Kangerlussuaq, Greenland

August 7, 2025

The first lag of our cruise ended in Kangerlussuaq. While the ship off-loaded passengers not continuing on with us and boarded the new passengers, we did an excursion to a beautiful viewpoint and searched for musk ox. The musk ox did not originally live in West Greenland, but in the 1960s, 27 were brought in from East Greenland. The conditions were so favorable that now there are over 10,000 musk ox just in the Kangerlussuaq area. They often have 2 calves a year instead of the more typical 1 calf every two years. Now that numbers are up so high, limited hunting is allowed. Sadly, we were not lucky and did not see any musk ox, although the views from the lookout were beautiful.

The views on the drive there and back were quite nice as well.

The highlight was when an arctic hare dashed across the road in front of us, making it safely to the other side.

As we returned to the boat in our zodiac, there was a crane lifting a shipping container. The arctic towns rely heavily on these containers bringing in supplies as they are so remote. There are not even roads connecting one town to another so the only way in is by plane or boat.