Finally – it was the day for the much anticipated helicopter ride to a glacier! Some light cloud came in early in the morning which could have dampened the enjoyment somewhat, or even caused the cancellation of the flight. Thankfully the cloud lifted mid-morning leaving us with another crystal-clear Greenland day. The flight to the glacier was brilliant. Toby said that our group was his first for the season that had been able to do everything on their itinerary without substantial changes due to the weather closing in. Lucky us! I was rugged up and ready to fly!
Yours truly – Tasiilaq in the background (P1010355 © DY of jtdytravels)
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How could one not enjoy this! (P1010370 © DY of jtdytravels)
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A mass of Crevasses criss-crossing glaciers ( P1010369 © DY of jtdytravels)
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One of the views from our landing spot (P1010373 © DY of jtdytravels)
We landed on a gravelly knoll in the middle of a large ice cap which gave a great panorama of a number of glaciers and we looked down on the fjord we had travelled by boat on the 15th.
Float ice making its way down ‘our’ fjord (P1010371 © DY of jtdytravels)
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Our 1980 built Bell 212 Helicopter (P1010374 © DY of jtdytravels)
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On top of the world! (P1010385 © DY of jtdytravels)
Here I was, seemingly on top of the world, literally and figuratively. I was in ‘seventh heaven’! It was warm with not a skerrick of a breeze. Just another perfect day in the natural paradise of Greenland. We had 40 minutes to wander around and take in the breathtaking views before the return flight.
Stunning views (P1010403 © DY of jtdytravels)
And as usual, I looked down as well as out and found some small plants surviving even up here on the ‘top of the world’.
Such tiny beauties! [Silene acaulis] (P1010377 © DY of jtdytravels)
Even the dried flowers of Silene are attractive [Silene acaulis] (P1010391 © DY of jtdytravels )
Tough conditions, tough plant! (P1010402 © DY of jtdytravels)
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Lichen and Birch (P1010395 © DY of jtdytravels)
Much too soon for me, it was time to get on board for the flight back. There’s never enough time to explore.
Pilots get ready to take off again (P1010405 © DY of jtdytravels)
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After takeoff – closer view of a glacier (P1010408 © DY of jtdytravels)
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Surface of a glacier (P1010409 © DY of jtdytravels)
Skimming over a glacier’s surface, the world was suddenly all in black and white and greys – not a colour to be seen.
Back up to the sweeping big picture (P1010411 © DY of jtdytravels)
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An impressive last view (P1010412 © DY of jtdytravels)
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Out across the Fiords again (P1010414 © DY of jtdytravels)
It was amazing to look down from on high onto the ice flows. I looked down from the helicopter at small chunks of ice which, I knew from experience, were really large icebergs (some six stories high) when seen up close in a small boat.
Over the hills, back towards Tasiilaq (P1010416 © DY of jtdytravels)
And so back to Tasiilaq and the end of another magical Greenland experience… I hope I have been able to give you a glimpse of just how spectacular it was.
Preparing to leave Greenland (P1010423 © DY of jtdytravels)
In fact this was our last Greenland experience. We had lunch at the hotel, picked up our gear and then had to wait for the helicopter to finish an emergency evacuation job. Then it was free to take us to the airport for a mid afternoon flight back to Reykjavik in Iceland. And from there, our next destination was to be The Faroes. More of that anon D
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT © DY of jtdytravels
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