My trip instructions said that I should make my way to the World of Greenland office (just next to the Information office just up the road from the hotel), and I was there ready and eager at 8:45am. At about 8:55am a van pulled up and the driver took passengers on board. When I said that I was staying at the Eqi Lodge and not just on a day trip to the glacier, he pointed across the road to the Disko Line offices where others were gathering so I lugged my rucksack across the road and waited. Shortly a woman with a clipboard emerged from the Disko Line offices and started calling names. Mine wasn't there. When I gave my name, she asked to see my ticket and the first rumblings of panic started in my spine. Luckily I had printed everything out, and it was there, clear as day. She went back into the office and said that this was a World of Greenland booking so I needed to go back to their offices.
Getting more nervous by the minute, and knowing that there was just the one boat a day, I walked back across the road where I was given a slight relief by the fact that someone seemed to be expecting me. However no reassurances were given as I waited a very tense 10 minutes whilst yet more negotiations seemed to be taking place. Finally a third person came down the stairs and explained that everything was OK, it was just that the booking had been made in the name of my travel agent not me. I was sent back to the Disko Line offices where we loaded our rucksacks and boarded the minibus to take us to the harbour, I breathing a huge, nay massive, sigh of relief!
And we were off!
Leaving the icebergs of Ilulissat behind as we make our way towards Disko Island.
Sailing in the fjords between the mainland and Disko Island, there were some good views of steep slopes, waterfalls and decaying ice bergs but otherwise a fairly uneventful journey...
Currently flowing directly into the fjord, Eqi Glacier is famous for being one of the most active calving glaciers in the world. Unlike the huge icebergs which issue from Ilulissat's Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, Eqi is constantly dropping small pieces of ice from its 200 metre face into the fjord in front of it, however it rarely calves large (tsunami-inducing) icebergs. As the fjord opens up, we are confronted by not one, but two glacier snouts. Eqi is to the south and shown below.
As we approach to take a closer look, the boats picks its way noisily through the detritus of prior days' calvings.. At this point, the boat is still about 3km from the front of the glacier.
As we get closer, and past the ice field which has been pushed out by waves, we're told we will have a 1 hour stop to watch (and listen!) to the glacier whilst we have our packed lunch.
Supplied by World of Greenland, it was the best packed lunch on the trip with musk ox meatballs with a delicious winter salad, accompanied by a fish and shrimp salad served in shiny metal billy cans. I don't usually do food photos, but here goes!
I didn't manage to record any of the calvings, however this video I found online is typical of what you might expect to see and hear in about 40 minutes. The lag between the video and the sound shows just how far away the boat is from the front of the glacier.
Then the boat made its way towards the Lodge's landing jetty where departing passengers were waiting on the steps. Previously I said that Eqi rarely calves large icebergs, but that doesn't mean never. In 2014, a huge piece of ice broke off, just before the boat arrived, causing a tsunami which washed away the laundry/rubbish etc. waiting for collection by the docks (luckily no passengers). Embarkation and disembarkation takes the possibility of a repeat very seriously. A Greenland flag marks the 'safety zone' below which people can only go immediately before boarding or leaving the ship, all of the while a member of staff constantly scans the front of the glacier. Throughout your stay the instructions are repeated: never go to the water's edge.
From the safety zone, it's a stiff climb up (left, below) to the Lodge's Cafe Victor which is where all the communal facilities - restaurant, showers/toilets (for those not in 'Comfort' cabins) and a second short briefing (right, below) about meal times, more safety precautions and available trips. Cabin numbers and names were called out, all in 2s or 3s except 'Cicely - Cabin 4', and we made our way to settle in, before returning for the scheduled 4pm walk to the nearby river delta (or - as we nerdy geographers would say - glacial outwash plain).
(Left) Bathroom window after fly clearance process
(Below) view from my bed and (right) fly frier.
The delta walk was enjoyable (if you had a mosquito net, as I luckily did) but not really worth the £40 (per person) fee. We did get a nice cup of tea on the way and learn about some of the edible wildflowers, which we also picked to return to help the kitchen flavour dinner and home-made gins! Fellow hikers included mainly Danes but also couples from Italy, Germany and France. Although most were tourists, one Danish couple I met (both nurses) were treating themselves to a holiday having completed six months working in Nuuk. Many of the staff you will come across in Greenland, particularly in tourist destinations such as restaurants, bars and hotels, will be Danish.
(Left) One for the students - me pointing at the glacial outwash river, with (centre) a view of the delta itself where the floury waters of the outwash river meet the fjord (right).
Dinner was a bit lonely on my single table, but very tasty consisting of a wild mushroom soup followed by a pork (I think) stroganoff, although I noticed that the soup bore an uncanny resemblance to the stroganoff sauce....
I went to bed early listening to the calming sounds of Eqi calving and I couldn't resist getting up and taking a short video of calving in the midnight sun, although for the 10 seconds I was outside, the glacier became very quiet. I've recommended that Eqi make a 'sleep sounds' tape of the glacier. I'd pay good money for that!
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