After such an unimaginable day exploring Disko Island and Eqip Sermia, we woke as much as views of the magnificent Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland.
It’s not too far (when it comes to nautical miles), possibly round 150 miles from Eqip Sermia. This meant we had way more time to discover Ilulissat after anchoring up.
Now, the Ilulissat Icefjord is a UNESO-protected web site, and with good cause. From what I keep in mind, it’s an space for glacial runoff, contributing to 4% of the world’s water. So, as you possibly can think about, there’s plenty of ice.
Now, what makes the world round Ilulissat much more particular is that there’s a glacial ‘ledge’ or ‘deposit’ of sediment and rocks that traps plenty of the calving glacial items from transferring into the open ocean round Disko Bay.
To place it merely, colossal icebergs get trapped within the lagoon round Ilulissat, and you find yourself seeing huge icebergs the scale of mountains, and that’s no exaggeration. It’s mindblowing and a form of iceberg site visitors jam.
So, with all this data in hand, we hopped on a trusted zodiac to take us to the jetty in Ilulissat city itself.
Ilulissat is a city that, by Greenlandic requirements, is fairly massive. By UK or US requirements, you’d think about it a big village or small city.
You may spend an hour or so wandering Ilulissat, testing the enduring purple church and visiting the native shops. These promote tupilak (see image under) or soapstone figures, each of that are nice souvenirs from Greenland.
Nevertheless, Ilulissat’s foremost drawer is the Icefjord.
We had deliberate to e book a ship tour by the icebergs in Disko Bay through Albatros Expeditions. Nevertheless, we’d left it too late to e book, and all of the areas had been stuffed. So, after arriving in Ilulissat, we took a stroll by the city and headed to Ilulissat Journey.
These guys organise excursions in and round Ilulissat and Disko Bay, and so they have heaps to select from. We popped in, and so they had been instantly accessible for a personal RIB tour of the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland.
We jumped on the change, and we had been so grateful they’d last-minute availability.
The RIB tour, by the best way, was unimaginable.
We spent the subsequent hour weaving between the colossal icebergs, and it was so extreme. The truth is, we had the entire lagoon to ourselves; it was magical, and the views had been simply spectacular.
As you possibly can see, the icebergs are completely large, so naturally, you don’t sail too near them. In spite of everything, a calving or spinning iceberg (or perhaps a growler) could be very harmful inside the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland.
The tour was epic, and I can’t suggest Ilulissat Journey sufficient. Better of all, you possibly can e book their excursions on-line if you happen to’re visiting Greenland, so that you received’t need to take care of the panic and stress we skilled when reserving on the final minute.
So, with the solar shining as soon as once more (we obtained lucky with the climate), we walked from Ilulissat’s harbour space in the direction of the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre and boardwalk.
Now, the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre seems spectacular, however I can’t say I felt it was the perfect use of this stunning house. It has a small espresso store (with nice espresso) and an intimate exhibition for which you pay a small charge, however aside from that, it felt slightly ‘misplaced’.
I don’t say that negatively, by the best way; the house is gorgeous, but it surely didn’t actually serve any function aside from getting a espresso and cake (each of which had been nice, by the best way).
Nevertheless, the latter (the boardwalk) is a should.
The Ilulissat Boardwalk covers the protected floor across the Ilulissat Icefjord, serving to to preserve the pure atmosphere and restrict guests’ influence on this UNESCO-protected space. For that reason, you don’t go away the boardwalk till you attain the perspective overlooking the bay itself.
After strolling by the inexperienced expanse, traditionally created by the glacier, we reached the coast.
The stroll alongside the boardwalk took round quarter-hour, however naturally, we had been very gradual and devoured each second of the views alongside the best way. On the finish of the boardwalk, we headed up the picket stairs (which the boardwalk results in). The views hit me like a brick wall. The icebergs had been big, colossal, in truth. I needed to maintain reminding myself that the icebergs had been strong ice – they had been like mountains.
We spent a superb 45 minutes right here. Sitting on the rocks, watching the views and seeing the icebergs lodged within the channel in Disko Bay. It was mesmerising and completely stunning.
Because the late afternoon approached, we strolled again to Ilulissat and headed to our pick-up level to catch our Zodiac again to Ocean Albatros. The sunshine was nonetheless unimaginable, so we shortly hopped onto the decking space of Lodge Hvide Falk. It was nonetheless chilly (round 8c), however we wrapped up heat and had a glass of wine overlooking Disko Bay.
Very quickly in any respect, it was time to depart the Ilulissat Icejord In Greenland. Time has whizzed by right this moment. So, with that, we hopped on the Zodiac again to Ocean Albatros and headed straight for dinner on the onboard restaurant.
With full tummies, we headed for mattress to get up vibrant and early for tomorrow’s journey in Itilleq.
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