Who can say no to an arctic spa day? It seemed every traveller and local we came across highly reccomended a trip to visit Uunartoq Hot Springs. With a combined history of Viking and Inuit heritage usage, it’s easy to see why the earlier settlers made this a top destination.
Tucked away in the Southern Greenland, Uunartoq Island is an uninhabited island that feels like the closest you could get to imagining life in the viking age. Uunartoq Island translates to “the warming island,” which speaks for itself. It is home to natural geothermal springs that hover between 37–38°C (98–100°F) year-round. I purposely did not view any photos of the hot springs before we arrived because I wanted to be surprised. Honestly, I’m still not over what we were able to experience. Is this real life? My shock and awe of the beauty we discovered was equally matched with Al’s enthusiasm that “It was the best day of the trip so far.” And when Al is impressed, you KNOW it’s something special.
As we made our way from our anchorage above Qaqortoq towards Saarloq, hugging the tiny islands and rounding Alluitsup Paa, we started seeing more and more icebergs. Even though we have seen our fair share of icebergs in the arctic, I still find the allure of icy textures shaped by wind and water absolutely magical. Maybe it was the Greenland fog rolling through, maybe it was just that I still find these blocks of nature’s carvings so impressive. Every angle changes the appearance of the iceberg and there is something in the stillness of it all that takes our breath away.
We slowed down to pick up a small bergy bit for cocktail ice later. Ted was so excited he immediately took a chunk off to cool his tea down and watched all the centuries or thousands of year old air bubbles melt away. We navigated some narrow passages between rocks and saw a few whales in the distance. We even came upon something in the water that seemed to resemble inflated intestine of some large animal…probably a whale?
The most impressive iceberg we came across was run aground right in front of the hot springs. The aqua blue that shown underneath was STUNNING. We usually give a pretty healthy distance between us and the icebergs just in case one decides to calve or flip on us. Since this one was so close to shore, we got a little closer and the cool air you feel coming off the iceberg as you glance up at the wall of ice a hundred feet tall is enough to humble anyone.
We noticed a waterfall running down the middle, which made us think there was some kind of pooling lake on top of the iceberg. We later confirmed this with Brian’s drone, it looked like the perfect cold plunge/water slide to me! Just drone me over and drop me in!
We found a very pleasant anchorage right outside the dock for the island. Off in the distance is what I called Iceberg City, with so many icebergs gathered in one inlet.
There was even a really nice beach landing for smaller vessels like a kayak.
We weren’t the first ones to arrive that day as there were two other powerboats tied up as well. A short walk up the sandy/grassy trail, and we found ourselves at the hot spring! There were two buildings for changing and an inuit family was still swimming about when we first arrived.
We didn’t wait too long before we joined them and each of us finding our perfect spots in the pool. The temperature was warm, but I wouldn’t necessarily say hot. But it made it very tolerable to soak for many hours, which we definitely did. The bottom of the pool was made of this pleasant sand and you could see the thermal vent bubbles rising in certain spots, which meant the sand and water was warmer in those areas. Everyone had their own way of digging into the pool. I enjoyed digging my fingers and hands in, laying on my back and feeling the thermal bubbles roll up my back and up my neck. With my eyes submerged in the quiet, you could even hear the little bubbles roll up. I could’ve layed there all night.
We shared some laughs, ponderings, and even got to enjoy some blue skies. I’ve been asking everyone on the crew what they think their spirit animal is, but the guys are still finalizing their decisions. I’ll share those when they’re finalized, hopefully before the end of the trip! I’d be curious to know what folks back home think each crew member’s spirit animal should be.
The crew took the time to soak, float, and Brian of course flew his drone for exploration. We easily stayed for a couple of hours and probably could’ve stayed longer if it weren’t for the fact that the drinks and food were back at the boat. We thought about taking the dinghy out to explore Iceberg City, but by the time our tummies were full of a puttanesca pasta and some wine, it was time for us to wind down before an early start tomorrow morning.
