On this expedition, we’ve been exploring remote places in Greenland – the uninhabited east coast, the wilderness, the fjords, a national park and the village of Ittoqqortoormiit. Finally, we arrived to the bustling metropolis of Tasilaq and Ammassalik Island, which means the place that looks like a lake. Civilization at last! Well sort of, the town has a population of over 2,000 which feels like a city to us. (The population of entire country is 56,000 with 17,000 living in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.) They have a sheltered harbor and marina, and therefore, more supply ships throughout the year. The town has multi-colored houses scattered every which way, many with animal skins drying on top. We saw a lot more people on cell phones even though we were told the internet is quite expensive in town. Although quadruple the size of our first town, there is still only one church and one supermarket. However, there is a hotel and camp ground here. The hotel was on top of the hill with a panoramic view and the campground was in front of the dump. Civilization was good timing for our geologist and naturalist on board, Andrew Bishop. Andrew has appendicitis and needs to have his appendix removed. The doctor for the entire east coast of Greenland was in the town and Andrew is now under his care until he is transported to Reykjavik in Iceland for the operation. Ah, Mark and I remember those days of needing your appendix removed while away from home. Although Miami wasn’t quite as dramatic.

I’ve been going to every lecture by Raul Touzon, the NatGeo photographer, and although most of it is over my head and well above the ability of my point and shoot camera, I have been picking up a little. Among other things he taught us the best, and only way in his opinion, to organize your photos. I was all ears as I have been struggling to find a good solution. So, I am now a student of Adobe Bridge which comes with and works seamlessly with Photoshop.  

In the town of Tasilaq … the church, the cemetery, a whale bone that looks like a face, an overview of town as the fog began to roll in and directional sign with distance to the North Pole. 

In Tasilaq every home seems to have sled dogs, although none quite as adorable as these puppies. There were children everywhere giggling as they saw us walk by. They were especially intrigued by the ship’s drone flying above but this older woman did not seem to notice.

Once we were back on board, we were treated to a concert by the Tasilaq choir. They sang in Greenlandic so we could not understand the words but it was enjoyable to listen and watch. Final photo is my favorite.