Tag: travel

Photo Tour to Greenland

Below is a recap of the Strabo Photo Tour Collection trip to Greenland in September 2025. We’ll do this trip again in September 2027 if you’re interested in joining us.

We flew round trip out of Newark. Some flew to Iceland first and then to Greenland.

Arrival in Nuuk at 6:45pm.  Travel time was 4 hours and 15 minutes.  Meal on the plane but that was lunch.  Pack your puffy jacket where you can get to it.  There’s a walk across the tarmac and it is cold. 

Terminal is a gray, modern facility built against the rocks.  Efficient and easy to get around.  (Click one of the photos below for a slide show. The images will show full-frame.)

Arrived at Hotel Egede.  Modern and efficient.   My room had two single beds, desk, and couch.  Nice amount of room.  No fridges in the rooms.  Coffee makers, though.

Our first day in Nuuk, we walked to the Nuuk Cathedral and Hans Egede statue.  Church was closed but we stayed there for an hour.  I explored the graveyard behind the church.  Climb to the statue was easy but could be difficult.  The terrain is large round rocks with a bit of moss and dirt between.  A cruise ship was in port so we had 20 or 30 people around us doing the climb and exploring. (Click one of the photos below for a slide show. The images will show full-frame.)

 

We walked toward the shoreline and up a street to Myggadalen or the Pano Viewpoint.  Ocean to the left and colorful houses to the right.  Cold, slippery, and rainy. 

Backtracked to the Old Colonial Harbor and the “Lady of the Sea” statue along the shoreline.  The tide was in so we didn’t see much of the statue.  The group agreed to return at low tide so we could photograph the statue. 

We wandered, photographed and then stopped for coffee and bathroom.  Found a little place near the Nuuk Local Museum and the ferry dock where we’d depart the following day.  Coffee, pastries, and ice cream were very good. 

Continued our walk to the boardwalk that follows the shoreline to the south.  The group spread out and enjoyed the photography.

The walk continued around the old, industrial housing blocks.  Then past a school and back to the road with the Hotel Egede.  We decided on Café LoLo for lunch. 

Back to the hotel and then the grocery store for lunch on Thursday.  Fun to walk the isles and see what they eat.  I found flat bread (30K), cheese (30K), and an apple.  Turned out to be perfect for me for two days.  There are no refrigerators in the hotel rooms, so sandwiches were out.  Several went over at 7am the following morning to buy their sandwiches. 

Left the hotel at 9pm for possible northern lights at the church and statue.  Stayed out until 11pm when it was just too cold to stand anymore.  Very nice half moon coming up at twilight. Walked back to the hotel. 

Thursday, Sept 11, we met in the lobby at 8:15am for a private excursion up the fjord to the icebergs. Our captain and Sebastian, our English-speaking guide, were both native Greenlanders. 

Both were amazing to be with.  Sabastian answered all our questions.  He once lived in the abandoned settlement an hour from Nuuk.  He was also a photographer so pointed to things that were interesting. (Click one of the photos below for a slide show. The images will show full-frame.)

The sun came out when got to the base of the glacier, probably Ilulialik, and the captain killed the engine.  That gave us a chance to enjoy the quiet and photograph the icebergs.  The captain grabbed a piece of clear ice with his net, rinsed it off, and then let it dry in the sun.  Then he chipped it into cups and poured a bit of whisky over the ice.  We saluted, celebrated, took photos, and enjoyed the drink.  I just ate the ice, which was very hard, since I’m not a fan of whisky. 

Icebergs in a quiet fjord.

We returned to Nuuk and arrived around 2pm. Dinner at one of the restaurants in town.

Walk after dark to maybe see the northern lights over town.

Friday, Sept 12th was our journey to glamping at Kangiussaq.  Overnight luggage was stored below.  Boat was full so no room for camera bags in the passenger compartment. 

Arrived at the glamping site at 12pm.  The boat captain circled an iceberg so we could all touch it.  We took pictures of each other with our hand on the iceberg.  ATV came down for luggage.  Some hiked directly over the hills to the dining tent.  It was steep.  Others walked the road that the ATV used. 

We gathered in the dining tent for a lunch of cheese and cold cut sandwiches.  After settling in, some went hiking with a guide to see a lake on top of the mountains.

Sleeping Tents have a kerosene heater that’s turned on at night. Twin beds on very comfortable mattresses. Each had a fluffy down comforter and pillow. There were a couple of pieces of furniture around the tent such as a shelf and small stool for dressing. (Click one of the photos below for a slide show. The images will show full-frame.)

Dinner of muskox stew over pasta and tomato sauce over pasta for the vegetarians.

We were so lucky.  It was clear when we arrived and the forecast was for a clear night.  After dinner, we reviewed the instructions for the camera settings.  Everyone got their tripods ready and attached to their cameras. We then divided the night so each person would set their alarm clock for a specific time. 

I got the 11:00pm time slot.  The camp staff said the northern lights would be around 2am.  When I looked out my tent at 11:00, there was a streak of light right across the sky.  The white cloud effect and not the green light.  I knew what it was so started hollering at the group.  Everyone cooperated with an “I’m awake” so I knew we were all awake and ready to photograph. 

I walked from tent to tent to get some kinks worked out.  Folks were nervous and cold so brains weren’t clicking on all cylinders. 

We all got great shots but the couple in the back tent got the greatest shot!  All the tents in the foreground with not distortion in the tents.  (Click one of the photos below for a slide show. The images will show full-frame.)

Morning of Septembrer 13 was so cold.  There was frost on the ground everywhere.  Getting washed up in from of the heater was miserable.  It was cold. 

Breakfast in the dining tent.  There was cheese and cold cuts on bread.  One bread was made with left over rice.  It was a sort of spoon bread with great flavor.  We made lunch from the breakfast spread. 

Everyone was super happy because they got photos of the northern lights.  Very upbeat attitude.  I did bit of hiking on my own.  We photographed the kayakers as they made their way around the island in the center of the inlet.  We talked and visited with the staff.  Everyone answered our questions. 

Out of tents by 10:00am.  Waiting for the boat to arrive at 11:30.  Departure at 12pm.  Back at the Nuuk harbor at 2pm. 

Sunday, September 14, we got to the airport and checked in by 7:00am.  Vouchers from the hotel for breakfast.  Departed right on time for Newark.  NOTE FOR THE FUTURE: Leave heavy coat out for the walk across the tarmac. 

Strabo Photo Tour Collection

Last Nature Column In The Houston Chronicle

“All things must pass
None of life’s strings can last
So I must be on my way
And face another day” George Harrison

This morning, December 28, 2024, we saw our last Nature column in the Houston Chronicle.

The Nature column has been a major part of our lives for the past 25 years. Gary Clark wrote his lovely stories about backyard birds, rare birds, and birds in far away lands. He wrote about squirrels, rabbits, coyotes, alligators, frogs and so much more. Each column was a blend of art, literature, science, and history. Readers were often treated to a splash of the Bible and occasionally a bit of chess. Gary’s columns we not simply about nature. They were about life around us.

I tried to keep up by illustrating Gary’s column with my photos. The first column on April 1, 1999 was illustrated with scanned slides of John and Gloria Tveten, our predecessors. The photo editor at that time asked if I could not only scan the slides but could I upload them with a new software called FTP. The Chronicle was moving into the digital world and I learned everything I needed to keep up in a week.

We were still using film in 1999. If Gary wanted to write about a rare bird then I had to get a photo worthy of publication and hope/pray that the slide would be good. My local photo processor needed 48 hours to process slides back then so there was a lot of waiting and hoping.

When Gary interviewed someone famous like David Sibley, Sid Dunkle, or Chandler Robinson, I had to hope the photos came out. Same with a rare bird or unusual behavior.

I embraced digital cameras when the photos reached 8MB or publication quality. My first Nikon F100 and then Canon D10 were game changers for me and all those photographing for newspapers. If a photo did come out, it was my fault, and luckily I could reshoot the subject.

I’m proud to say that Gary never missed a weekly deadline. He always submitted a column despite surgeries, bike accidents, and weather delays. During Hurricane Ike, he wrote the column in a Starbucks that had an internet connection. He wrote from his hospital bed after a major bike accident. After hand surgery, he learned how to use voice activated typing. I remember one time when he dictated the column to someone at the Chronicle from a payphone in the desert. Yep, payphone, shorthand, and dictation skills came in handy to get the column in on time.

But writing a weekly column for a major big city newspaper has come to an end. Thanks to our editors Melissa Aguilar, Jody Schmal, and photo editor Jill Karnicki. Along the way, we’ve worked with Betty Luman, Molly Glentzer, Diane Cowen, Elizabeth Pudwill, and Catherine McIntosh plus others whose names escape me at the moment.

Thanks to all of you for being loyal readers. Gary and I will miss your comments and questions. Thanks, too, to everyone who gave us a quote, agreed to be interviewed, welcomed us to your yard for a rare bird, or shared your adventures with us.

Thanks, finally, to the editors at the Houston Chronicle. We wrote a nature column for 25 years. The Tvetens wrote their nature column for 24 years. That is nearly 50 years of bringing nature to readers. Way to go!

Left: Gary’s last column before upload. Right: My last photo preparing to go.