Greenland. Days 43 to 48. 10th to 15th August 2013.
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Mountains and clouds from Antarctic Sund.
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Gary Rolfe and Huskies, Ittoqqortoomiit.
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Tag Archives: Huskies
Ittoqqortoomiit
Ittoqqortoomiit, Greenland. Day 46. 13th August 2013.
Some of you may know of Shanghai, the vast metropolis of the east coast of China. Others may know of New York, the vast metropolis on the east coast of North America.
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Well, this is Ittoqqortoomiit, the vast metropolis on the east coast of Greenland. It is quite similar to Shanghai in that not very many people from Madagascar live there (if any) and the population is over 400.
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This is a multi-image panorama that expands to a larger size when you click on it, if you want to see more detail.
Well, OK, at 452 people in 2013, Ittoqqortoomiit is actually the second largest conurbation in eastern Greenland though that one’s about as far away as Reykjavik and there’s nothing to the north. As you can tell by the name, it’s an Inuit town and Denmark (the colonial power) subsidised settlement here to guard against potential encroachment by other countries or more likely, mining companies.
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I visited the small and charming museum.
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Here are some of the historic Inuit artifacts inside the museum.
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And here is a view out the window in the loft.
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There some family groups and individuals wandering round in colourful traditional costume but it seemed presumptuous to take photographs without asking and I didn’t want a posed image. However, these people zotting round town in their tiny vehicles were fair game.
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An interesting architectural extract from one of the buildings. At first glance it looks like a fire escape under the window but why would one bother? Well, I think it is in case of heavy snow. If there is ten feet of snow and the front door is under it, you can get in and out through the window on the top floor.
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Here we have a village of dogs.
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We saw something like a canine concentration camp near Longyearbyen. This by way of contrast is a habitation of happy huskies with their owner living on the premises.
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They’re all standing up now. Must be close to feeding time.
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… and here we go ….
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The white dog at the front is particularly interested in the prospect.
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This is Gary Rolfe, an explorer and adventurer who has traveled over 20,000 miles with his dogs over the polar regions.
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And here he brings some puppies to show us.
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Husky Hotel
Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. Day 38. 5th August 2013.
This was the day I was to depart with 48 others on an AuroraExpeditions cruise up the coast of Spitsbergen, across to Greenland, down the coast of Greenland and then across to Iceland. I went out to the airport to meet the other expeditioners as they arrived on the plane. We then went for a tour around Longyearbyen on the bus, including a visit to this “husky hotel”. Some dogs we could say hello to; others we were warned to stay away from. Borneo was one of the friendly ones.
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Later on in Greenland we encountered another pack of huskies that was much better cared for and much happier. Maybe this was more like a canine concentration camp than a hotel.
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I remember that Pingo was one we were warned not to approach too closely.
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Nearby there were three reindeer in an open meadow.
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An old coal mining plant with Longyearbyen in the background. The population is over 2,000.
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Having boarded the ship (Russian icebreaker Polar Pioneer), we had a lifeboat drill. Climbing into the claustrophobic capsule in calm conditions was one thing; being tossed like a cork on a stormy sea with 3D vomit flying round might be another.
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And so we were off into the wilderness of Spitsbergen. We had been sailing for two and a half or three hours. I would think we were still in Isfjorden, the fjord leading to Longyearbyen.
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Murray Foote 