23JUL: By boat back to Ilulissat accommodation
Day 13
The morning is at your own disposal. Mid day we sail back to Ilulissat with arrival late afternoon. Enjoy the passing scenery and watch out for whales! Fin whales, humpback whales and various other whales are often seen in this area! In Ilulissat Hotel Arctic opens its doors again.
Evening/Midnight sailing among the icebergs, extra tour booked from the Thai restaurant in Qaqortoq
The midnight/evening sun gives the icebergs a unique play of colours that people return to experience again and again. Midnight sun in Ilulissat lasts from May 21st to July 24th. Sailing during the night with the sun still shining is a fantastic and unusual experience. Almost every visitor in Ilulissat chooses to try this boat trip among the icebergs at least once. During the year, more than 46 km3 of ice flows into the fiord. The result is gigantic icebergs, which can be more than 100 metres on each side and with a height on more than 100 metres above the water surface. These giants strand at the end of the fiord, and that gives a good opportunity to sail among them.
The icebergs are beautiful every kind of weather; in the sunshine the contrasts are very clear, the blue shades are very beautiful, when it is cloudy and the midnight sun casts a unique glow on the icebergs during the night. The boat trip at bright night is definitely an extraordinary experience.
Remember to bring warm clothes or you can rent suit of sealskin.
Thursday 23 rd of July 2015 and my alarm went off at 9. We have to check-out at 10 so they can clean the rooms for the guests arriving with the Disko Line's boat Aviaq Ittuk at 2 o'clock. Then
we will leave with the same boat back to Hotel Arctic in Ilulissat. I was at Cafe Victor at 10 o'clock and I took the opportunity to update my web page while waiting for the boat back to Ilulissat and the Hotel Arctic.And we had an excellent lunch, our Guide and me were eating grilled sandwiches with cheese like there was no tomorrow. Time was passing quickly and suddenly it was 13 thirty when we had to go down to the “safe area” sign to wait for the boat. A
quick operation, as soon as the passengers are off we will board and foock off out of here. Back to Ilulissat and my last whale watching tour on Greenland.Well, Ice Camp Eqi/ Port Victor, a must if you come to Greenland and you must stay for 2 nights so you get a full day here to enjoy the glacier.
The bay was almost ice free when we arrived and now it was full of ice so the Eqi glacier have done a whole lot of calving during our stay. So it was very cold coming down to the water level in the boat. I was almost alone on deck, a lady from Denmark was with me and we were looking out for seals and whales.
We spotted 3 seals and no whales during the 5 hour trip back to Ilulissat. 5 hours and it was very cold and I had to use double blankets so it was nice to arrive to Ilulissat. Too many passengers and our Guide and I waited for the van to come back and we were soon back at Hotel Arctic.
Disko Line's boat arrive
Disko Line's boat arrive
Passengers coming off
We're on board the boat
New guests climbing up to Ice Camp Eqi
Taking the gangway and we can leave Ice Camp Eqi
Taking the gangway to the safe area
Leaving Ice Camp Eqi / Port Victor behind
We pass seals on the ice
We pass seals on the ice
We pass seals on the ice
We pass a waterfall
We pass a waterfall
We pass a waterfall - I think this is the waterfall we stopped at when coming here
Eqi glacier disappears behind us
2 Kayaks bound for Eqi
We were going to have a fare well dinner at 8 o'clock as this is our last day on Greenland. I will fly back to Reykjavik tomorrow and I will
hopefully be in Reykjavik in time for the midnight
whale watching. And I spent yesterday meditating in front of the Eqi glacier and I came up with a master plan.I want to go whale watching and look for the Killer whales on Iceland and I will investigate how long it is to go there as soon as I have internet. I found Laki Tours and they have whale watching from Ólafsvík. So where is Ólafsvík?
The best place in Iceland to see the ocean's top predators, killer whales and sperm whales,
as well as other whale and dolphin species. Summer and winter whale watching trips.
as well as other whale and dolphin species. Summer and winter whale watching trips.
I found out that it is 193km to Ólafsvík from Reykjavik and I can do this in 2 hours. They have tours at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock in the afternoon. So I might go for this. I sent Laki Tours an e-mail so let's see if there is any answers from them.
Anyway, farewell dinner and I decided to skip this as the restaurant was full. I went to the second floor for a pot of tea and a steak with boiled potatoes. Our Guide came up to see why I didn't joined them. Then the restaurant manager came up and asked if I wanted them to send the food to me here on the second floor.
- You have paid for a three course dinner
- Never mind, I have ordered food already
I really didn't feel like sitting in a full restaurant when I could sit here alone. And I'm soon off for a whale watching tour. OK, it is the “sailing among iceberg” tour. But I do it for the whales.
The hotel shuttle was leaving at 21 forty and we had to go in two shuttles as we were so many people. I ended up with 11 passengers from Denmark and we were on the same boat that we had been on during the last trip. The boat takes 12 passengers so it was full house.
Our Guide show us where we're going on a map
I like the villages on Greenland with all the colourful houses
Passing giant iceberg
Passing giant iceberg
Passing giant iceberg
Passing giant iceberg
Passing giant iceberg
Passing giant iceberg
Another tour boat
Another tour boat
It was a very nice tour and I enjoyed myself with the Danish passengers. Icebergs, they were beautiful to see but I was here to see whales and I was disappointed. Not a whale in sight and we were on the way back to Ilulissat. Well, I had enjoyed a gorgeous evening with nice company and surroundings among the icebergs.
We were passing the last giant iceberg when our driver came out from the wheel house. He pointed to starboard side and he said that there was a whale. I turned around and I just saw a whale disappearing behind the iceberg.
I saw the whale for just a second and we steered towards the iceberg. 2 icebergs next to each other and there was a very small bay between them. Like a big swimming pool and as the iceberg stand on the bottom 200 to 300 meters below there was nowhere for the whales to go but back out. We approached and we saw the whale. Then we saw another so it was two whales.
Suddenly there was a third whale, YES, THREE WHALES and they were staying there together. I don't know what they were doing as I don't think they were eating. It was like they were socialising in the small bay between the icebergs.
I was excited and this was a sight to see. They were playing and one of them was sticking up the head like I had never seen before. And yes, I was very excited and I forgot about my camera settings yet again. We had been taking pictures of white icebergs and now I took pictures of black whales. The shutter speed went bust.
I didn't realised that the shutter speed was a wee bit slow until it was too late. F stop 8 and ISO speed 320 gave me a good shutter speed for the iceberg. Now I needed ISO speed 1600 but by the time I had realised that the shutter speed was slow it was too late. But never mind, it was an experience for a life time, yet again a beautiful whale experience.
A Humpback whale
Two Humpback whales
Two Humpback whales
THREE! Humpback whales
We're on the way back to port
We're on the way back to port
We're on the way back to port
We're back in port after a wonderful tour
What a tour we have had! And what a final of my adventure on Greenland! Three Humpback whales enjoying themselves in the ice. A true Greenland experience and I'm so happy that I have taken
every whale watching tour available.And all extra tours available for that matter. And I have more whale watching coming up when I'm back in Reykjavik.
Hopefully already tomorrow evening. And I’m waiting for answers about the Killer whales. And all the passengers were happy when we were back in port. Of course, three Humpbacks are not an everyday sight. I was alone in the last van going back to Hotel Arctic and I asked for a late check-out. No problem and I will check-out at 12 when the airport shuttle are leaving for the airport. And yes, I will have to pass the grave yard yet againSo, if we click HERE we will soon find yourself in the middle of the adventure with Air Iceland going back to Reykjavik. A 4 hour flight that I'm NOT looking forward to!
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it 
be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!
คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next”
ข้างบนนี้
Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.
Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.
be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page. Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaasFaites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopraSprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben! คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next”
ข้างบนนี้
Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.
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