Greenland Travel Destinations include cruising Greenland’s Prince Christian Sound as one of the highlights of my life on water. Mother Earth’s largest island, Greenland, is home to the second largest ice sheet (after Antarctica), covering 80 percent of its land mass. As an Acupuncturist-at-Sea, I explored the southernmost part of this ice sheet through Prince Christian Sound. This remote and pristine body of water separates the mainland from Cape Farewell Archipelago. Furthermore, Prince Christian Sound connects the Labrador Sea on the west with the Irminger Sea on the east. Its long, narrow fjord system of 100 km (60 miles), at times as narrow as 500 m (1500 ft) wide, flows through steep canyons of granite over 1200 feet.
Greenland Travel Destinations – Prince Christian Sound
At least 6 fjords meander as offshoots from the sound. Asppilattoq, an Inuit town, is the only settlement along the sound. There are many glaciers’ endcaps going straight up to the water’s edge, calving icebergs. These giant chunks of ice drift randomly throughout the waters. Also, there are strong tidal currents, limiting the formation of ice. The explorer, John Cabot described the sound as ‘a river of melted snow.’
My 8-hour passage journey is breathtaking and hauntingly beautiful, however, it shatters my expectations. Before, my thoughts of Greenland conjured up images of ice sheets, glaciers and uninhabitable, snowy landscapes. This August day is a clear, sunny day, with temperatures almost reaching 60 degrees F. Sadly, it reveals barren, dry canyons, meltwater rivers and shrinking glaciers. However, it’s the southernmost tip of Greenland at the end of summer. So I thoughtfully consider this. However, my experience may reveal the foreboding effects of global warming, as a microcosm for our planet. Even though climate change may be a tragic reality to this remote place, the omnipotence of Mother Nature shined on, anyway, giving us a truly magical day with Greenland travel destinations.
