Visiting Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, was made all the more engaging with our bright and spunky guide Vivi, who led our group on a walking tour of the city’s waterfront. Vivi, a resident of Nuuk who had also cruised with us on the Ocean Endeavour prior to our landing in her home city, had a great sense of storytelling and lent a personal perspective to the places we were visiting by sharing anecdotes from her childhood. We learned the Greenland legend behind the sculpture of the Mother of the Sea, the sculpture itself a part of the tides of Nuuk’s bay. The legend, a tale told to teach the responsibility the Greenland people have to nature, was only one of many examples we would find demonstrating the importance of Inuit connection to their lands and its species.
We wandered farther into Nuuk’s Old Harbour, visiting some of the historic buildings, Lutheran church, and checking out the excellent Greenland National Museum. The museum told the story of the native peoples inhabiting Greenland, as well as the history of Greenland as a Danish colony and later an autonomous province of Denmark. A haunting exhibit also houses the world-famous 500-year-old Qilakitsoq mummies, discovered by hunters in the 1970s and remarkably preserved by nature, frozen in time.
Our exploration of Nuuk ended at the local grocery, where Dad and I picked up some Danish treats (butter cookies!!), and the post office, to send my mom a Greenland postcard. Our expedition leader marveled at the bitterly cold, but sunny day—according to Jason, he had experienced sunshine in Nuuk on only one other visit! We returned to the Ocean Endeavour feeling that we had really lucked out, and left sparkling Nuuk, along with Greenland, full of its stories.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.