Harboring Reflections

This harbor seems to serve all of Ilulissat. With a population of just a few thousand people, while small it is still large enough to hold a bunch of these small boats. I took this photo after coming back from my iceberg cruise. 

As you can see in the photo, the tops of the boats are just a little below the top of the dock. Nothing fancy here - you just sort of hop on board the boat. Hopping on is a bit more straightforward as you're hopping downwards, but getting off is a little leap of faith - especially when you've got a couple pro cameras on you and a backpack full of photographry toys. A friendly hand or two does make the disembarkation process a bit easier though.

This dock is also where supplies are unloaded for the town. Given the harsh conditions of being inside the arctic circle, shipping is the easiest way to transport goods as the villages are fairly cut off from each other except by air or dogsled. There is also a Royal Greenland A/S seafood plant which I believe processes the fish caught by the local fishermen before shipping them out for sale elsewhere.

Boats docked in the harbor of Ilulissat, Greenland.