At the mouth of Scoresbysund sits the little village of Ittoqqortoormitt with ~370 residents and lots of sledging dogs. It seemed quite rudimentary and almost temporary, but they have everything they need - a hospital and school, a sports oval where some of our expedition team played soccer with the local kids, and a weather station where every day a weather balloon is released at 11am. They hunt polar bears, seals, narwhal, musk ox but there are strict quotas on the number killed. All food caught is sold or shared locally. Ah for the simple life! We were given a map and wandered for a couple of hours.
The houses are colourful but look insubstantial given the extreme temperatures they are exposed to. In the winter they have no running water and there is no sewerage.
Bear skin drying.
This gorgeous man was offering us musk ox. Of course we tasted it! Quite delicious.
A bit of a sweetheart really.
They are rebuilding their church. The old one collapsed I think.
This is their hospital. we had a few medicos on board and they paid a courtesy visit.
The local police came to the pier to stamp our passports.
Remember I mentioned the weather balloon? Well it’s somewhere up there, a tiny speck.
The waters of Greenland are patrolled by SIRIUS. During our trip they came aboard our ship to conduct a routine inspections of permitted and firearms.
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