Greenland National Park

Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord

Greenland National Park is the largest national park in the world and the largest wilderness area in the northern hemisphere, virtually untouched by man. Most of the east coast is frozen all year and is un-navigable by ship. We travelled along the frozen sea to arrive in East Greenland and we headed into Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord which was much calmer. Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord is one of the country’s largest fjord systems. It’s a wonderland of nature with plenty of wildlife from belugas and narwhals to seals, walruses, caribou, musk oxen and polar bears. Due to its size and limited accessibility, Greenland National Park’s only residents are personnel from meteorological stations and the Danish Armed Forces. We sailed around the fjord passing high mountains covered in snow and many icebergs. It’s an area of exceptional scenery. In the afternoon, we arrived at Ella Island which is located at the mouth of the Kempe Fjord in the northern end of King Oscar Fjord, with the larger islands to the east such as Geographical Society Island. At the northern end are Maria Island and Ruth Island. It’s in the middle of the King Oscar Fjord and Kiaser Franz Joseph Fjord complex that matches Scoresbysund to the south. Expeditions tend to spend more time in Scoresbysund since the entrance to this fjord system can be blocked off by sea-ice drifting south in the cold southern flowing East Greenland current. We were able to access this fjord system as we were a smaller expedition ship. In the morning, we cruised along the Alpefjord in the North East Greenland National Park. The combined snouts of two glaciers, Gully Glacier and Sefstrøm Glacier are calving icebergs into the Alpefjord. We then moved position and travelled up the valley passing spectacular colourful striations in the cliffs. We disembarked to explore Skipperdal which is an interesting area of amazing diverse geology and flora.

Cocktails

We enjoyed our cocktails made with 11,000-year-old ice which we fished in from our zodiac trip along an old glacier. The barman broke up the ice for us. Mine was a campari sritz and Charles has a ameretto sour.

Greenland

Greenland is the world’s biggest island, by area, that is not a continent. It is 216 million square kilometres (836,330 square miles). With a population of 56,480 it is one of the least populated countries in the world. Almost 90% of those are Inuit whose ancestors are believed to have originated from eastern Siberia and travelled to Greenland via Canada in the 13th Century. There is evidence of human settlement on Greenland going back more than 4,000 years. It is an autonomous country, self governing since 2009, but remains economically reliant on Denmark so remains within the kingdom of Denmark. It continues to use the Danish Kron. Although Greenland is geographically a part of the North American continent, it has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for about a millennium. It sits on the eastern edge of the North American tectonic plate. At the very top of the world, it’s renowned for its vast tundra, immense glaciers and deep fjords. Since most of Greenland is covered in ice, snow and glaciers, the Arctic nation is mostly white. So how did Greenland get its name when it’s not really green? It actually got its name from Erik the Red, an Icelandic murderer who was exiled to the island.

Ella Island

Sitting at the confluence of five iceberg-filled fjords, Ella island has an area of 143.6 km2 and a coastline of 59.6 km. and is considered one of the most stunning island landscapes in Greenland. It is the home of the legendary Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. Established in 1941 to enforce Danish sovereignty in Greenland, the elite Sirius Patrol is comprised of 12 men in 2 man teams that travel by dogsled for months at a time. The small island base is staffed all year. The Danish military men serve 26 month periods. There are few locations on Earth that can boast such an awe-inspiring view as the patrol’s basecamp. Vertical cliffs rise 1,350 meters (4,400’) directly behind the bright red buildings, creating an almost surreal scene.