Louisbourg and Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 9/14/2024, National Geographic Explorer
Aboard the
National Geographic Explorer
Canada
This morning as we explored Louisbourg Fortress, we met various people from the 18th century who helped us understand what life was like in this city within a fort. A pleasant bus ride took us to Baddeck on the shores of Great Bras d’Or Lake. Alexander Graham Bell had many creative and productive years here, and at the Bell Museum we saw some of his very impressive inventions.
During a late afternoon boat cruise, we saw his stunning lakeside estate, and even a few bald eagles!
Berit grew up on the rocky shores of Marblehead, Massachusetts. In the tidal cove behind her family’s home she found horseshoe crabs, eels, and feeding frenzies of fishes and birds. Low tides exposed clam flats, crabs, mussels, and snails. She explor...
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Today “Viking fever” overtook us all as we explored the UNESCO World Heritage Site of L’Anse aux Meadows, the only site indicating pre-Columbian contact between Europe and the Americas. Dating to circa 1000, L’Anse aux Meadows features not only the archaeological site discovered in the 1960s, but also a modern museum and a set of reconstructed Viking longhouses. We warmed up in front of the toasty fires, tried on some cloaks and helmets (without horns for historical accuracy), and played a Viking lawn game. At our next stop, the Norstead reconstructed Viking village, we continued the adventure, practicing our axe-throwing, trading with the local Viking guides for knitwear, and having our fortunes told with runes. At lunch we split into three groups, some returning to National Geographic Explorer, others sampling a variety of seafood in a multi-course meal, and the rest participating in a Viking feast and reenactment. We were invited to present our grievances for the judgement of the court, and Ethnomusicologist Jacob Edgar was found guilty of disturbing the peace and sentenced to touching his toes, to the delight of all (except him, perhaps)! Back on board, we enjoyed a selection of local sausages as National Geographic Explorer departed the gorgeous harbor of St. Anthony.
Today I hugged a human dressed as a lighthouse. It was a spectacular day. Even from the Zodiac as we approached the small Labrador community of Red Bay, people were smiling, people were waving, and the “lighthouse” was dancing. You could feel the love and joy of this tiny, close-knit community. The people we met today were, of course, not the first people to settle on this land. This area is acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage Site predominantly due to its incredible underwater preservation of Basque whaling shipwrecks and the settlement dating back to the sixteenth century. This history was illuminated for us by a lovely team of Parks Canada interpreters as we strolled around Saddle Island amongst the vibrant low-lying fall foliage and incredible ocean vistas. The afternoon was a choose-your-own-adventure of various hikes or free time in town. The day was a highlight for many as the weather and the views above the water were phenomenal. Below the water, Hailey Shchepanik, one of our incredible dive pair, was able to revisit a historic shipwreck she had worked to preserve years earlier.
Directly after breakfast we made a landing at Woody Point to start our day at Gros Morne National Park. From there it was a short ride to the Tablelands where we walked on the earth’s mantle, ancient oceanic material that has been squeezed up due to tectonic pressures. This was a day of geology. In the afternoon we crossed the ‘tickle’ (a shallow area that tickles the bottom of a boat) to the other side of the fjord. One of our stops, Green Point, was at a now famous beach cliff that officially marks the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary in geology which is dated at 485.4 million years ago.
