Susan had always wanted to visit Lapland in winter. But when she discovered that it would be very cold up there, she modified her goal.

Thus on September 17th, 2023, a chartered Airbus took us from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq, a former U.S. Air force base in southeast Greenland.

This was not our first time in Greenland. We first visited in 2011 on a cruise from Spitsbergen to Iceland by way of Greenland (see The Arctic and Iceland on this website). At that time we visited a village on the East Coast and also did some hiking on shore. The second time, in 2013, we were on our way to the Northwest Passage and flew into Greenland where we spent very little time. It is indeed a fascinating country (we are calling it a country though it is still a territory of Denmark).

From the Air Force base we traveled by school bus on Greenland’s longest road (10 miles) to the coast, where we boarded our first Zodiac. Note: on landing we set our watches ahead two hours. Later we set them back an hour; later still. Forward thirty minutes. After that, we just guessed.

ZODIACS are sturdy, hard rubber inflatable rafts. Our ship had about 16 of them, which each can take 10 passengers. They sit on the pontoons. A crew members drives the 60 h.p. Yamaha outboard motors, which can produce a good speed.

From the Zodiac, we boarded the Ocean Endeavour, run by our tour company, Adventure Canada. The ship was built in Poland in 1981 and passed through many hands before Adventure Canada’s. It is currently registered in Madeira. It is slightly larger than the ships we have taken on other polar voyages. It is nearly 500 feet long and 70 wide. It can hold 199 passengers (we had only 169) and more than 100 crew. A small swimming pool was closed, but a Jacuzzi was much enjoyed by Susan. There were a couple of sub-groups: Road Scholars and Wild Women.The ship can make 15 knots. We were welcome on the bridge most of the time.

Adventure Canada is a small company in the “leisure cruise” world, family owned. Their first trip to the Labrador Coast and the Torngat Mountains of Nunatsiavut in 1995. What was notable to us was the number of Inuit staff on board, in addition to the scientists and wildlife specialists we’ve come to expect on trips like this. Staff were actively encouraged to eat meals with the guests and we had a lot of opportunity to talk with them. The older Inuit among them talked about the history of being sent to residential schools which in the Canada Arctic, the last of which did not close until 1997. Several staff onboard had experience at the schools, or had older siblings who had lost much of their heritage and connections to family and community. We were on the boat on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation which was discussed and commemorated.

Our cabin was the nicest we have had—two of each: beds, tv screens, windows. There was also a comfortable seating area. We declined an “upgrade” to a larger cabin with a queen bed, more space and an view obstructed by a lifeboat. This improvement would have cost us $2000 each.

Following the safety evacuation drill, we had our first on-board dinner. The food was fairly good—it cannot be easy to furnish three meals a day for 169 passengers plus crew. Breakfast and lunch were buffets. Dinners were a choice of appetizers, soups, mains and desserts. Mains were an option of fish, meat and vegetarian, with pasta, grilled chicken and salmon in reserve. Also afternoon tea and appetizers.

I found the ship’s configuration confusing: long yellow-walled corridors with cabins on both sides. I got lost a number of times. Once encountered a man blocking my way. When I moved, he did the same. When I extended a palm, so did he. Eventually I realized that I was looking at a full-length mirror.

Our first outing was a zodiac tour of the Kangerlussuaq Fjord. The surrounding rock and snow mountains were spectacular. The water was full of growlers (ice fragments), which had to be avoided. A seal was perched atop one of them. The temperature, as it remained our first week, was in the thirties.

The next day we had sailed to Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. Its population, mainly Inuit, is 20,000 (the entire country has about 57,000). Here we had our only off-board meal, an excellent fish and fish stew. We skipped another menu item: hot sled dog (actually musk ox).

Then we left Greenland, sailing southwest across the Davis Strait to Labrador. Landings there were all by zodiac .because there were no facilities for a ship of our size. Here’s the drill for a “wet landing”: dress in layers, ending with the blue wind breaker, a gift of the company, and your rain pants. Proceed down to the mud room (happily not muddy) for your locker, which holds tall rubber boots and a life jacket. When your turn is called, descend the short gangway to be helped into the zodiac. Sit on the pontoon and try not to feel cold. In about ten minutes the front of the zodiac hits shore, and out you go. Do not fall in, as I did in the Antarctic. (We chose not to participate in the polar swim.)

A highlight of our several ventures in Labrador was a close sighting of a polar bear. Fortunately she was on shore while we were afloat. She walked along, showing merely a moderate interest in us. You do not want to be too proximate to a polar bear, especially a hungry one. Take precautions (see next paragraph).

Before we could make a Labrador landing, the area had to be scanned for polar bears. If one was sighted, we had to find a different place. This happened twice. Otherwise crew members, in some cases armed, “established a perimeter” of safety for us. In orange jackets, they guarded a square mile or more of terrain. The turf was at times boggy; some of us kept on our rubber boots, while others chose hiking shoes. There were faint trails; you could go where you wanted. There were no trees (and wouldn’t be until father south). The mountains resembled very high hills. They were snowless, but wouldn’t be much longer. We spent three nights on the boat in the Torngat National Park .

By September 26 the temperatures had warned a little, and we saw our first trees. We visited Nain, the most northerly community in Labrador. As communities go, it’s pretty small—population 1200. There are no paved roads. No hospital. If you get really sick, you must be flown 1.5 hours to Goose Bay. A nickel mine is 22 miles away; workers go back and forth by air.

In winter it can be thirty degrees below zero. We visited its one high school and gym. Also a large Moravian church. (Farther north we had seen the ruins of small Moravian communities.?) The Moravian Church had an enormous influence on Labrador, setting up missions in tiny villages and attracting Inuit because of the trading centers that they established. They always came with brass instruments and there’s a continuing tradition of brass bands among the Inuit in Labrador! We were welcomed in Nain by a brass band.

On ship, passengers often gathered in the Nautilus Lounge, where drinks could be bought (they were not free, as they had been on our 2022 cruise). In the lounge were talks and pictures of a geological, nautical and cultural nature. There we also had nightly briefings about the next day’s events. It was here on September 21st that we learned of the first Covid case (there would be nine more). Those afflicted were confined to their cabins but permitted ashore, masked, on their own zodiac.

Soon we were off the coast of Newfoundland. We made a morning stop at Anse_aux_Meadows , which we had visited in 2009. It is the oldest Norse settlement in North America. The nest afternoon we ventured on an “intermediate hike” in the Terra Nova Park. It was a lovely three-plus miles return along the water, ending in a modest waterfall. The trail has little uphill, but was crossed by tree roots. You had to watch your step. Although modest, the hike was enough for me. We were rewarded afterwards by an impromptu singing session by crew members, with guitars and other instruments.

Then came the end: a dramatic sail in the channel into St. John’s, Newfoundland’s capital, which has grown to a population of over 200,000. It was incomparably the most urban place we had seen in two weeks. We spent some time after disembarkation at the Rooms, a fine cultural center and museum. It was Sunday, and the town was remarkably quiet. No polar bears.

Addendum: On arrival at Toronto before the flight to Greenland, we were met by Jeff Pychel (Canadian), one of the many friends we had made on our first polar trip, in 2011. He very kindly drove us south to Niagara Falls, where we had not been for many years. We walked a half mile through a disused hydro tunnel for a great view of the falls from below. The volume of water is overwhelming.