Thrills & Chills: Amazing Greenland

Have you ever seen a Unimog and a musk ox snorting at one another? The name makes it sound like something that might come from another planet but in fact a Unimog is a heavy duty vehicle made especially for traversing rough terrain. If you want to go see the Russell Glacier just outside of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, chances are you’ll go there in a Unimog. You might be surprised at some of the things you see along the way, like the remains of a long-ago crashed U.S. Air Force jet or a patch of wild blueberries growing just off the road. Before you get to the glacier the road narrows into a trail and eventually completely dissolves into another surprise---an expanse of sand that would make any beach town jealous. But there’s still one thing between you and the ice; the mighty musk ox! The massive animal blocks the way, standing staring at the Unimog as its diesel engine puffs and sputters. The stand-off ends when the beast opts to high-tail it to open ground, but not before directing a defiant bellow at the Unimog and its occupants. Welcome to Greenland! And you haven’t even seen any ice yet.

Ice is of course the main reason that people come to Greenland. At the Russell Glacier you can get fairly close to the ice, basically only the river formed by the glacier’s run-off stands between you and the big freeze. It’s quite an experience to hear the constant popping as the ice cracks as it expands and settles. When there’s a really big fissure opened the noise sounds like a rifle being fired, or perhaps the mini sonic boom that the crack of a bullwhip makes. At any rate the sound is your cue to try and home in on the part of the glacier that made the noise; it may signal that a chunk is about to break off, or “calve” right before your eyes. Witnessing a calving at the Russell Glacier is nothing short of spectacular, especially on a bright day. As large chunks of ice thunder into the river, microscopic pieces put on a dazzling display as they dance and flutter in the sunlight. If you spend an hour or so at the site it is likely that you’ll have at least a couple of opportunities to see the glacier in action. Guided tours can be booked right at the Kangerlussuaq airport and you should plan on allotting about half a day for this side-trip. Some of the tours serve a picnic lunch once you get to the glacier viewing area but to be honest once you see the ice you may just forget to eat. To see more ice (and more and more!) it’s necessary to hop an Air Greenland flight out of Kangerlussuaq (you can’t drive…there are no roads connecting villages in Greenland.) Sisimiut, Nuuk and Ilulissat are all on Greenland’s west coast and visits to the three villages provide a great opportunity to not only see the country, but to see how the Greenlandic people live.

Sisimiut is a fishing village and to say that it is charming is an understatement. The town is located in hilly terrain and the slopes are dotted with rows of A-frame style buildings, mostly painted in bright blue, red or yellow. The architectural style reflects that of Denmark (Greenland was once part of Denmark and the two nations retain close ties) and the bright colors are a holdover from a time when, during snowstorms, buildings could be identified by their color. Grasses and small plants cover the undulating hills (there are no trees to speak of in Greenland) and the deep blue sea is visible from just about anywhere in Sisimiut so the town provides an endless photo opportunity. The way to see the area is by foot and a good place to start out is the tourist information center. They’ll point you in the right direction, most likely towards Tele Island, a small island connected to the rest of Sisimiut by a small bridge. At Tele Island you can climb on the moss-covered boulders and take a short hike to ancient Viking burial sites, one of which you can look down into and see skeletal remains. The information center is also the place (or at your hotel) to ask about taking a tour of the Royal Greenland Fisheries facility where they specialize in processing the small shrimp that the local waters are full of. The tour is a bit noisy and you must put on sanitary outerwear in order to participate but it is amazing to see the millions of shrimp being sorted, graded and packed for shipment to the dinner table. You can even sample the product right off the conveyer line at the end of the tour. Another offering for visitors is the opportunity to have coffee with a Greenlandic family. This is also operated as a “tour” so you must make an appointment. Then you’ll go into a local family’s home and eat a traditional snack with them while having a chance to ask questions, usually through an interpreter. These folks often also have art or handicrafts for sale and here you can pick up, for example, carvings made out of reindeer horn a little cheaper than you can in the village shops or at your hotel. A good place to have dinner is at a restaurant called Misigisaq where you’ll find a menu that offers local specialties including musk-ox and reindeer.

Nuuk is the most-populated settlement in Greenland and is its only real city, but a small one at that. For a place that only recently got its second traffic light, however, there is a lot going on. You probably wouldn’t expect Nuuk or Greenland as a whole to have a music scene, but there is, and it is thriving. Local rock bands like Chilly Friday and DDR regularly put out CDs and Nuuk native Julie won the Danish version of American Idol. A soulful pop group called Zikaza has had success with their Miki Goes to Nuussuaq release and the trio Aviaq ama Eigil is very popular with a sort of Greenlandic version of country music. There are several shops in Nuuk with wide selections of local music and if you visit the Manhattan nightclub you can dance to local music as well as international. Occasionally a well-known group will make a tour stop in Nuuk; British acts Blur and Nazareth have both played Nuuk and no doubt members of each group spent some time at the Godthaab Bryghus, a micro-brewery where several on-site made beers are kept on tap. (Beer aficionados should also try Greenland brand beer---it is widely available but it is not made in Nuuk.) As Greenland’s cultural center, Nuuk is home to the National Museum, an art museum and many good restaurants. At Nuuk harbor you can catch a tour boat out into open waters to see if you can spy a whale or two and the cruise is a lot of fun even if you don’t spot the big guys.

Ilulissat is above the Arctic Circle and it is the jumping off place to see ice. Like Sisimiut, Ilulissat clings to a hilly terrain. If you stay at the Hotel Arctic a brief walk to the rear of the property provides a stunning view of the harbor far below, the dark blue water contrasting sharply with a few very white visitors---icebergs that have found their way into the cove. Most of the bergs are lined up farther out; they look almost like a mountain range in the distance. For an initial close-up of the bergs, take an afternoon cruise that sails parallel to the chunks of ice as they slowly head out to sea. If you think this parade of floating giants is something, just wait until evening! Since the sun never completely sets here in the summer, you may not realize it is actually evening, so keep an eye on your watch if you’re going to take a dinner cruise to the bergs. These usually start around 9:00 at night and last two to three hours. That gives the ship plenty of time to head up to the mouth of a nearby fiord where a glacier is constantly calving and filling the fiord with new icebergs. On this cruise you are not just sailing alongside a line of bergs; you are surrounded by them! The ship maneuvers among bergs of all shapes and sizes, some completely dwarfing the boat and others so small that they may end up being scooped up by the captain to use as ice for your dinner drinks. If you are the kind of person who sees things in the shapes of clouds, you can do the same thing with icebergs. The bergs change color depending on the angle of viewing and how much of the “midnight sun” is peeking out and on many you can see giant blue stripes that indicate where water is flowing inside the berg as it melts. If you’ve ever wondered what life on some far away planet is like, this might be close! To top-off the surreal experience, book a flight on an Air Greenland helicopter to the ice cap. The view from the chopper is jaw-dropping as you swoop over ice-choked fiords and frozen lakes as you approach the ice cap. Then suddenly, you are over the cap and there is nothing but ice as far as you can see in any direction. The helicopter flies to the only land in the area---a small piece of rock that juts out above the ice. Here the pilot sets the craft down and the passengers disembark to marvel at the view. The stay lasts for about half an hour, plenty of time to get photos and let your mind wander. A few facts might cross your mind while you’re there, too, like the fact that about 80% of Greenland is completely covered in ice and that it is more than a mile thick in places. On the ride back to the Ilulissat airport the pilot speeds up a little and zigs and zags the craft, turning the journey home into a thrill ride. That’s a nice bonus but it comes after you have just witnessed one of the most amazing sights on Earth, or should I say, one of the “coolest!”

www.greenland.com

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