Nuuk Boat Tour

Here is a map of the fjords around Nuuk, showing the places we visited on the boat tour. First we sailed up Kapisillit fjord and hiked across the thin bit of land separating the end of Kapisillit fjord from Nuuk fjord, to see the chunks of ice breaking away from the frozen sea and  being swept down the fjord. As the spring has been particularly cold this year, the sea ice was unusually intact. We ate lunch at the top of a hill, with views into both Nuuk and Kapisillit fjords. 

The end of Kapisillit fjord

A piece of ice in the fjord

After this we sailed round the end of the fjord to the settlement of Kapisillit, which means salmon in Kalaallisut. The fjord is known for the large quantity of salmon as well as other fish found there, and the main source of food and income for the settlement is catching and drying fish. We were invited into the home of a friend of our guide, who poured us all cups of strong black coffee and took us over to a world map on his wall so we could show him where we came from. Sitting around his dining table, the questions we asked each other (with our guide as an interpreter) turned into a kind of Compare & Contrast of daily life in Greenland, the UK and Hong Kong (the home of the other person on the tour). 

Our host asked us what we did for work. I explained about being on a gap year, and the work I did for the election before I came away on this trip. The host said: 'Yes, I heard about the election in Britain. I heard the Conservative won, and that is not good, right?' '...Yeah. That sounds about right.' I replied. 'But,' he went on, looking puzzled; 'If he won, most people must have voted for him, so why are they upset?' 'Well - no, actually...' I made an attempt to explain the stupidity of the First Past the Post system, which was made more difficult by speaking through an interpreter. Then he said 'If it doesn't work, why don't you just change it? Very strange.' and changed the subject. (Greenland uses d'Hondt List PR for its general elections)

After leaving Kapisillit, we sailed back down the fjord to Qoorqut, the location of a guesthouse and restaurant only accessible by boat. The restaurant is run by the children of the owners of the Thai restaurant in the centre of Nuuk. We met up with a group of people who had been on a fishing trip in the fjord with the same touring company, and ate chilli fried cod and red snapper which they had caught, as well as curried reindeer. 

By the time we left the restaurant it was fairly late, and the boat ride back to Nuuk was a couple of hours long. According to the timestamp, this photo was taken at 00:02.