Greenland

Getting to Know the Sun and Ice in Greenland

By Diana Hunt, Freelance Writer

November 2007

A bird of prey hunts fish among the icebergs in Disko Bay.

My mind already had been messed with by seeing 24 hours of daylight, day in and day out, so when I saw the boulder slowly moving horizontally across the hillside I wasn’t too alarmed. I had been in Greenland for a week and by that time I had seen whales, endless ice in the form of sheets, glaciers and bergs and an endless sun in the endless blue sky. Except for the southern tip of the country, most of Geenland lies above the Polar (Arctic) Circle. The long days of sun and long nights of darkness create a time warp of reality.

On closer inspection, however, the boulder turned out to be a huge, mangy musk ox bull, one of about 10,000 in the Kangerlussuaq area of central Western Greenland. He moved with stately, determined purpose, stopping to look around every few minutes.

The 56,000 inhabitants of Greenland cling to the edges of the world’s largest island – three times the size of Texas – living in small settlements created on bits of impossibly scrambled fingers of glaciated land reaching out into the Arctic Ocean.

Although politically part of Denmark, Greenland geologically is part of North America. Separated from the Baffin Islands by the Davis Straits and Baffin Bay, it nestles nicely along the northern Canadian coast. The evidence of global warming was right under our hiking boots. The spongy tundra Our all-terrain vehicle, teh Uni-Mok, labors its way across the unforgiving landscape. that cushioned each step indicated the softening of the permafrost. For millennia, the ice has melted every summer, and frozen again each winter. However, the melt has been starting earlier in the year, peaking for more weeks in the summer and lasting longer into the winter over the last five years or so.

Greenland is an adventurer’s paradise. As with other off-the-beaten-path, exotic destinations, it attracts a certain kind of die-hard, tough, slightly unkempt but benign globe-trotting backpacker. It also attracts the more mainstream adventurer who wants to take day hikes, kayak, fish or cruise among the ice bergs – fodder for great cocktail conversation back home.

While Greenland abounds with off-beat adventures, it is a modern society with the comfort level and service most people expect. The difference here from other remote cultures is that the native Inuits have had more contact with European cultures than many other native peoples. First it was the Norse, with Erik the Red making landfall around 984; then whalers from Portugal, Scandinavia and Britain; in the 1700s the Norwegians and Danes repopulated southern Greenland, three hundred years after the last Norse settlement died out. Today, Greenland is a protectorate of Denmark.

There is every reason to start your adventures immediately upon landing at Kangerlussuaq International Airport. With an afternoon arrival from Baltimore, th Even in the harsh glacial enviroment, purple wildflowers grow. ere is no jet lag (only a two-hour time change) and no darkness of night. The Kangerslussuaq Tourism desk is in the airport terminal, just a few steps from the arrival/departure gate. Book the musk ox safari followed by dinner at the Rowing Club on the shore of nearby Lake Ferguson. The airport hotel reservations desk is within steps of the tourism desk, making arrangements simple.

The next day take the Uni-Mok – a weird hybrid sort of all-terrain truck – to Point 660 to walk on the ice sheet. Light shirts are comfortable at the start of the trip, but be sure to have wooly layers and a hat to put on once at the ice -- the wind is bitterly cold, even in July. I felt like a tiny ant as I skittered around and over the giant moguls. Only one other ice sheet exists in the world, and that is Antarctica.

For golf fanatics, take time to play the front nine or all 18 holes at the Sondre Arctic Golf Club next to the airport. No kidding. Built by the Americans during the Second World War, it is the northernmost 18-hole international golf course in the world. Don’t expect emerald fairways and velvet greens, however. It is a brown course meandering on the improbable desert that lies in the shadow of the glaciers. Kangerlussuaq Tourism will fix you up with clubs and as far as ”greens” fees are co A charter boat cruises among the icebergs in Disko Bay. ncerned, the tourism company’s owner, Jens Laursen, laughed and admitted ”I just couldn’t do that to people. They should just play and have a good time.”

Next morning take the short flight from Kangerlussuaq north to Ilulissat, renowned for its giant ice bergs floating in Disko Bay. Check into one of Arctic Hotel’s bayside igloos (metal) with panoramic views. An afternoon or midnight cruise to see the ice bergs up close and personal is a must. The low sun edges the `bergs with a luminous glow. Bring the woolies and lots of camera card memory. The charter company provides snacks and beverages.

There are hiking trails of varying difficulty out of Ilulissat where you can take an hour’s walk or a week’s trek. A hut system has been established for the long distance trekkers and, with advance reservations, you can throw your sleeping bag down at one of several scientific ice camps. Excellent maps and knowledgable personnel are found at all the tourist offices.

For another view of the vast ice sheet, take Air Greenland’s helicopter trip from the Ilulissat Airport. The whirlybird swoops and churns inland only a few hundred feet above the contorted crevasses of ice. These massive canyons are caused by the melting and freezing and movement near the edge of land where the flat ice sheet starts breaking up into glaciers which then, due to enormous pressure and the force of gravity, calve off skyscraper size chunks of ice that become ice bergs in the harbors, bays and ocean. The ice crushes everything in its path. What we see of the ice bergs above the water would be akin to only the penthouse, with the lower floors all submerged.

A lone chruch looks out into Disko Bay in Greenland.

For ”big-city” life, fly south to Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. At 15,000 people, it has the largest population, at least one gourmet restaurant (try the Greenlandic coffee: hint -- it’s more than coffee) and the only two stop lights in the country. Nuuk also boasts a downhill ski area, an indoor swimming pool, an excellent cultural center, museums and a huge Humpback whale population. These whales give birth in the Caribbean in winter and travel north to summer with their calves in the chilly waters of the Arctic. Book an early morning charter boat to go in search of whales. The captains know just where the whale activity is.

On our last afternoon in Nuuk, a group of us sat on a friend’s sun deck that literally jutted out over Nuuk Harbor. As we enjoyed the warm sun and a cup of tea, we watched pleasure boats speed by. It could have been a peaceful summer scene anywhere in the world. It was the ice bergs in the harbor and the occasional whale tail that reminded me I was above the Arctic Circle. My mind was in meltdown by now!

Visiting Greenland is like finding a blank slate. It is an exciting new destination with people who have a pioneering, adventurous spirit. Its future has yet to be written. The story will be an interesting read as it unfolds.

**All photos by Diana Hunt

Getting There

Air Greenland has twice weekly non-stop flights from Baltimore International Airport to Kangerlussuaq International Airport May through August.

Useful Websites

www.visitilulissat.com

www.greenland.com

www.kangtour.gl

Where to Eat

Hotels in Ilulissat and Nuuk have excellent dining rooms. In Nuuk, make a point to dine at the extraordinary Restaurant Nipisia in the wharf area. For local action in Ilulissat, have a brew at the Tuukkaq Pub.