July 25 – Sisimiut

Sisimiut is the second largest town in Greenland at around 6000 people (and 1500 dogs).  We took a small bus tour of town that took us to the new church. 

The view from there overlooked the museum where we could see the Old Church,

a number of sledges,

and many colorful buildings.

The next stop was at the top of one of the tall hills overlooking the colorful town, the harbor and the mountains.  The town is situated in a very beautiful location. 

We then drove through past a small lake and through the center of town and out to the Dog Town where the sledge dogs are kept.  The dogs are Greenlandic dogs and are a separate breed, half wolf and half domestic dog.  They are working dogs and are kept chained in the elements for basically the entire year.  They are not used much during the summer but work as sledge dogs during the winter.  

An interesting note…while Alaskan and Norwegian dog teams run in a straight line, two abreast, the Greenlandic dogs run in a fan-like formation spread across the front of the sled.  We found out that they run in this wider formation because in Alaska and Norway they run on paths through brush and trees (so must run in the very narrow formation) while in Greenland there are no trees or brush so this allows the dogs to fan out when they run.

The views of the town from the harbor were great.

Just before leaving Sisimiut we had a kayak demonstration.  Two gentlemen were out in canoes but only one actually demonstrated kayak rolling while the other was there for safety.  The ship's announcer explained the various types of rolling and why they were performed when.  We have forgotten all of the information.  

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Watch video of kayak demonstration.
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The MS Fram had a great fireplace in the main lobby.  Unfortunately it was just a video so there was no warmth thrown out by the "fire".  It was most annoying to Mary who kept wanting to stop by to get warmed up.