One of the attractions of paddling along the shores of East Greenland is the ice. This July we got more than we bargained for. As our flight from Reykjavik to Kulusuk reached the East Greenland coast, we began to get an impression as to how much ice there really was. Just before landing we caught a glimpse of the local harbour. It looked pretty blocked up!
We walked with our 20-25 kilo packs just over a kilometre from Kulusuk airport to a jetty only to find that ice was blocking the way to all but the most determined boat drivers.
After waiting for an hour or so we decided to walk another 3 kilometres into Kulusuk village to find our boat waiting for us in the harbour there. Once we loaded and climbed on board, it took nearly half an hour just to negotiate a route through the thick ice and out of the bay into Ammassalik Fjord.
Once we reached Tasiilaq it was obvious that the ice was going to present a significant problem. We were going to have to think about changing our plans. With all of this ice comes seals and Polar Bears. In fact a Polar bear had taken up residence on an ice floe at the harbour entrance a few days before our arrival. To our relief it had since wandered off back out to sea.
2 comments:
Sounds like you had an exciting start to the expedition, looking forward to hearing and seeing more.
Just found your blog, Jim. Looking forward to revisiting the trip.
Post a Comment