Oceanwide Expeditions

RVR09 Disko Bay - Umanak 2012

RVR09

Day 1 - We arrive in Aasiaat from Reykjavik by chartered plane (flight not included in the voyage cost). Aasiaat, is settlement which was created in the 17th century to support the whaling at the mouth of Disko Bay. Its port is ice free  from late spring to early winter.

Day 2 - Today we sail along the large Jakobshavn Glacier with its enormous icebergs. South of it we climb the hill at Avangnardlit from which we have a fantastic view across the Jakobshavn Isfjord, which is a World Heritage site. In the afternoon we pay a visit to Illulissat if the port is not blocked by ice.

Day 3 - At the north side of Disko Island we land at Kugangup Innarta, a seabird cliff at the east side of a valley with a row of Pingo's (periglacial phenomena), and take a walk into the valley.

Day 4 - At Uummannaq, we approach High Arctic waters. Seal hunting is still an important source of income for the local people and they also have many dogs which haul their sledges in winter. We will also visit the nearby Qilakitsoq site, on the north coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, where some years ago a family of mummified Thule culture people from the 15th Century was found.

Day 5 - We sail to Akugdleq with its fantastic geological formations creating a desert like image. Along the west side of Qaqugdlugssuit, noted for a Fulmar colony, we reach the huge glacier Sermeq Sikardleq where we plan a zodiac excursion along the front.

Day 6 - In the settlement of Uvkusigssat, Alfred Wegener, the great German explorer had his base from where he ventured to the Greenlandic icecap. Later that day we will land at the head of the fjord, where he began his ascent of the icecap. The Scheideck Glacier which 80 years ago ended at the coast has retreated about 10 km inland. In the same area we will see Marmorilik with Black Angel zinc and lead mine high in the mountains.

Day 7 - Sermeq Avanggardleq in the Perdlerfiup Kangerdlua is another glacier which has retreated considerably. It is about a half an hour walk before you come to a stunning lake in which icebergs drift around and where you see huge ice grottos.

Day 8 - Today we circumnavigate Upernivik ø and sail through narrow fjords surrounded by mountains of over 2000m and glaciers at all sides. We land in Illorsuit on Ubekendt Ejland, where the American artist Rockwell Kent made his famous painting of Greenlandic life, a century ago.

Day 9 - We land at Schades øer at the mouth of the Karrats Fjord. The mouth of this fjord is a good area for spotting whales. Later we land on the southern tip of Svartenhuk in a valley with low Arctic tundra full of lakes and geese. Muskoxen have been transferred to this area and have adapted very well.

Day 10 - In the early morning we land at Bjørnefaelden, a Norse ruin at the western tip of Nuussuaq Peninsula.

Day 11 - At Naajat, on the north side of Oqaatsut, we cruise with zodiacs along a Kittiwake colony of more than 10,000 breeding pairs. Near Antlagia we have a fine opportunity to land and watch the Kittiwakes. In the afternoon we sail toward Aasiaat

Day 12 - We arrive in Aasiaat.  At mid-day we fly from Aasiaat to Reykjavik by chartered plane (flight not included in the voyage cost).