Greenland – Wojciech Dabrowski travel report, photos, maps, info (Greenland98.htm)

Every time when I was flying over large, white area of Greenland on my way

from Europe to America I  thought: Is there a life at all?…  One day I

departed to check that…   I arrived to Greenland through the “back

door”.  There are only two large airports which can receive jet passenger planes

from Europe: Kangerlussuaq (SFJ)  and Narsarsuaq (UAK) – on the west and south of the

island. But I arrived by small turbo-prop ATR plane filled by one-day tourists from

Iceland to Kulusuk – small village on the empty and inhospitable east coast. The luck of

Kulusuk to have small, gravel landing field has come from USA – during the cold war

impression from Greenland was crystal-clear air… From airfield to the village of Kulusuk

is about 2 kilometers, you can walk there or take a dog sledge paying 100 Danish crowns

which act here as monetary unit. Village itself is very small and very picturesquely

located.  Small, different colors painted houses stand on the slope of the hill over

full of ice bay. Is such scenery old Inuit lady (that is how they call Eskimos people now)

and also in the other Inuit settlements north of the Polar Circle there lives still more

dogs then people. The dogs of course still work  pulling persistently traditional

sledges packed with supply and sometimes also with tourists. They do not look so neat (how

Inuit can care of thousands dogs?) and are fed mainly on dried fish. Off the season –

during summer – they are bored tied around houses and to the rocks on the outskirts of

My skin bag – bought some day in hot Paraguay always aroused great interest

of  lovely puppies wandering around houses.  Inuit dogs are very social and

manifest great respect for the man.   In Ilulissat when I was going out for

mountain walk one vagabond  broke his string and joined me for 6-hour walk! 

  He was guiding me all the time never going more then 20 m ahead… I was really

you can see

western coast of Greenland from the plane  – color of the water is unusual, but

during summer icebergs are visible only north of Sisimiut.  You must be lucky to take

such picture – weather is very changeable here. Half an hour later we were cruising

over the misty Ilulissat airport. We were cruising around more then an hour and finally

flown back to the airport of origin. Two hours later we departed again and successfully

slightly more dogs) lies on Disko Bay – full of sailing ice float and icebergs.  

Walking few kilometers on foot (the rest of passengers of my flight took taxis) from the

airport  to the settlement I was admiring rocky mini-fiords and icebergs floating in

the bay. Around the bay there are other (much smaller) settlements sprayed out. In the

summer it is possible to reach them by boat. Unexpectedly you can find in Greenland youth

hostels (they charge 180-200 crowns per night):  heated, with well-equipped kitchens,

In Ilulissat there are two big and well-supplied  supermarkets (expensive – kilo of

bread costs around 6 USD!), and in the morning on the small market in the center of the

settlement they are selling fish and… the meat of seals. Inuit hunt for seals from the

boats using rifles and double-barreled guns. I was tasting that meat prepared on the

grill: very tasty, reminding liver.      In Ilulissat there is

tourist information office (they are even responding e-mails). And in the office there is

souvenir shop with a stack of well-tanned seals furs. They charge around 50 USD for the

seal skin and for the westerners it is not expensive, but due to environment protection

import to the majority of western countries is forbidden.  But what the Inuit have

apart from fish and seals?  It is also true that they have less and less of seals –

Ilulissat lies at the bottom of the peninsula – on the other side of this peninsula great

glacier is sliding to the navy blue sea with the speed of about 30 meters per day. They

say that this glacier is the most productive out of Antarctica. It is it who is calving

non stop icebergs floating in the Disko Bay and surrounding.  The best idea will be

to go to the other side of the peninsula on foot and on your own – it will give you enough

one of the biggest icebergs I saw in Greenland – it is taken from the hill at the very end

of the peninsula. This iceberg has some  400 meters in length and is about 30 m high.

Since only 1/8 of the total capacity of the iceberg is sticking out of the water you can

imagine how large mass of ice is still hidden in the depth of the sea !

       Motorboats owners from Ilulissat offer excursions to

the fiord and the bay – but you must collect small group. Prices starts at 50 USD per

In my opinion there is something definitely worth to spend 50 USD – it is midnight cruise

by former fishing boat to the face of the glacier.  During the summer from mid-May to

the end of July it is light in Ilulissat all over the night.  At midnight sun is

wonderfully dying  the face of the glacier: icy walls, spires, and towers. And this

face is up to 80 meters high… The cruise takes about two hours and if the weather is

Ilulissat I was sailing south along the coast by ferry calling tiny harbors. They are

small enough to visit all interesting things during one to two-hour stopover. Some of

flights in Greenland are expensive and Greenland Air does not offer any air passes. Flight

were the Vikings.  Eric the Red banned from Iceland for robberies established in the

southern fiords first settlement. You can visit the ruins of this settlement  across

the fiord from Narsarsuaq. Surrounding area it is the place where Greenland is really

green during the summer. Motorboats and cutters are sailing here in the labyrinth of

narrow and wide fiords. You can walk here with your backpack through the mountains and

pitch your tent anywhere – there is no restrictions. It is rear place where you can one by

one: meadows in blossom, snow-capped mountains and icebergs floating in the navy-blue

waters of the fiord.  Nature in this country is wonderful and unspoiled!   

But it is advisable carry all the time rainproof coat with you – weather is very

Narsarsuaq is tiny settlement including hotel, youth hostel and “butik” – how

they call groceries here. And there is of course runway left by Americans.  It is

worth to spend 5 hours of time on walking excursion to the Kiagtuut Sermiat glacier (see

picture). Along the trail there are small waterfalls and mountain lakes. Unfortunately it

was already late afternoon when I reached my target and the lighting was not so good ,

nevertheless it was still great, farewell ending of my visit to the Kalaallit Nunaat –