This morning we arrived at Cape Dorset, once known as Kinglait to the locals. There were two main reasons to be here. First, the archeological interest, and second, the art. In either case, the first group of Zodiacs left at 7:15AM, which means up by 6AM, for breakfast in our room, and then start getting dressed (at least a 15 minute ordeal, given the fact this was a “wet landing”). In fact, wet landing was not even the half of it!! We had strong winds, and choppy swells and they said that there would be many slippery boulders to walk over. With all this, Theresa was of a mind to stay on the ship. But, she did accompany me to the lobby where we departed down the stairs to the Zodiacs. Watching us board, she was comfortable in her choice. Watching us depart, I think she might have been laughing. During the boarding process, the waves and wind were rocking the Zodiac all over, and we were getting wet. The driver had his hands full keeping the Zodiac in one place, even with two lines holding us to the ship. As we departed, wave after wave crashed over the boat, dowsing all of us, not least me in the front position! I was thankful that these gloves were very water resistant, the outer pants worked very well, and the parka too. But my hat was getting wet.
We arrived at the landing site, and two expedition members were standing in water up to their waists, grabbed the Zodiac and tried to hold it steady so we might swing over the sides, stepping onto a wooden step, then into the water about 12 inches deep.
[Our first landing site.]
There were big rocks (over 8 inches in diameter) and smaller rocks. The big rocks were glazed in algae, assuring most foolhardy steps slipped off.
[Ah…so good for the ankles!]
So, we were told to avoid the big ones and just step intentionally to the lowest points. We trudged up the very rocky slope, and finally (100 yards?) came to a nice thick mossy place. The moss was thick and spongy, and felt like a luxurious carpet under our feet, particularly after the rocks. But, it was twice the slope, so on we slogged uphill. I already knew Theresa was happier on board than she would have been here! Supposedly, we were only to walk some 400 meters, but really, it seemed more like 600, and mostly uphill.
[Soft, but up…always up!]
Our guide, “Blackie”, was a small, soft spoken man with a big gun and thick accent. While our “bear guards” had straps and carried their rifles over the shoulders in a normal way, Blackie was content to throw the butt of the rifle over his shoulder, and hold on by the barrel. This meant, while he faced us and spoke, turning one way or another, we all had the chance to look down the barrel of his rifle and wonder what was he saying and what gun safety precautions did he espouse. I am not a gun expert, but I kind of had the notion rule number 1 was to never point it at ANYONE, and that was not on his list.
Regardless, he took us to a site where the “Dorset” people (named for the town, not the other way around) lived in these places some 500-1500 years ago. They built structures with whale bones, rocks, sod, and skins. It might have looked like a large dirt version of an igloo, having the entrance in a low spot accessed by crawling. We had a presentation yesterday about this place, and one of the archeologists told us in no ambiguous terms, “Do NOT step in them, disturb them, or in any way compromise them!” Blackie told us to gather in them, sit in them, and even try out the entrance passageway. Well, no one used the passage, but we all sat there with our guide! Then we hiked to the next site.
[The entrance into the ancient home…under the lintel!]
[A view of the inside of the home looking toward the lintel doorway. Yes, one would crawl to enter!]
It started to rain and the wind was strong… It was about 33F. A friend/coworker told me just a month or two earlier that our trips were not his idea of “vacation”, and not what he would ever choose to do with his free time. As I stood there contemplating the frigid Zodiac ride over, splashed with freezing water, lashed with wind and rain, tromping over rocky and steep terrain, I wondered if this is what he meant? Does this not fit everyone’s dream trip? Perhaps not.
Meanwhile, back on the ship, Theresa was reading a book, drinking a latte, and enjoying the rainbow caused by the rain! Maybe more of a vacation??
We then headed to the shore of this little island, intending to cross over to Cape Dorset. I saw a few spots I thought were nice landing zones, but for some reason we were led to a spot over the rocks again, next to a hill, and barely a place to stand. The Zodiac came. We clambered on and set off across the water. On the other side, we were taken to the house of an artist, well known for carving. I did not really know until the past couple of days that Cape Dorset is a focal point for Inuit Art, and a veritable mecca for enthusiasts. The house we were lead to, required us to take off our shoes. Yeah, these boots do not kick on and off like loafers!! And the waterproof pants are awkward to get over them after installation on my feet. I’m not taking 3-5 minutes to get them off, and another 5 to get them back on, just to see what may be inside! About 5 of us waited outside for 10-20 minutes. Then we headed over to a print shop that make lithographs of the local artists’ work. Then back to another carving shop, where they had stone carvings from $30 to many thousands of dollars. There were some very nice ones, but a $3000 marble polar bear seemed unnecessary, and not easy to pack!
The next stop was a place where some people did “throat singing”. I’m not even going to try to explain it to you. But it was another place that required shoes to come off, so I headed back to the ship a touch early. The Zodiac ride back at least had the wind at our back. But, the swells were pretty bad, so people had difficulty getting from the Zodiac back on to the boats. I found Theresa, and she was very happy she did not go! And had been told by multiple people in previous Zodiacs that she had made the correct decision! In fact, I later found that, of the 74 guests, only 37 went to the archeologic sites, and 23 more went only to the shopping area. So, 20% of the people agreed with Theresa in staying on the ship!
After dinner, we had a game. We were to match a statement by an Expedition Team member to the person it fit. It was actually fun. There were 10 statements and 10 names. We managed two correct guesses! Oh well. At least we get to sleep in tomorrow.
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