As we cruised north of Ilulissat, we gathered on the decks to photograph a floating parade of icebergs along Greenland’s west coast. After travelling for 60 kilometres, the captain stopped the ship for an expedition landing. (The captain can cancel excursions because of weather, pack ice or lurking polar bears, but he can also arrange stops in places where ships have never visited.) It was a great opportunity to explore the tundra. Some of us hiked to the five-kilometre-wide Eqip Sermia Glacier. Frequent explosions shattered the silence around us as chunks of ice calved off of the glacier, creating noisy splashes of water as they landed. Expedition staff set up a scope so that passengers could scan the landscape for wildlife. Many of us focused our camera lenses on the miniature tundra plants. Crouching close to the ground, we photographed the polychromatic carpet of leaves, lichens and wildflowers. As we walked over Labrador tea plants, their woodsy scent wafted through the pollution-free air. Voyage of discovery CSANews | FALL 2022 | 17 Travel
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