Greenland Day Four. Whales, And A Couple Of Walks On My Last Day In Nuuk.

I was exhausted after my long day exploring Nuuk, Greenland  on Monday. I felled  asleep when I returned to my room, but didn’t stay asleep. I was  up around 11 p.m.  because  it was still daylight.  The sun didn’t; set until after midnight.  I didn’t fall back sleep until 1 a.m.I didn’t sleep a lot on this adventure.  I realized I could never  live near the Arctic Circle, I’d never sleep.  I had the same problem when I visited northern Norway. Anyway , the sun rose at 5 a.m. , so I did  too. My whale  watching cruise in the fjord departed at 9:00 a.m. so I had to time to get a  walk in before breakfast. After a cup of coffee I was back on the now familiar streets of Nuuk.

It was cloudy and cool with temperature in the low 40’s. Now that knew a little about the layout of the town I spent more time observing  the town .  This time I paid more attention to the shops,

 markets,

and buildings in the business district across from my hotel.

Leaving the business district, it isn’t very big, a few blocks,   I walked toward the harbor, and  I came to  the large new housing units. . There was almost no  motor  vehicle traffic, but  in the residential neighborhoods there  were few folks and students walking to work or school.

Below the large new housing units  were the older, colorful homes built on the cliffs above the rocky shore.

I walked down to the wooden boardwalk along the ,

seeing , and hearing ,  the sound of the ocean ,

the ever present common ravens that were everywhere in Nuuk.

Walking along the boardwalk I was able to see both the older homes built along the cliff,

the new large housing units and apartment. 

There was  laundry hanging out to dry in almost all of the apartments.

It was a reflective walk,seeing the cold waters of the fjord.  The waters of the fjord flow into  the Labrador Sea which is part of the North Atlantic Ocean. I learned the ocean doses not freeze here in the Winter because of the warm waters of  Gulf Stream.  The board walk ended,

and I walked down the wooden steps to the shore. And  walked past this abandoned ship,and the

Greenland National museum which I visited Sunday afternoon.

Walking along the shore I observed  old town Nuuk and the hill with the statue of Hans Egede overlooking the harbor,

before walking  back up another set of  steep steps to the town above.

I finished my 1 1/2 mile walk through the the business section,

again observing the shops there before  returning to my hotel.   Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my morning walk. Greenland Day Four: Nuuk morning walk July 22 2025.

I had a quick and light breakfast since I knew I would be on the boat cruise for 3 hours.  I  didn’t want to overeat.

After breakfast I left the hotel to  take a slow  mile  walk to the Cruise Terminal  where the Nuuk Water Taxi cruise  boats departed.  I wasn’t sure what I would do when I arrived in Nuuk thought of a boat cruise to look for puffins. However when I saw the Nuuk Water Taxi guaranteed a whale sighting  on their Whale Watching Cruise I decided  to sign up.

It was still cloudy as I walked through the now busy streets of  Nuuk.

I saw a lot of large buses  on my walk toward  harbor.  I soon discovered why

A large cruise shop had docked in the harbor and folks were leaving the ship and boarding buses for tours of Nuuk.

I walked to the Nuuk Water Taxi dock and was able to board our boat about 15 minutes early.  All of the passengers were aboard and we left the harbor before 9:a.m. It was another  great group of  passengers. Our captain and guide were also friendly.  There was coffee, tea,  hot chocolate and cookies in the healed cabin of the boat.

However, as soon as our guide completed his introduction to the the cruise I was out on the bow of the boat as we left the harbor,

and cruised toward the mountains in the distance.

The wind was cold as we crusaded along  the fjords.  I didn’t mind, since I  enjoying  the breathtaking scenery of the majestic mountains.

We cruised south this time, the mountain scenery changing as we got further along,

A few great black backed gulls  and

Iceland gulls flew overhead .

We kept our eyes peeled,  searching the water for the whales. We were out about an hour and we didn’t see anything .

I was getting feeling  I wouldn’t see a whale on this cruise. A few of the passengers were on previous cruises and didn’t see any so were on this cruise for free. They could continue to sign up for a cruise until they saw one. This wouldn’t help me since I was leaving Greenland the next day.

We continue cruise through the fjords, I watched the mountains and changing clouds in the skies Then, a passenger shouted and pointed. In the distance I saw a spray of water!

It was a humpback whale!  The captain approached the water spout, and slowed down as we neared the area we saw it. We saw another spray of water and then the tail fins of a humpback  whale as they again disappeared below the water.

It was an awesome experience. I haven’t seen whales in the ocean since I was in Antarctic. We approached the whale waiting to see the spray from the water spout and saw  the humps of the humpback whale, 

 before the whale dived and the tail disappeared  beneath the  cold water.

We followed the whale and saw a second water spout. There was another whale  near the first one.

As we followed  these two whales,  a third whale appeared on the other side of the boat.Our captain decided to follow the first two.  We followed them as the swam through the waters of the fjord.  We would watch the water spraying from their spouts,

then see their large humpbacks appear,

and their tails disappear again as the dove back under the water  approached.

While following the whales,  the skies cleared and the waters of the fjord sparkled in the sunshine.

Our  boat  followed  the whales. They would continue to dive under the water as we approached. We would then look for the water spray from their spouts  and cruise   closer to the whales. But  they kept their distance from the boat, diving under the water until we found them again further down the fjord.  We  continued to follow them for almost an hour, hoping to get close to them.

We met another Nuuk Water Taxi boat which  joined us in following  the whales.

The native Inuits can hunt whales in Greenland but they  are protected in the fjords around Nuuk so they do not fear the tour boats here. Humpback whales breed in the warm waters of the Caribbean and travel to the Arctic in the Summer to feed on the abundant krill, shrimp  and small fish.

We watched the whales, along with the passengers on the other boat for about another 15 minutes.  Sadly we were out about 2 1/2 hours and it was time to head back to Nuuk. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the amazing humpback whales. Greenland Day Four: Nuuk: Whale watching cruise. whales  July 22 2025.

As we entered the harbor,

there were now two cruise ships docked at the cruise terminal, and

 a Danish navy ship.

I departed the boat  telling the captain and guide  the sighting of the whales made my entire visit to Greenland worth the cost. It was a great experience.It  a little past noon, and was now sunny and warm, for Nuuk, with a temperature in the mid-50’s. I walked back to my hotel where I rested a bit, had some more coffee while editing photos.  I was soon  off f again , for one last hike exploring the northern town of Nuuk. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my  cruise . Greenland Day Four: Nuuk: Whale watching cruise  July 22 2025. .

This time I walked north on Aqqusinersuaq  the main street in Nuuk. There was some traffic  but not like in most capital cities. Nuuk is the smallest, and most northern,  capital city in the world.

I walked past more large housing units, where I saw a lot of local residents walking through the neighborhood on this warm Summer afternoon.

I followed their road, which  led to the airport,  up  a hill.  The road cut through a mountain.

Here I had a great view of the majestic mountains in  distance. I think this may have been the same mountains we cruised  to and  where we drank the water from the waterfall flowing from a glacier on  my cruise the previous afternoon.

At the top of the ridge I also got a view of the harbor below. I was told this is  a marina where local fishermen keep their  boats  so I wanted to investigate. .

Of course I had to walk down  another set of steep  steps,

and then walk through a long narrow tunnel to get to the  marina.

I walked through the tunnel as traffic zoomed past and came to the harbor and marina where hundreds of small boats were docked.

I walked around the harbor,

where I found some local vendors selling a Greenland version  of a hot dog or sausage

and another selling chicken.

I was out around 1 1/2 miles so decided to walk back. Insead of walking through the tunnel I decided to walk over the ridge. It was  steep climb to the top,

 but the views were worth it.

I rested a bit a the top and then found some another steep staircase down the ridge. I walked to the staircase and saw it was  closed. I would have to walk a mile out of my way to walk back on the street.

Luckily, some a couple of young fellows were near the steps. They spoke no English but I was able to explain to them I wanted to walk down the hill. They understood and took me to a path that took me to the steps.

They were being repaired but I was able to walk down from this point.

I walked down these steep, stairs then, back up the other set of stairs. Needless to say my  old legs, especially my old  calves, were sore for a few days.

As I walked back into downtown Nuuk I came across this unusual  sight. I loader filled with snow was parked along the street while a worker tossed the snow onto the road. I have no idea why.

I returned to my hotel around 4. pm. It was my last day in Nuuk so I decided to do some shopping for some gifts for my great-nieces and great nephews. I walked to the shopping center across from the  mall and explored the supermarket.

I love seeing the products in the markets in foreign countries. . I was surprised at how well stocked the modern store was, especially the fresh fruits and  vegetables.  I left the market and walked to a souvenir shop  and did my shopping.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my last walk through Nuuk. . Greenland Day Four: Nuuk: Whale afternoon walk   July 22 2025.

It was after 5 p.m.  when I got back to the hotel.  I was tired and hungry. . I had walked over 7 miles and ate nothing since my light breakfast. . It was my last day in Nuuk and I had an early flight in the morning and had to pack. I was going to eat at the hotel and learned they only served the same buffet that I ate at on my arrival on Saturday. I decided to return to the Cafe Esmeraldos. where I ate on Sunday. I had another bowl of the delicious seafood soup,

and a special called the Shooting  Star, fried cod, shrimp asparagus with a tasty sauce.  It was also delicious  Another great meal in Greenland. Sadly it would be my last. I returned to my room, edited some photos and packed. I was up early the next morning and took the shuttle to the small airport for my 4 hour direct flight back to the Newark airport.

 There were no lines at the airport and our flight took off on time.   I looked down  as we flew over the fjords I had explored the past few days.  It was a short but wonderful trip,  Seeing the whales was the highlight of my adventure. I hope to see them in the Caribbean this Winter, And I am planning a return  trip to Greenland, this time to see the Northern Lights in the Winter.  I hope you can join my again. 

“We owe it to our children to be better stewards of the environment. The alternative? – a world without whales. It’s too terrible to imagine.”  Pierce Brosnan