C-day 5 Ivittuut and Gronnedal

 

We continued up the west coast of Greenland during the night arriving early morning off Ivittuut ….

…for our landings at the abandoned mining town of Ivittuut and the Arctic Forces military base at Gronnedal. The Americans sent troops to Greenland in 1940 (before they entered the war) to protect the cryolite deposit at Invittut from the Germans. Cryolite was an important source of aluminium. It was mined out by 1957.

Landing at Ivittuut 

Exploring the town

Slightly further afield -an arctic poppy…

…our first musk ox sighting (not such a good photo with the iPhone)….

…while closely guarded by a crew member with a powerful rifle

Heading back for some more photos in town

Next stop Gronnedal military base

The main reason for this visit was to see musk ox. Believe it or not, there are about 20 musk ox in this photo. Good luck finding them!

A nice view back over the ship on the way back

Then surprise surprise 2 musk ox right near the road. (Photo quality poor due to lack of upload facilities)

This photo courtesy of Bruce’s camera with telephoto lens

Back for lunch and a dip in the spa when we had a young visitor - a juvenile black legged kittiwake

After some lectures it was the cocktail of the day - vodka slings

And to finish the day a pretty amazing sunset