During dinner last night our view from the aft of the ship was so spectacular we had to stop and take a photo.

This morning, it was overcast and rainy so we decided to stay on the ship rather than go ashore. I took advantage of internet connection and worked. At the start of the expedition, Mark and I joined The World Walkers Challenge to walk 1,000 km in our 17 days aboard. We are up to 30 laps a day today and even did it in the drizzling rain. Not so bad with the view.

I am getting a lot of wonderful responses and interesting questions that I would like to address. I hope you do not mind that I’m using names, but I believe you are all good sports. At least, I hope.

Randy: Rode, Greenland is not on Google maps; am I making this up? Fair question, so I found where we are Google Earth. Search for Greenland. In the middle of the east coast you can see the fjords (looks like rivers). Iceland is to the right. We are in the southernmost large entry. The town of Ittoqqortoormiit is there (we are stopping there on our way out). There is an island carved out of the mountains and we have sailed around there and are heading north. Tomorrow we will reach Greenland National Park and just received a permit last week to stop there. We will be the largest vessel to be permitted into the park and I am sure I’ll need 10 emails to send all the photos ;)

Cindy: How cold is it, it looks frigid but you don’t look bothered? It typically hovers around 0? or 30?, so not so bad, and does not fluctuate a lot between high and low. We were quite chilly in the above photo from last night but took quick photos. We have not seen a lot of sunlight but that is expected to change tomorrow. We signed up to be awaken any time the Aurora Borealis aka Northern Lights are present, which needs clear skies. We are really hoping to see it once the sky clears. I am not sure what setting on my point and shoot camera I should use to photograph them. It is just not listed among my choices. I will take suggestions. And Cindy, the real answer is it’s too cold to sleep in the Bali Beds no matter how much fun you and Susan had ordering hot chocolates.

Judi: The polar bear photos are NatGeo quality. Full disclosure: those are the only photos I did not take as I did not see it. Shout out to our friend Mary Phillips for sharing her photos with me. Sorry to disappoint you Judi

Margaret: Are they talking about global warming and change in ice? Yes, but more answering questions than making it a topic. The expedition team seems to feel it is a combination of the cycle of ice age we are in and the impact man is having on the environment. The consensus is, in a thousand years, we will no longer have our coastal cities no matter how mankind lives. But moving towards Green Living will benefit us all now.

A few sharp eyes on the bridge spotted a handful of Nawhal – the elusive and nearly mythical unicorn/whale of the Arctic. We do not know much about this creature as it has not been previously studied. The anthropologist onboard, Professor William Fitzhugh, is co-curating an exhibit at the Smithsonian to be opened in a couple years. Based on the gasps and wows at the briefing, I am pretty sure Mark and I were the only ones who had never heard of this thing. I thought he was talking about an owl and Mark fell asleep. Just kidding ;) Be back tomorrow.