Bugs? Thank You, But We Don’t Want Pesky Biting Bugs

Days 15-16, 2025 European Odyssey

Tuesday and Wednesday, July 15-16, 2025; Paamiut and Qaqortoq, Greenland.

For only the second time since cruising, I was glad I had brought my bug head net ashore. Our visit to the lovely fishing hamlet of Paamiut on the southwest coast of Greenland was marred only by swarms of black flies and mosquitos.

This did not come as a surprise, as we had been warned before leaving the ship for the tender ride ashore. In fact, the popular website www.WhatsInPort.com warns of mosquitos in June and July and black flies in August. I think the flies came early, perhaps because of the warmer-than-usual spring. Not long after arriving at the floating dock, I pulled hat and net out and wore them until I returned to the ship.

Local entrepreneurs were selling head nets for $5 each, but some cruise ship passengers had brought along the mesh bags holding the cotton robes supplied in each cabin. I wish I had snapped a photo of them – or even a photo of Celia, Lynn, Valerie and me wearing our nets. After a few minutes, I pretty much forgot that I was wearing it. I hadn’t put it on since visiting Djúpivogur’s black sand beaches on Iceland’s southeast coast in 2019. Perhaps the bugs and flies only have a short season. I just know I was glad to return to the ship without a single mosquito bite.

We had a pleasant day with some sunshine and no wind. Most of the ship passengers were still bundled up, while the local residents were enjoying what was probably a warm day for them.

I stopped for a few minutes to sketch the local church. I seem to have fallen into a church theme with my sketches and watercolors on this cruise. There are so many interesting churches in Norway, Iceland and Greenland.

The Paamiut church was closed to the public today with its flag at half-staff, as there would be a funeral for a local resident later in the day.

As I walked through the town, I saw a number of historical items, including this fishing boat that was brought from Denmark in 1948.

With sunset after 10 p.m., I spent much of the evening in the Crow’s Nest, just watching our passage back southwest along Greenland’s coast. The scenery was stunning as we passed icebergs framed by majestic mountain ranges in the distance.

The clear weather disappeared by Wednesday when we arrived in Qaqortoq (say “cock-ar-tock” and you’ll be close). My Wunderground weather app predicted light rain off-and-on all day, and I decided to stay on the ship to paint and research ports I’ll visit later this summer. Of course, those who went ashore said the rain held off. It’s a pretty little town with more colorful houses and buildings each time I visit, as in 2019 and 2023.

All Holland America cruises celebrate the company’s Dutch heritage with an Orange Night party. Our party didn’t start until almost too late for me. I stopped by the Crow’s Nest to get a decaf latte to take to my cabin and saw the popular Bar Hop group just starting to party. They will have stops at three more bars before the night is over.

Earlier in the day the crew was decorating the Lido for one of the parties. With more than 2,500 passengers, the celebrations spread out.

Speaking of passengers, I picked up a copy of the guest nation breakdown at Guest Services. We have about 900 passengers from the United States, 400 from the Netherlands, just more than 300 from Australia and almost 300 from Canada. Surprising to me is the 125 from Taiwan, and another 100 from other Asian countries. The breakdown by region is almost 50 percent North American, 30 percent European, 14 percent Australian and New Zealanders and 9 percent Asian.