Borgvig and Going Back to Iceland

 

Cloudy skies, icy seas

The last day in Greenland was significantly different than the rest. 

It was colder

It was gray and gloomy

It was raining and then snowing; Left: Scott Stevens

It was perfect!

Going out on our final excursion

We were heading to Borgvig, a glacial bay with filled with icebergs, bergie bits, growlers and brash. 

This glacier was filling the bay with ice

Our guide, Kristoffer, said that seeing this landscape in the gloomy snow was actually a treat because the gray brings out the turquoise in the ice. 

Kristoffer was loving the snow

It was a whole different perspective

Had it been on the first day, it might have been disheartening, but we had had our blue skies and sunshine. According to the Expedition Team, we had had more sun and blue skies than any trip they remember. This day was far more typical.

This gave us, perhaps, a more accurate Greenland experience

Borgvig is a bay near the mouth of Scoresby Sund across the wide fjord from Ittoqqortoormiit very close to the open Greenland Sea. 

Our last Scoresby Sund stop

It features dramatic, deep-fractured, brown-toned basalt columns and the active Borgvig glacier.

The bare brown rock contrasted with the snow and ice

Borgvig Glacier

Once again, the Zodiacs wove in and out of the icebergs, but this time the water was soupy with brash.

Lots of ice and icebergs (there's a Zodiac in the upper right photo)

There were lots of interesting pieces of ice, ranging from milky white to crystal clear to clear turquoise. 

We were clunking through lots of beautiful ice

And, as predicted, many of the icebergs looked brilliant turquoise.

The effect of the gray sky

Farther away from the glacier, near where the Ocean Explorer was anchored, the water was mostly, but not completely, free of icy chunks, but there were more of those massive icebergs.

This was the most ice we had seen

Further out were even bigger ones (the sky was clearer further out, as well)

This day was so different from the rest. It was very dark, so photography was tricky. It was chilly enough that my hands were cold when I took my gloves off. And, it was wet enough that I really had to shield my cameras. Fortunately, it was not windy, so the sea was relatively calm.

Winter is coming

We moved around quite a bit, observing some interesting icebergs ...

This one was cracked and, oddly, wrinkled

... marveling at the sheer cliffs ...

We could see the snow accumulating

... enjoying the last ride ...

On the Zodiac; Photo: Scotty Sinton

I loved Borgvig, but when researching further for this blog, I got a pang of disappointment. I found posting after posting of Polar Bears spotted in Borgvig. 

Photo: Michelle Valberg

Photo: Kay Fochtmann

That would have been a great ending to a wonderful trip.

But, hey, we saw so many beautiful things; Let's not get greedy

Ship Portrait

But, we weren't done for the day. After we got on the ship, we all gathered on the deck for a photo session.

A party atmosphere; Left: Scott Stevens

Scotty powered up his drone ...

... and took both stills and video of all the passengers gathered together

Scott and I are right in the middle

Pretty cool. Watch below ...

With the bad(ish) weather, I thought this was the worst possible day for a portrait. 

But, it turned out OK

On the Ship

I have given you a good overview of the excursions we took while in Greenland on the Ocean Explorer. But, what happened while we were onboard the ship?

Our ship

Of course, we had three great meals a day and an afternoon "tea" after we returned from our late-day excursions. 

Warming up with tea; Photo: Graham Gibson

Some days it was tea, some days hot chocolate, some days hot cider. There were usually some cookies, cakes or min-sandwiches. There were hors d'oeuvres and a new signature drink each day before dinner and a bar. Yes, there was plenty of yummy food. No complaints there!

They had lots of vegetarian, vegan and international options; Photo: Quark

During the down times -- when crossing the Denmark Strait, some evenings and during ship repositioning -- Expedition Team members gave presentations about on a wide variety of topics about the Arctic and Greenland, including geology, photography, Greenlandic history and culture, Arctic birds, Ittoqqortoormiit, Polar Bears, Greenlandic science programs and some personal presentations from guides about their previous adventures. 

Oh, and, of course, safety!

Plus, we had daily pre- and post-briefings about our destinations (it's amazing I didn't remember more) and a couple of nights with funny games.  I really enjoyed the presentations and was relieved that it never got hokey like it can on big ships.

Our Expedition Team entertaining us; They seemed to really love their jobs

Most nights there were activities in the bar, including performances by a band comprising ship staff members.

The final night ended with an art auction benefiting Seabird Watch. Scott bought a cool vintage Greenland poster. Other items included clothing items, blankets and the ship's flag (reasonably tattered at this point).

We bid on and won a vintage poster, left

I would have liked this (the bidder paid a ridiculous amount!)

We ended everything with a champagne toast and screening of a slide show featuring predominantly Scotty Sinton's photos plus submissions from passengers and other team members. I had quite a few in the show. And, many of the photos I've used in the blogs came from the photos used in the slide show.

One of Scotty's that I am in

The trip back through the Denmark Strait was a bit rougher than but much shorter than the trip out.

The night crossing was rough; Photo: Scotty Sinton

Oh, and it was sadder, too because we were leaving Greenland

We rolled into Reykjavik at dawn and began disembarkation at 8:00 a.m. 

A drippy arrival; Photo: Scott Stevens

With a small ship, that's completed in a relatively short amount of time. 

By the time we got off the ship, we had traveled 1,693 nautical miles.

Quite a trip!

In my next post, I'll talk about our last couple of days in Iceland.

Still more to see

Trip dates September 5 – 30, 2025

Aurora Borealis

One of the things we came for

I have been regaling you with the incredible sights we saw on our daily excursions in Greenland without mentioning anything about what we were seeing when not out on our Zodiacs or hiking around rocky hills. 

This tour was billed as Adventures in Northeast Greenland: Glaciers, Fjords and the Northern Lights. And, yet, I have not mentioned northern lights. 

We had them!

We had them almost EVERY NIGHT!!

EVERY NIGHT!!! Almost!

The first night, the announcement came over the PA system with maximum excitement.

We cruised at night and the crew watched for aurora; Photo: Scotty Sinton

Everyone rushed to the deck to marvel at the green (and occasionally red) streaks on the horizon. 

A small crowd of eager photographers; Photo: Scotty Sinton

We took photos. 

We were in awe

The next night was equally enthusiastic.

Another chance for photos

Then, the announcements started with "I hate to tell you this, but ...."

Again????

I mean we were up early every morning. We were going out on two excursions a day. We were hiking. Chargers were charging. Kayakers were kayaking. We were tired. And, now we were staying up half the night to watch this!

The final night of aurora, I didn't even go out on deck to take photos. 

That's why you have balconies!

And, the final night in Greenland, we didn't have any to see. Who would think that that would ever be a relief? 

What we saw was spectacular and a little different every night.

We had low columns on the horizon

We had diffused clouds of color

We had big swirls in the sky

We had daggers descending from the heavens to the water

We had multi-color curtains

And we had arcs over our heads from one side of the ship to the other

I have seen aurora borealis (the scientific name for northern lights) before and I have blogged about it before. So, I'll send you here to read the scientific stuff.

It was good!

Although I do have experience with aurora, this trip provided some new sights and some new challenges.

This was the first time I had photographed aurora over water, so adding reflections was a plus.

I love the green on the water

This is also the first time there had been icebergs in the foreground. 

Beautiful; Photos: Scotty Sinton

I was less successful taking photos of the icebergs than Scotty, the ship's photographer, because the exposure levels were so significantly different between the bright sky and the dark fjord. I figured he had more experience doing this.

My attempt (the spotlight was from the ship)

The challenges were ... well ... challenging. 

First, the boat was moving and aurora requires longer than normal exposures. 

Many of my shots were a bit blurrier than I like -- especially the stars

Second, I had a brand-new camera that I was (and am still) learning to use. So, in the dark, I had issues finding the right buttons and quickly changing the settings.

But, I still managed ...

The first and second led to the third -- a near disaster. I momentarily took my hands off my tripod and to my horror it -- with my BRAND-NEW camera -- fell over. To my increased horror, I heard glass breaking. It was, of course, too dark to assess damage on deck, so I hurried back to my cabin.

It appears that my camera survived -- at least nothing has gone wrong yet. What broke was a clear glass protective filter on my f2.8 20mm lens. Plus, the edge of the lens was dented so badly that I couldn't remove the filter rim. So, I had to carefully extract any remaining glass to protect the lens surface.

Oof!!!

When I got home, I found that the lens is too old to be repaired by Canon. I did get it looked at and the filter rim removed, but the dent is (while slightly straightened) too severe to put another filter on.

It could have been worse, but it rattled me so much, it was hard to relax when shooting aurora after that. I am used to solid ground, not a gently swaying ship.

But, back to the good stuff: the aurora was truly good stuff! Quark delivered on the promise in the name of the tour. And, after our rainy week in Iceland, that was surprise.

A good surprise

Oh, and a word about the Arctic. You may be wondering why we had so much dark -- or so much sunny weather so far north. Our trip was in September. In fact, we were there during the equinox, meaning we had about as much dark as light.

We had sunsets!

Had it been a mid-summer trip, Quark would have had to drop the Northern Lights part because, since we were above the Arctic Circle, the sun would not have set. At all. Thus, no aurora borealis. That's the whole Midnight Sun thing.

We had legit Midnight Sun in Svalbard in 2019

Had the trip been mid-winter, we would have had no sun. At all.

But, that far north, we would have also has iced-in fjords, sub-zero temperatures and treacherous sailing conditions. They don't do that. Instead, they take their ship south to Antarctica and enjoy its summer season, leaving Greenland for spring through fall ...

We had very little dark in Antarctica in 2024

As it was, it was perfect!

... and aurora

In my next post, we'll finish the cruise.

And, have a change in weather

Trip dates September 5 – 30, 2025