Looking over the icebergs. So sandwiched together!The morning into Disko Bay is one of the most memorable days of our cruise. We entered these calm waters to be greeted by hundreds of icebergs in every shape/size you might imagine. Our excitement grew as the icebergs started getting packed together as this was the sign we were entering the mouth of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier in the Illulissat icefjord.
This glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq, is one of the fastest glaciers in the Arctic. It calves over 35 cubic kilometers of ice (about 10% of the Greenland icecap’s annual production) into the sea. In 2004, this icefjord was admitted into the USNESCO’s World Heritage list.
Kels and I had the morning zodiac ride and were taken off into the mouth of icefjord. We stayed at safe distances from the icebergs and the sheer size was astounding. Most of the icebergs are over 20,000 years old and have slowly been pushed out to sea with each calve of the glacier. We could hear "gunshots" of breaking ice further in the ice field and kept our eyes peeled for any splashes in the water. We lucked out with a quick animal sighting and saw the tip of a Minke whale swimming at a distance.
Once on shore, we headed up towards the viewpoint of the icefjord. We stopped at a local café for a quick coffee and bathroom break. Most passengers stayed longer and enjoyed a muskox burger and fries. While ever so tempting to eat a burger, Kels and I had picnic sandwiches from the ship and ran for the ice. The walk up was breathtaking and our eyes quickly acclimated to the bright white against the sun.
Once we reached the top, we sat on the rock’s edge and just stared at thousands of bergs. Some flipped, some cracked, and some simply turned a brilliant blue. We spent about three hours just watching, hiking, and watching. The occasional picture was taken even though nothing had changed. We let our minds be free of thought and really took in the views in front of us.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
4 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
5 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.