Paamiut and Nuuk Night!

Our next Greenland stop was the small southwestern town of Paamiut. Located on the coast of the Labrador Sea, Paamiut had 1308 inhabitants as of 2020, but like most small towns in Greenland it has been depopulating almost every year for the last two decades.

Fish processing plant

People have lived in the Paamiut area since around 1500 BC, but the town was officially founded in 1742 as a trading post, and originally prospered by trading in fur and whale products. Today the economy is primarily based on fishing, fish processing, and seal hunting. The community has also become known for its soapstone artists.

Fishing boats and cod nets

After our ship had anchored, we took another tender to Paamuit to begin our shore excursion. Our group met our guide who first took us to a fish processing plant adjacent to a commercial harbor where the fishing boats were moored. He explained that while some of the fish is sold commercially, a large percentage of the catch is consumed by the locals.

Boats and houses

As we walked along the streets we had to constantly be aware of car traffic as it seemed to whiz by us that are tremendously fast speed. We came to an intersection that had the town’s only stop sign, but our guide told us that nobody obeyed the sign unless there was another vehicle approaching the intersection!

It doesn't say "Yield!"

Next we went into a workshop where local craftsmen were producing goods for sale to tourists. There were a large number of projects available for sale ranging from reindeer antler, bone, and wood carvings to beadwork. We watched the craftsmen as they worked for a while before leaving the workshop. Leaving the workshop, we went to the beautiful church. But our guide told us that we would not be allowed to go inside.

Church and half-mast flag

He pointed to some of the flags flying around the community at half-mast and told us that a local resident had died last night. We would not be able to go into the church because the family of the deceased were inside mourning. We did get to see the church grounds, including the adjacent cemetery which contained locals who had died outdoors or at sea.

We passed by a maritime school where students from all over Greenland would come for maritime studies. We then came to the general cemetery that was located next to the community’s helipad.

Workers in the workshop

In addition to being a port of call for the ferry service that can transport cars and people to other communities on Greenland’s west coast, Paamuit has an airport that Air Greenland STOL aircraft service for general air transportation and medical evacuations.

The cemetery

Like Nanortalik, Paamuit also has an indoor sports facility and an impeccably manicured soccer field which we passed next.

It was 49° F and the wind was blowing fairly strongly. So when we came upon the supermarket and our guide invited us to go in, there was a minor stampede by our group to get inside—not so much to see the store offerings as to just warm up! But it was surprising to see the store offerings as they had a little bit of everything. It would be like shopping in a mini Walmart for clothing, and household items as well as groceries.

The helipad

When we finally reassembled outside, our guide pointed to a blue building next to the supermarket and told us that this was a retirement home for order residents. And next to the home was the hospital and ambulance service (but of course!).

Need ketchup?

Interestingly, our guide told us that all hospitals and ambulances in Greenland are yellow in color.

With our tour concluded, we made our way back to the dock for our return to the ship. During our tender ride back to the ship, we noticed that the seas had become noticeably more rough and the wind had picked up considerably. After we were underway, the captain announced that after consultations with Oceania headquarters and local weather forecasters in Nuuk, tomorrow’s weather conditions in Nuuk were not conducive to a safe docking. So Nuuk, Greenland’s capital and largest (~20,000) city was scrubbed from our itinerary. In its stead, we would have 2 consecutive sea days and would be cruising the Arsuk Fjord all the way to the Kangilinnguit Military Base tomorrow. We were disappointed that we would not get to go to Nuuk, but were happy that we went ashore in Nanortalik and Paaimut, as many passengers passed these lesser ports up counting on Nuuk for their Greenland experience.

Ivittuut

Our dining experiences in the main dining room had not been going well. We had been sharing a table with others, and while we are generally very tolerant of other views and ideas, we had been cast in the some real crackpot goofballs that take the edge off one’s appetite. Jane’s suggestion for this evening was that we return to the Terrace Grill to again have the grilled shrimp and lobster tails and a table for two. It was a delightful meal!

 

The next morning we awoke to find us cruising the Labrador Sea, but we entered the Arsuk Fjord just as we began our breakfast. The fjord was very similar to the Prince Christian Sound with high mountains on either side of the waterway, but with considerably fewer icebergs. The fjord is only about 20 miles long and a little past the halfway point we came to the town of Ivittuut.

Kangilinnguit Military Base

The town was formed after the opening of a nearby open-pit cryolite mine which used to be of major economic importance to Greenland. The mine was closed in 1963, but the community still functions.

We continued cruising the fjord until we came to its head at the Kangilinnguit Military Base. This base was built at the head of the fjord as a US military naval base during World War II. Today, the base is the headquarters of the Danish navy’s Greenland Command. The captain turned our ship around and we cruised the fjord back to the open ocean.

After dinner we decided to try something different and have some after-dinner coffee in the observation deck lounge. We didn’t know that there was a Brain Teasers competition conducted each night in the lounge. The social director who conducts the competition coaxed us into participating on one of the teams and we were teamed up with three other players. Amazingly, our team won the competition for the evening and we collected points that could be redeemed for Oceania merchandise. When the competition was over, we headed down to the entertainment lounge where we watched a British singer pay tribute to the major male rock stars that influenced his career.

But the highlight of the evening was a Nuuk Party which the cruise director uses for tongue-in-cheek joking about Nuuk. Calling Nuuk the “New York City of Greenland,” he jokes about the level of sophistication of the city. For the party he dressed in the beaver outfit and encouraged everyone to have one of the Nuuk cookies (Nuukies) specially made by the ship’s bakery. The ship’s show band and entertainment singers performed a number of Nuuk renditions of popular rock songs such as “I’m a Nuuk (Soul) Man,” “My Baby Nuuk (Love),” “All Nuuk (Night) Long,” and “N-U-U-K (YMCA),” the latter complete with the letter formations. Needless to say, it was a hilarious evening at Nuuk’s expense and everybody had a good time singing and dancing!