Aug 14 Tasiilaq Greenland

This post has been delayed because internet service has been sporadic, slow and incapable of loading pictures.  This is probably due to the high latitudes we've been at, since the ships internet service is done through satellites.  Not as many satellites at high latitudes as near the equator.  Or maybe the internet gods have chosen to punish us.

We went to Greenland, but not where we expected.  After leaving Iceland the captain announced that there would be fierce storms along Greenland's southern coast during our transit so he decided to not visit the two ports in western Greenland and instead go to Tasiilaq in eastern Greenland, avoiding the south coast.  I don't know what the weather was like south of Greenland, but we didn't face anything other than some bumpy seas on our trip to Greenland.

Very foggy and wet as we arrive in Tasiilaq.

 Colorful houses barely seen through the fog.  We came through a narrow passage into the harbor and I think the captain had a man with a white cane at the bow to find the path.  I couldn't see the shore until we were well into the narrow part. (and yes, that it a little ice berg in the foreground)

 We tendered ashore, barely able to see the tender dock when we left the ship.

 Tasillaq is a town of about 2000 built in a hilly area.  There were no flat roads, only uphill and downhill.

 Favorite picture of the trip so far:  Clothes and fishing drying side by side.  Image what the clothing smells like after drying....but they may be a good smell for Greenlanders.  And given the humidity, how did anything get dry?

 Old church, now a museum.

 We visited a grocery store which was about the size of a convenience store.  The town is supplied totally by ships which arrive about every three months, with a long spell during winter when the harbor is frozen.  Here at the height of summer -- temps approaching 50F -- the store was well stocked with the essentials of life.

 Greenland is part of Denmark, and I could spend Danish Kroner to buy a postcard.

 The town square.   There is no mass transit, but during our 3-hour walk about town I saw about 5 different taxis.  The whole town is probably only 2 miles end-to-end, so just a little help for people carrying groceries.  There were no stop signs or traffic signals.

 Trampolining must be the town's chosen sport. Notice the rack of drying fish

 Lupine grows well here

 An active church.  Doors were closed but through the windows we could see an open, simple layout that was very Scandinavian. 

 The yacht basin.  Some pleasure craft and some fishing boats.  And lots of containers.

 For those times when the taxis can't operate.

 The children of the town came marching past the tender dock.  I wonder if they were brought down to see the big cruise ship?

 The harbor is complete with icebergs, although significantly smaller than the Titanic wrecking size.

 Later in the afternoon, the fog had mostly lifted and I did a panorama from the ship's deck, looking towards the city.

 Very colorful housing, probably necessary for those long dark winters.

 Panorama taken from the other side of the ship, showing the other side of the harbor.

 Late afternoon flyby from a Vietnam era helicopter.  Tasiilaq is not connected with any other towns via road, only sea.  We read that helicopters serve an important intercity travel need.

Tasilaaq is not a place I would want to live.  Cold in the summer and probably unbearable in the winter, isolated and dark.  Yet people live here willingly and enjoy it, living off the fish they can catch.  Much of the population is Inuit.