Monday 3 August 2009

Uummannaq and Ukkusissat


Heart-shaped Uummannaq mountain looms above the town of Uummannaq. Indeed, the word uummannaq is Greenlandic for heart-shaped. Each week we hike right by that impressive piece of rock and head into the ruggged rocky wilderness behind the picturesque community. As we head out of town we pass by many Greenland dogs, one of the oldest and purest dog breeds in the world. And each week 5 or 6 young Greenland dogs choose to accompany us on our hike to Santa's Hut. Without fail they run ahead - showing us the way. If we lag behind, they patiently sit and wait for us to catch up. At Santa's turf hut they either seek shade under the hut or soak up attention from all of the hikers.
After a great day in Uummannaq we turned our bow north to Ukkusissat. One of the many great things about our voyage in Greenland is the unrelenting spectacular scenery. The many large windows on the Fram and especially the Fram's Panorama Lounge allow us to take full avantage of the great views throughout the trip.
Upon arrival in Ukkusissat more than 40 people from town joined us on the ship where they entertained us with folk dancing and singing. On the last dance we were invited to join them on the dance floor. We gamely tried to learn the dance steps without treading on our partner too many times! What fun!!
Afterwards we were invited into the village where we were offered coffee and cake in the community hall.
A perfect end to anothe perfect summer's day in Greenland.