We had set an alarm to make sure we would not miss the breakfast which is only served from 7:30-8:30AM.  We should not have bothered as at 7:15AM we were awakened by rousing music and a happy voice telling us to get up and start the day, and reminding us of the mandatory briefing starting at 9AM. The breakfast buffet was good with the usual offerings, including a chef making custom omelets. I was really impressed with the fresh fruit, given where we were. Steve even learned they would make specialized coffee for us, so an Americano became our normal morning treat.

Looking outside we found ourselves in a totally different world from yesterday. We had left the docking area and proceeded out to the open sea, turned to the East and now have entered a new fjord with totally different looking mountains. These are much more rugged and “pointy” as we commonly and inaccurately referred to them.

Ali, the expedition leader, had warned us about the mandatory briefing the night before, stating that it was necessary to explain all the activities that would be offered on the trip and safety procedures (including videos) that had be be followed to protect us and the environment. The talks were informative, the time passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time for lunch, again a buffet. It, too, was very good with many choices of both cold and hot dishes. We quickly learned that the ice cream bar would always be there, featuring two flavors of the day along with all the toppings you could think of. Cookies and other desserts were also readily available.

The afternoon schedule called for our Viking group to go ashore via a zodiac landing for a hike. The staff offers multiple hiking levels, ranging from fairly strenuous (chargers) to picture takers (contemplative) and one in between. Steve, as expected, opted for being a charger, while I, the sensible one, decided to push my luck and chose the intermediate, “medium fast” group. I later learned that my hike leader, Peter Camell of New Zealand, was an mountain enthusiast who has climbed Mt. Everest and Denali. His pace was pretty aggressive as his goal was to take us to the terminus of the glacier near where we landed within the allotted shore time. It was a beautiful walk, but there was little time to be “contemplative” with him as our leader! I thought that maybe future hikes would find me joining the contemplative hikers.

The day always ends with a daily recap where various staff members would enlighten us with information and pictures of the daily activities. One of the staff members, Lana, was a Inuit native from Greenland. She “tried” to teach us a few Inuit words today. It is not an easy language to learn. Ali finished the briefing by giving us a glimpse of tomorrow’s agenda. Again she warned us that weather conditions requires us to be flexible. I was impressed with the data she had available to her on the expected wind, fog, temperature and ice conditions where we are heading.

Dinner from now on would be from a menu, which turned out to be quite varied. The head chef was from South Africa. Wine flowed freely throughout the dinner.

There was an optional presentation offered after dinner. Tonight, Colin, our glaciologist, will talk about his year-long complete navigation of the polar arctic region. It was a pretty fascinating talk, which cannot now be offered because of diplomatic issues with Russia.

Thus ended our first full day, exploring the wonders of Greenland. I was impressed, both with the ship, the staff, and most importantly, the scenery I was seeing. It is not what I had expected.