September 17th - Qaqortoq, Greenland

Entered the harbor this morning to wet and dark skies. Decided to head on
out early and beat the crowds - the ship is carrying 2,000+ passengers, and
this town only has a population of 3,200. Spent a couple of hours here and
headed back to the ship as the masses of people were heading over in the
tenders to the village.

According to the propaganda, one can be "tricked into thinking that this is
a sub-arctic Riviera, a special Greenlandic version with icebergs in the bay
and frolicking whales in the fjord, instead of sandy beaches, palm trees and
over-population". No amount of hocus-pocus would ever have me thinking
that.

Spent the morning exploring the town, which looks somewhat like a Lego land
village, with its' colorful, square houses and apartments. This town even
has a hotel that they claim is a 4-star establishment. I was amazed by the
number of vehicles in the village - in Greenland, one can only reach another
village by boat or air - there are no roads connecting them,

The highlight was at the fish market, seeing the whale meat and blubber -
was not tempted to take a taste.

September 16th - Prince Christian Sund

Spent the day sailing though through this network of islands, narrow
channels and fjords. Prince Christain Sund is between the mainland and the
island of Sanmisoq, its' Greenlandic name means long channel.

As we entered the eastern end of the sound there were some houses and
antenna masts at the weather station, occupied by five "lucky" people all
year round.

The 66 mile journey took the entire day. We sailed passed icebergs,
glaciers and mountains up to 5,000 feet high.

In the afternoon we made a "pizza delivery" at the Aappilattoq settlement.
In addition to the pizza, donations of produce, food and clothing were
delivered to the 130 people who live here. One gentleman and his three
children came out, waving and smiling as they circled the ship.

As the ship exited the sound and headed out to the open sea, I made my first
whale sighting, hope it is not my last.