As we started our adventure, we had a chance to visit our first Inuit village, Gøa Haven. It is hard to imagine a life here, so remote and very dependent on hunting for food. It’s a village of maybe 1000 people and some, mostly elders, still speaking some native tongue, but technology has crept in. Our young guide walking around the town had her cell phone, and there are dish receptors on most houses. She said it’s easier to speak English, for her, but her grandmother only speaks native Inuit, so she is forced to speak some. I was so interested in their life as they live now. Since the houses are on permafrost, there are no sewers, septics, or really, anything into the ground. All buildings are secured by drilling poles into the frozen earth below. Staples are brought in once or twice a year, and all dirty water/ sewage, etc is put in barrels and shipped out! All roads are dirt and sometimes it was difficult to tell where a road was! Most people have 4 wheelers to get around. There are nurses but no drs. No dentists. And of course, there are the same drug and alcohol problems we have in the states.
We traveled to the shore by our zodiacs and had a wet landing, so we wore high boots. Still, as I jumped off the zodiac, I was I about 1 foot of water! Cold water! But I managed to get to shore QUICKLY!
The evening brought a fun celebration on board where we were introduced to our Capital and Crew and all the support staff. It was very international group and they also broke down the passenger nationality and we are part of 20 Americans. 70 Germans, 30 Aussies, and the rest are very small representations of many countries.
When I got back to our room there was a message from my nephew, Kevin, asking me what ship we were on. Kevin owns a beautiful sailboat and is captain of the Orion and CEO of Deep Green Wilderness. He said he had a very good friend who was one of the wildlife biologists on our ship! This morning I found Elizabeth on bow looking for whales and birds! We really hit it off and now I feel like we have our very own personal wildlife guide.
We are in the ice now and won’t see land until tomorrow, but we hope to see whales and polar bears.
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