Monday 30 June 2014

Welcome to Greenland care of Hurtigruten


Welcome to Greenland care of Hurtigruten and The MS Fram and this World of Cruising magazine blog. 
Our trip started with a four hour flight from Copenhagen but Hurtigruten had chartered the whole plane so 170 of us nestled comfortably in a space normally full with 350.  A visit to Greenland starts an hour before you land, flying over glaciers and mountain peaks emerging like shark’s teeth from the ice cap so get a window seat if you can!

We were welcomed by the mosquitoes and you do need to think about insect repellent or a net if you are visiting certain parts of the world's largest island. We had a full day of soaking up the stunning scenery in bouncy 4x4 coaches crossing unexpected sand deserts high in the hills, walking up to roaring waterfalls and lakes in front of the huge Russian Glacier and  staring at the ice still formed on lakes and rivers all under a stunning clear blue sky. Ravens and reindeer watched us at lunch which we took in a tiny restaurant in the middle of nowhere with local cuisine and toe tingling blackberry wine.


At the pier we were each issued a lifejacket and shown how to put them on. We hopped in the Polar Cirkel boats and enjoyed a short ride to the ship. Once on the ship we were issued ID cards and then shown to our cabins.
Then it was time for the safety drill outside, in the warm sunshine on deck 5 watching the demonstration for putting on the exposure suit and life vest. 

The Fram is still her warm, welcoming self as are the staff, many of whom recognised me.   Tomorrow we are off to Sisimuit and Assaqutaq if you want to look them up on Google. Either way there's no darkness for the next two weeks as we sail under the midnight sun!!



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