Qaqortoq, Greenland

After our transit through the Prince Christian Sound, we arrive at Qaqortoq, Greenland. The population in Qaqortoq is only about 3,500 people. When our ship arrives, we double the population of Greenland.

The Vikings discovered South Greenland just before the year 1000. For approximately 500 years, the Norsemen lived in the area and for some unknown reason have vanished.

The only way to visit Qaqortoq is by ship or helicopter. The Artic Umiaq Line's coastal passenger shp from North Greenland lands once a week. So, this makes our visit a big deal.

Because so few go to Qaqortoq, the dock facilities are very small and we have to go into town by a ships tender. 

It is beautiful, sunny day in Greenland. We have been so blessed with good weather this whole cruise.

They have one store on the dock, which is also the welcome center.

On the dock, several members of the community are dressed in traditional seal skins and welcome us. Everyone is happy to see us and in broken English welcome us to the village.

As you can see, the village sits on a hillside.

There are no excursions in this town as they have no buses and only 4 taxis. We go up a little hill towards the community center were we are told will be some entertainment.

It is a small town square with a small fountain, the oldest fountain in town.

I got a nice shot of the Carnival Legend in the background of the fountain.

Locals started playing some music and all of a sudden many, many school children showed up in the square. We thought they were going to perform for us, but I guess they were just out on a field trip to see all the visitors.

We walked over the bridge and took more shots of the community.

We found more children out on a small jetty.

After pushing the wheelchair up and down a couple of hills, I decided it was time to go back to the ship as I didn’t want any more hills.

As we were waiting to go back to the ship, one of the passengers mentioned that there was a fur store around the dock and it was not up or down any hills. We decided to go around and found the Great Greenland Fur House.

The business is owned by the community and they primarily use only seal skins for there products. They purchase 55,000 seal skins from all over Greenland and then complete all other activities in Qaqortoq. That may seem like a lot of skins, but they have over 2 million seals on the island each year. Plus, the remainder of the seals not used purchased, are used by the local inhabitants for survival. They either eat or use every part of the seal to survive in this hostile environment.

They also gave us an educational tour about the variety of animals around the island and a fashion show of various fur items.

I found another mailbox. I think I have a thing about mailboxes.

Here is a small traditional dress for girls.

  

As we travel back to the dock I had a chance to take another picture of the housing. They use colorful paints because for much of the year it is either a white or dark community.

As we leave Qaqortoq, a couple ore icebergs to remind us of the cold temperatures in the area.

There wasn’t much to do here, but it was simply amazing that we were able to walk in Greenland. We had been warned that should the weather turn bad, this stop would be passed. Luckily, we had great weather.

Can you imagine, I walked in Greenland. What a story.

I must be off.