. Anthony’s, Newfoundland, but needed to return to Denmark to meet family members.

Yes, it is possible to get a sunburn in Greenland. The temperature was a good 86 F with the sun beating down.

I will include photos in August. (I really have spent a lot of time retouching the photos of stone carvings to remove the graffiti which appeared after my last visit.)