For the longest time, I’ve wanted to travel to Greenland. It’s been up there, and I’ve visited other far-flung destinations like Antarctica and Nepal. Finally, after many years of planning, we made this a reality; we booked a tour that would have us visiting Greenland on an expedition.
Okay, rewind. We had this trip planned for many years; it’s been on the card for a while, and my excitement grew even more as the departure date edged closer. Finally, after years of waiting, it was time to set sail, and we were so excited.
Now, there are a few choices for expedition companies that go to remote places like Greenland, so it was mind-boggling to choose the right one. We’d already undertaken an Antarctic expedition with Albatros Expeditions on their ship, Ocean Victory.
So, when we heard they had a brand-spanking new ship, Ocean Albatros, we knew we had to book it. We absolutely loved our Antarctic Cruise with Albatros Expeditions and just knew this expedition would be the same.
After much too-ing and frow-ing about the Expedition we wanted, we finally decided on ‘In The Wake Of Erik’. The expedition was to take around 10-11 days, departing from Reykjavik in Iceland and ending in Kangerlussuaq (one of the largest, but still tiny, airports in Greenland). It’s an ex-US-airforce base, and its location is ideal as it’s protected from the harsh winds and extreme weather systems that can affect Greenland. I’d delve deeper, but that’s a whole new blog post.
As the embarkation date approached, we booked our flight from London to Reykjavik and stayed overnight before boarding Ocean Albatros, our ship, from Reykjavik harbour. This was the first time it really sunk in that we were about to embark on visiting Greenland on an expedition.
Naturally, we used this opportunity to eat our way around Reykjavik. The city has many tasty restaurants, and we darted straight to our favourite, Messinn.
After filling up on Plokkfiskur, a tasty stew-like dish of vegetables and freshly baked fish, we had a good night’s sleep at the Exeter Hotel. It overlooks Reykjavik Harbour, which was great as we could spot the ship once it arrived in port in the morning.
Honestly, my excitement was through the roof, especially after waking up and seeing Ocean Albatros in the harbour.
Fast-forward a few hours, we headed for one final lunch before boarding Ocean Albatros at The Laundromat Cafe. It’s a great little spot for lunch, and a few minutes walk from Reykjavik Harbour.
This made it the perfect choice to fill up, with just enough time to grab our bags that we left for the hotel and make our way to the ship.
After filling up, we boarded Ocean Albatros to start our trip, visiting Greenland on an expedition. I was so excited!
We checked into the room, which was a ‘category B’ room on the 4th floor—specifically, room 429, if you’re wondering. We ‘ve the balcony rooms onboard Ocean Albatros – but they do have other room categories to choose from.
The room was spacious, with a nice big bathroom and direct door access to the outside deck, which is great when you’re watching whales from inside.
Anyway, it was to take around 1.5-2 days (depending) to reach Greenland via the Denmark Strait, which is one of the choppiest oceans to sail through after Drake’s Passage in Antarctica.
And, you know what, it lived up to its reputation. This was going to be a choppy start for us visiting Greenland on an expedition.
The swells were massive, and the waves were pretty intense. So, after our first gorgeous sunset departing Reykavik, we kept ourselves inside and enjoyed the comfort of the restaurant, cocktail bar, and the onboard lectures that happened every day.
That’s the thing I love about Albatros Expeditions; each ship has a host of experts from geologists, biologists and conservationists who run lectures every day.
Best of all, you can actually tell that the team are passionate about the region. No questions are too tough and they all have time for you; which I love.
After a few dinners, a massage at the spa, a stop at the onboard gym and a few lectures, we were itching to reach Greenland.
As luck would have it, our captain came over the tannoy after two days of sailing to announce that Greenland was in sight. The excitement onboard Ocean Albatros was palpable.
You could sense the buzz and thrill that every guest was feeling. That feeling was magical and something I really won’t forget.
After a little briefing in the lecture hall, we headed straight to the ship’s top deck. We were to sail via Prince Christian Sound in the region around Ikerasassuaq.
We were to sail past the southernmost point of the Greenland icecap and sail west towards Aappilattoq and past Pamialluk Island.
After a few minutes on the top deck, just on the horizon, we spotted Greenland. It was around 20 nautical miles away, but it was there.
It was just the start of our Albatros Expedition, but it felt like we’d already accomplished so much.
Within around 1.5 hours, we’d reached the coast of Greenland. It was incredible to see and it felt like one of those moments that get seared into your core memory. It was beautiful, tranquil and right in front of us!
As we sailed through Prince Christian Sound, we saw the Greenland Icecap and just watched silently as we sailed through this ethereal landscape. It was (and is) beautiful.
Like, words don’t describe it enough, it was just so surreal to see. Like, there are very few times when you come across whole regions left completely untouched by human activity. This felt like one of them. Truly wild and totally beautiful.
We sat on the top deck for longer than I can remember, with a hot chocolate (with a dash of Baileys) and tea to stay warm. It was incredible.
We passed vast glacial valleys and some of the oldest stones in the world.
The stone (that makes up the mountains) is billions of years old and has stood proudly, only changing shape from tectonic and glacial influences. The landscape is so unique.
After a few hours, we decided to head onto the bridge to see the captain.
Unlike larger cruise ships, Albatros has an ‘open-door’ policy where expedition guests can freely head to the bridge and see the ship being steered.
It was so interesting to see, especially the intricacies involved in getting our Ocean Albatros through Prince Christian Sound.
As we sailed further east, we finally reached Nunarssuaq Island and the southern tip of Greenland. We were back out onto the open ocean to follow the coast north for the next seven days.
It was tough to make a call and go to bed and miss the views. This was especially true as it was still light until around 1 am.
Though we had so much more to see, we hurried to bed, ready for tomorrow’s visit to one of Greenland’s many islands, specifically Uunartoq Island and its geothermal Hot Springs. Our trip to Greenland on an expedition had just begun.
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