Qaqortoq, Greenland

Arriving in Qaqortoq

On Wednesday, August 6, we arrived and docked at Qaqortoq, Greenland, at 3 p.m. on a sunny day with light wind. After we had all our lines secured and had tidied up, we heard someone hailing Mantra. The ferry was arriving, and Shalako's voice carried well across the water, although he could not hear our responses. Peter, Enis and I set off to meet him at the big wharf, but he had disembarked quickly and almost reached the dock where we had tied up. There was a bit of grumbling about no one coming to help him carry his luggage since it contained not only his stuff but some tech and gear for Peter and Enis. Enis took Shalako's large bag and they went to the boat while Peter and I continued into town to clear customs and immigration. 

Shalako hailing us from the ferry from Nuuk

The ferry getting ready to dock

The OCC guidebook told us we needed to go to the post office, but at 4:00 in the afternoon, it was closed. Then Peter checked an email from a boat we keep catching up with and read that they had cleared in at the police station. We walked to the police station and discovered that it is only open 16 hours a week, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. So, we continued to fly our quarantine flag and roamed about freely until the next day.

The city of Qaqortoq visually greets the visitor with an abundance of wildflowers and picturesque single and multi-family dwelling, all rectilineal with no architectural flourishes but with colorful facades in bright shades of blue, red, green and yellow. The oldest public fountain in Greenland (and there are only two) was constructed in 1932 and is named Mindebrønden (Memorial Fountain). The base of the fountain is carved from distinctive Igaliku sandstone, while a bronze gazebo-shaped structure stands in the center, topped by three whales; water spouts from their blowholes. Local children were playing around the fountain. 

Iceland poppies

Small fields of wildflowers among the buildings in town

Children playing around the fountain

Detail of the fountain

Across from the fountain is a statue named "Inuit Woman." Just pass that is the oldest standing building in the historical colonial harbor town, a black-tarred building constructed in 1797. Although the area has been populated since prehistoric times--beginning with the Saqqaq culture about 4,300 years ago, the Dorset people who arrived around 2,800 years ago, the Norse who arrived from Iceland in the late 10th century and stayed for 400 years, and the Thule people who came in the 12th century from the north--the city of Qaqortoq was founded in 1775 by the Dano-Norwegian trader Anders Olsen on behalf of the General Trading Company, which was charged with administering the realm's settlement and trade in Greenland. 

"Inuit Woman" and oldest building in Qaqortoq

Across the non-symmetrical intersection (The craggy rock outcroppings and lack of level land does not lend itself to any organized system of roads.) is a yellow-painted stone structure built in 1804 for the town's blacksmith and now used, along with the black-tarred building, for the town's museum.

Peter by the old blacksmith's shop

More recently created is an open air sculpture gallery depicting native people as well as animals found in the ocean and on the land in Greenland and traditional designs. In 1993 and 1994, local Qaqortoq artist Aka Høegh brought together dozen of artists from Greenland, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Sweden to create 24 separate carvings and sculptures. More sculptures have been added over the years; there are now about 40.

Inuit figure

Ram's head

Animal figure

The other landmark in the city is The Boot, an oversized representation of an Inuit boot perched atop a large piece of granite. It is outside of the hotel where the four of ate dinner that evening, after exploring other possible options and finding none.

The  Boot

A 3000 passenger cruise ship, the Emerald Princess, had dropped anchor off the town while we slept, and on the morning of Thursday, August 7, we discovered it as well as a large, sculpted iceberg which was just on the other side of the stone breakwater from the marina. As the daylight hours passed, it became smaller and changed shape (but it was still there in diminished form this morning). 

The Emerald Princess 

Iceberg at 10:30 a.m.

Same iceberg at 1:30 p.m.

Same iceberg at 4:30 p.m.

Same iceberg at 11:30 this morning

After breakfast, we all set off on errands. Peter went to the police station to clear us in and then went searching for a heat cable that could provide a sufficient and consistent heat source to keep the bearings on the rudder functioning smoothly. Enis, Shalako and I headed off to Pisiffik, one of the town's two grocery stores, for provisions. 

The quiet town was bustling yesterday with launch-loads of tourists from the massive cruise ship. Buildings that had been closed the day before were now open and the museum had extended hours from 10 to 5; the normal hours are 2 to 5 five days a week. This meant that the small Lutheran church, the Church of the Savior, was open for everyone. The original structure was built in 1832, and the current Nordic style red wooden church with white window frames, although re-built and re-furbished over the last two centuries, looks the same as the original. Outside the church on its southeast side is a memorial stele for the missionary Hans Egede and his wife Gertrud Rask. Egede, a Norwegian Lutheran priest and missionary established missions among the Inuits and is credited with revitalizing Danish-Norwegian interest in Greenland after contact had been broken for about 300 years. 

Church of the Savior

The interior of the church, elegant but not ornate, is painted sky blue, light gold and white. Near the alter, on one wall, there is a memorial to those lost in the sinking of the M/S Hans Hedtoft on January 30, 1959, at the center of which is the only item ever found from the ship, a life ring that washed up on a shore in Iceland nine months later. The Danish M/S Hans Hedtoft was on her maiden voyage off the coast of western Greenland, having launched from Copenhagen. She reached Qaqortoq in record time and then went on to Nuuk, Sisimiut and Maniitsoq before returning to Qaqortoq. On January 29, with 40 crew, 55 passengers, a cargo of frozen fish, and archives of Greenlandic history, she left for Denmark. The next day, with driving snow and seas up to 10 meters, making visibility nearly impossible, the ship sent a distress call at 1356 local time stating she had hit an iceberg. The engine room began to flood and the ship began to slowly sink. All communication Hans Hedtoft was lost at 1806. The US Coast Guard and two German trawlers had tried to provide assistance, but the rough seas, dwindling daylight and bad visibility made it impossible for them to reach her. 

After visiting the church, we walked along the burbling stream running in rivulets among rocks and plants, with bold splashes of purple, yellow, orange and red flowers of various shapes and sizes bordering it on both sides. A couple of the Man & Stone sculptures were along the path. 

Man & Stone sculpture

Stream and flowers

More wildflowers

We crossed the stream and entered the grocery store. Inside there were shopping carts which, like luggage carts at airports, required a coin to release them. A little, lumpy, colorfully dressed old lady with a hat covered with buttons was trying to get a coin out of the slot because it had stopped halfway in, and I asked Enis and Shalako if they had a knife. They did not, but Enis suggested fingernails, which I have now since I am not gardening, and I was able to retrieve it. As I gave it to her, I noticed the large "Make America Smart Again" and "No Trump" button on the front of her hat. I pointed to her button, gave her the thumbs up sign, and then with body language indicated my utter loathing of Trump. She reached up and gave me a great big hug.

Woman after my own heart