day 3: rafting and rough waters

during our morning briefing we were informed that today was pack-rafting day! everyone was thrilled! i have never done pack rafting before, though i did kayak a few times and wild-water rafting in thailand (we did not have to paddle) so this was another first. 

we were given an orientation on how to set up our rafts. they come with a 'bag' that you use to catch air, close and roll down to push the air into the raft. pretty neat, i must say. you'd have been more impressed if i took a photo, but i was focused on getting it done. after willem's inspection and some manual air blowing, i was good to go. we were warned that we have to be out of the water by noon as the wind will pick up and it'll be more difficult to paddle about. 

my sturdy, yellow pack-raft

group 3 puffins

at some point peter went back onboard, as he had a brilliant idea to take out his drone and make a nice movie. brilliant idea indeed, because not only would our colorful pack-rafts against the giant icebergs make for an awesome cinematography, the best part was that we spotted whales! momma and baby! that was definitely something unforgettable.   

(here's that short video taken by my roommate peter vancoillie and posted in puffins facebook page. enjoy!)




the next morning we were gonna head out towards niaqornat. it's a tiny, remote village that was featured in a movie called "the village at the end of the world" which centers on lars - the youngest teenager in the village - and about his remote life and desires to leave for a better life somewhere else. it was a reflection of the simple and isolated and sometimes difficult life of the inuits in this side of greenland. you can read more about it here. 

since we were sailing, the plan for the evening was to watch this movie at the lower deck. however, the waters got pretty rough. one by one the puffins disappeared into their quarters to call it a day quite early. sea sickness is no fun.