We returned from our Quark Expeditions polar expedition to East Greenland on September 27. Our Greenland trip started from the dirt runway at Nerlerit Inaat Airport at Constable Point. From this point, we embarked on the Ocean Nova into Scoresbysund. The trip traveled far up into the northern area of Nordvestfjord and as far west as Langenaes.
Our original itinerary called for a visit to King Oscar Fjord, but a forecast of high winds and sea swells led to an expedition decision to focus on the Scoresbysund fjord. From reading past guest blogs, I suspect this is a typical weather decision. That said, remaining in Scoresbysund permitted us to visit eleven fjord areas and avoid time devoted towards rough sailing and missed zodiac landings. Moreover, the areas we visited each day were spectacular, offering daily hikes with outstanding views and blue and white icebergs, soaring mountains, wildlife and many glaciers.
As this trip had several components, I will use a few blog entries to describe the expedition. The first entry will share information about our travel to Greenland and the Ocean Nova.
Seattle to Reykjavik to Nerlerit Inaat Airport
Icelandair's non-stop flight from Seattle to Reykjavik requires about seven hours. We departed at 7pm and arrived early the next day at 9:30am. The international airport location required about a 90 minute bus ride (about $80 USD for two) to downtown Reykjavik. At the end of our trip, we opted for a 40 minute taxi (about $120) ride when we left the Reykjavik downtown area for the international airport.
Note that large buses from the airport are restricted from central downtown Reykjavik and large buses are only allowed to travel along the perimeter of central downtown. If your hotel is in this location, you may need to travel from the airport to the Reykjavik bus station. Transfers using smaller vans or taxis are available from the bus station the central downtown destinations.
Quark Expeditions included a night stay at the Grand Hotel in Reykjavik at the beginning and end of Greenland visit. Direct airport bus service is available to this hotel as it is not in central downtown. The hotel is at the northern area of town and is a 30-40 minute walk to central city.
The Grand Hotel describes itself as a four-star hotel. The rooms are adequate in size but could benefit from painting the many scuff marks on the room walls. The restaurant breakfast and dinner buffets were excellent, offering a wide selection of foods.
The hotel offers a free shuttle to the central downtown area (no return hotel shuttle) and there are city buses that can return you to about a block from the Grand Hotel. There are also taxis available but the fares can be expensive. We rode the public bus system several times when traveling within Reykjavik.
For this trip, we added a pre-trip night at the Grand Hotel and two post-trip nights at the central downtown located Black Pearl Apartment Suites. Our very modern one-bedroom accommodation at the Black Pearl was nicely furnished and included a full kitchen. We highly recommend the Black Pearl if you are staying in Reykjavik.
If you're traveling to Reykjavik, I suggest having a meal at the Hlemmer Mathol food hall. There are ten food vendors located here and all are worth checking out. For dinners, we particularly enjoyed the fish tacos at Fuegos and the Rib-Eye burger, Arctic Cod, Duck Confit at Krost. Tasty bakery items are available from Braud and Company.
A little more upscale and expensive is The Fish Market (Fishmarkadurinn) located in central downtown Reykjavik. Advance dinner reservations are needed for this restaurant as it is very popular. We enjoyed the lobster soup and the grilled robata salmon and mussel dinners. The service and presentation of the dishes were terrific. We also heard the tasting menu is delicious and creative - but this meal takes about two hours to complete.
We left the Grand Hotel at 7am to the domestic Reykjavik airport (ten minutes from the Grand Hotell) and departed via an AirIcelend turboprop Bombardier Q200. With 57 guests on this Quark expedition and a 37 passenger plane capacity, two different planes were needed for transportation. Why such a small turbo prop plane? The Q200 only requires a runway length of 3,200 feet compared to a small Bombardier CRJ900 jet needs 5,500 feet of runway.
Once we landed at Nerlerit Inaat, we donned our yellow Quark jackets and waterproof pants and walked to a small hanger. At the hanger, we placed our shoes into bags and changed to tall muck boots provided by Quark. From the hanger, we walked about a half mile along the muddy dirt runway to waiting zodiacs. We donned life jackets and boarded zodiacs for a short ride to the anchored Ocean Nova. Quark transferred our check-in luggage to the ship.
Ocean Nova
Our 106 square foot cabin had a twin layout (two lower beds and two upper bunks) located on the upper deck. We didn't need the upper bunks as we traveled double occupancy.
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| Courtesy of Quark Expeditions |
During the day, one of the lower beds was configured as a sofa and converted by cabin staff to a bed in the evening. Interior cabinet and drawer storage was much more limited compared to previous our expedition cabins in Quark's Ocean Adventurer and Poseidon Expedition's Sea Spirit.
Our room had a small private en suite. The shower area was very tiny and the shower curtain didn't prevent shower spray from spreading onto the entire bathroom floor. Luckily, a small squeegee with a long handle was provided to dry the bathroom floor after shower use.
We spent much of our time, when on board, in the Panoramic Lounge. This area is used for lectures and scenic viewing. In addition, this room has a coffee/tea maker and an endless supply of cookies. The aft Library is another great quiet location for reading and scenic viewing.
Dining services were attentive and very tasty. Breakfast and lunches were served buffet style. Breakfast included cereals, fruit, yogurt, breads, muffins, eggs and bacon/sausage. Lunches generally offered green salads, fresh fruit, two meat dish options, rice, potatoes or pasta, freshly baked breads and two deserts. Dinner was served via plates and three selections were available to choose from. Complementary wine and beer were included with dinner. I noticed that vegan entries were also available on a special request basis. The broad range of foods available to guests was actually quite amazing given that the Ocean Nova was provisioned for at least four weeks of continuous travel without significant restocking. We never went hungry on this expedition.
The Ocean Nova carries seven zodiacs (rubber inflatable boats) for use during zodiac cruising or zodiac beach landings. Each zodiac typically carries carries 8-10 passengers. The ship also offers kayaking, for an additional fee.
This was the last Quark itinerary using the Ocean Nova. Quark Expeditions appears to be focusing future polar travel on larger ships with a capacity closer to 200 guests. The newer Quark ships also offer more upscale cabin and ship areas.
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