How Do You Say Qaqortoq?

Qaqortoq, means “white” in the Greenlandic language, Kalaallisut, and that’s pretty ironic because it’s in one of the country’s greenest areas on this island where 85% of the land is permanently ice covered. Greenland, the largest island in the world that isn’t a continent, is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark and yet geographically it’s part of the North American continent.   It got its name from Erik The Red who was exiled to the island after committing a murder in Iceland and christened his new home Greenland in hopes of attracting settlers.  

Historically the area had already been inhabited for thousands of years by the Saqqaq people, then the Dorset from Canada before the Norsemen came along, built their settlements in the 10th century, and by the 14th century had disappeared, no one knows exactly why.  Inuit people still comprise 88% of the population of Greenland with the balance mixed Danish and Inuit.  It wasn’t until 1775 that Norwegian trader and explorer Anders Olsen, with ties to Denmark, came to this spot on the shores of the Labrador Sea and founded a town which he named Julianehåb, after then Queen Juliane.  It received its current name of Qaqortoq sometime in the 20th century. 

As we walked to shore from the tender we glanced down and saw a colorful jellyfish in the waters below.  Guess some species of these like cold water rather than warm.

I am pretty confident that you are going to want to know “How in the world do you pronounce Qaqortoq???”   I actually heard it pronounced several different ways during my research but here’s my best guess, “ka-HOC-tock”.  It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue but it may clear your throat.  

One of the cool things we looked for throughout town are artworks called Stone and Man.  It was the artistic brain child of the town’s own local artist, Aka Høegh, who in the 1990s gathered other Nordic artists to help create 40 works of art around the village that are literally carved into the town’s landscape.  

My shadow is covering some of this carving but look close to see the whale.

Here's a bit of a better view of it on the center stone.

There are clusters of art in a sculpture park just after you go ashore but we didn't find any of the other images on rocks and boulders that can be found in unexpected places. 

Great smiling faces in the carvings that we did see.

This town of about 3,200 is actually at a lower latitude than Ireland but has a subarctic climate where the summers are cool and the winters very cold, with snow staying at a depth of 36-40 inches most of the winter.  Weather here can actually change pretty quickly but we were lucky that our day kept warming rather than cooling.

At the town’s only tiny square is the Mindebrøden which is one of only two fountains you can find in the entire country, and the oldest one.  

This one, finished in 1932 has figures of whales at the top who spout the water,

It's a decoration that fits in well in this out of the way place.

In the old colonial harbor part of town sits the Church of our Savior, a Lutheran church built here in 1832.  It's a fisherman church so the interior rood looks like an inverted ship's hull.

Close by is the Fish Market, which didn't have much in the way of fish but there was a "butcher" cutting musk ox steaks.  Cod fishing is still one of the main industries in Qaqortoq, with a fish processing plant in town.  Thankfully it wasn't too smelly!

As we wandered I ducked into this small pottery shop to see what I could find.  Just a note, things cost two to three times what you would normally expect to pay elsewhere, but then again we were in the middle of nowhere.  Anyway, when I saw the earrings with sand from a local hot spring I had to have them.  They are representative of all the sand I've been collecting for Heidi throughout the world.  i think they'll be one of my favorite souvenirs.

This was definitely one of the most colorful places we've seen in terms of housing.

I found the cemetery, one of two in town, to be an interesting spot with its white crosses and colorful silk flowers along with dried out wreaths.

The Lupine was lovely in town.

As we climbed above the cemetery the view opened up, and I was surprised by this more personal burial spot with its worn wooden fence.

Looking out over Qaqortoq and the cemetery.

More Lupine and surprisingly, some Poppies growing wild.

I'm not sure why the houses are so colorful, but I'm thinking it would brighten up the long white winters, plus when giving directions you could just point and say, "That's my house up there, the green one."

For a nice view of the colorful buildings, the harbor, Serenade, and maybe even an iceberg, we decided to climb what are called 

the Panoramic Stairs, a wooden staircase that has excellent vistas from the top.  

Once at the atop the crest we had amazing views all around us.

Across the harbor is the newer part of town.  Lots of boats down below because there are no roads into Qaqortoq, you can only come and go by boat or by helicopter.

We had a nice view as well of the reservoir we'd walk over to later.

Just a couple of tourists on top of the local world.

And a picture of me with my beloved Serenade of the Seas.

A panoramic view that can't do the actual thing justice, but you get the idea.

You should know by now that I like to sit of the edge of mountains and get a photo taken.  These rocks were a lot smoother and easier to walk on than many we've been on lately.  Greenland felt like a very old land here.

There was a nice bench at the top where you could just sit and enjoy the view for a while.  Not a lot of people made the effort to climb up here so it was nice to have views mostly to ourselves.

You might have noticed Karl wearing his head net in the last photo.  The bugs up here were pretty annoying, small gnats that wanted to fly into your eyes or up your nose.  We looked kinda dorky with the nets on but it saved us from continually swatting bugs away.  Some people said they got bitten, but nothing like that for us.

Another view of the newer part of town where the housing was more boxy and uniform, but still colorful.

Tiny lichen growing on the rock.

The town Christmas tree sits atop the hill year round, ready to be turned on when the time comes.

We took the alternative stairs going down.  I suspect this staircase was the original for getting to the top, steeper and more uneven than the wooden stairs.  I was grateful for the heavy cable to hold on to as we made our way to the bottom.

The town's other cemetery was behind this iron gate, more of the white crosses and silk flowers were within.

A stream from the reservoir runs into the harbor.

Lake Tasersuaq (means “large lake”), has many trails around its perimeter and was an easy walk from town.  Some of the locals even swim in this body of water that’s their main reservoir,

Homes go all the way down to the water.

One of the homeowners was kind enough to let us come into his yard to take photos of the lake.  He told Karl that warm weather only lasts three months here, summer was almost over in Qaqortoq as he told Karl the weather was already turning colder...except for today.

As we walked back into town I stopped for a moment and sat on a wall by the side of the road making a short selfie video to send to the grandkids.  This local lady walked by as I was talking and afterwards asked me if I'd like her to make a video of her saying "Thank you for coming to Greenland" in the Greenlandic language.  Of course I did!  I'm really hoping she wasn't pulling my leg about what she said because I have no way of  knowing what she really said.  I'm choosing to trust her since it was one of my favorite parts of the day!

Another view of the local church which was the only one in town until 1973.

Your basic road sign in Qaqortoq.  I hove no idea how to pronounce it! and Google can't translate it  iGreenlandic is a descriptive tongue that puts ideas together to create a sort of word image.  For example, “qarasaasiaq” is the word for computer and it means “artificial brain”, you get the picture…sort of a pun intended.  It’s definitely the main language spoken here, Danish is second and English comes in third, although kids these days would rather learn English than Danish..  Qaqortoq is an educational center for the region serving pre-school through two-year secondary school students. 

Tourists can overwhelm this small town just like the sea will ultimately overwhelm this little iceberg.  It's got to be rough having your small town overrun every day of the summer when a cruise ship comes into town and doubles or triples the population.  Like so many other places, the residents like the income the tourists bring but there's a price to pay.  Qaqortoq isn't a destination yet, and I hope it doesn't become one, there's a wonderful charm to this small town.  I loved our visit here.

As we sailed away that evening we were treated to more of the fantastical icebergs the dot the seas here.

By this time we'd learned we wouldn't be going to Nuuk, Greenland, our next planned stop.  There was a low pressure system developing that would have put us in some pretty rough seas so it was decided to change our itinerary one more time.  You really are at the mercy of the wind and waves out here.  So off we go to Newfoundland ahead of schedule and we'll get a bonus stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia in a few days.  Here's to enjoying the journey, something we did to the fullest today!