reindeer – David Kotz

Greenland – hiking

We took several hikes in the Greenland wilderness.

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

One might imagine becoming stir crazy during ten days aboard ship. Fortunately, the expedition team offered many opportunities to go ashore! Nearly every day they would offer short, medium, and long walks. Some were billed as a ‘photo walk,’ accompanied by the ship’s photo experts; others were focused on interpretation of the ecology or history; still others were pointedly called a ‘strenuous hike’ for which exercise was the goal and there would be no time to stop for photos or natural-history lessons. We were fortunate with good weather – sometimes fantastic weather – so I had the opportunity to hike at Dronning Marie Dal (in Skjoldungensund), at the outlet of the Sermeq glacier (at the head of Tasermiut fjord), around the Hvalsey historic site, around the village of Qassiarsuk, and in the tundra above Neria fjord. The scenery was dramatic, and varied tremendously from place to place. Read on for more!

Greenland

A ten-day cruise from Iceland to the southern coast of Greenland.

Recent trips to the Antarctic [South Georgia, 2023] and the Arctic [Finland, 2024] whet my appetite for exploring further in the polar regions, so I jumped at the chance to cruise southern Greenland in late summer. Indeed, because this cruise began and ended in Iceland, it gave me a chance to expand on my prior visit to Iceland [2024] to explore its southeast coast. Finally, this cruise was aboard the National Geographic Endurance, the same ship we’d sailed on our cruise of South Georgia and the Falklands in 2023, and which I found to be a terrific experience. Read on!

Photo of The Endurance, seen from the icy water near Thryms glacier; Skjoldungensund fjord, Greenland. — The Endurance, seen from the icy water near Thryms glacier; Skjoldungensund fjord, Greenland.

Lapland

Northern Finland – Sami culture, reindeer, dogsleds, and more.

After our day in Helsinki (Finland) and our day in Tallinn (Estonia), we hopped on a Finnair flight to the northern tip of Finland – specifically, to the tiny town of Saariselkä, where one can downhill ski at the northern-most lift-skiing resort in the world, cross-country ski on an extensive trail network, explore reindeer farms, experience dogsledding, and more. We stayed four nights at the “Northern Lights Village,” a delightful resort in the middle of all these delightful opportunities. Read on, and check out the photo gallery for more!

David skied on nordic skis to the summit of Saariselkä, Finland.

Northern Lights in Sweden

A weekend above the Arctic Circle in an effort to photograph the Northern Lights.

I recall a warm summer evening, about forty years ago, when I reclined on the rocky shore of Lake Champlain to watch a distant aurora borealis dance across the stars of the far northern sky. Ever since then I’ve held a quiet fascination with this phenomenon, determined to see the northern lights “for real” some day. I’ve longed to visit the Arctic, in part so I might see the northern lights. This weekend – capping a week of academic travel in Finland and Sweden – was my first opportunity to travel above the Arctic Circle. I flew to a tiny village in the far northern tip of Sweden – so close it was practically in Norway – and spent two nights standing in the snow, watching the sky above Abisko National Park. Did I see the aurora? yes! Was I satisfied? no; if anything, I want to return to see more! From the other people I met there, it is clear that Abisko has that affect on many people. Read on, and check out the photo gallery.

A reindeer seen beside the road in Abisko.

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