Greenland is a shoe-in for superlatives: towering

TI P OF TH E
ICE B E RG
Gre enl and i s a shoe-i n fo r s up er l at i v es : to w er i ng m o u n t ai ns , u n f o r g e t t a b l e c u i s i n e ,
pris t i ne ai r, hospi tabl e res i dent s , and o f c o u r s e, th o s e ph o t o g eni c i c e - f i l l e d f j o r d s .
On a recent tri p to the co u n t r y ’ s w es t c o as t, E L I Z A R E I D di s c o v er e d t h a t a l l o f t h i s
wa s merel y the begi nni ng .
42 / Travel
PHOTOS: SIGGI ANTON
GREENLAND
ILULISSAT
(pop. 4,900)
ICELAND
NUUK
(pop. 16,500)
A dozen nine-year-old children are
frolicking in Nuuk’s indoor swimming complex.
They are fully clothed, with socks, jeans, and
brand name T-shirts clinging to their skin. But
this is no ordinary school swimming lesson: it’s
a class in survival.
Greenland is the world’s largest noncontinental island and geologically speaking,
one of its oldest. It is also our planet’s most
sparsely populated country, with a mere
56,000 souls scattered about tiny communities
that hug the coastline, buttressed by sturdy,
wind-beaten wooden homes clinging to the
steep rock faces along deep fjords. With
not a single road crossing the nation’s many
mountains and the massive Greenland Ice
Sheet covering over 80 percent of the island,
trips between these villages are taken almost
exclusively via plane, boat or, in the winter, dog
sled.
Life alongside Arctic waters – one is often
so close to the sea that waves crashing
against the shore and icebergs creaking as
they journey out to sea are effectively the
soundtrack to any visit here — entails a respect
for and understanding of both the riches and
threats of the ocean.
The youngsters in the swimming complex
of the Greenlandic capital are learning just
that: their class is conducted clothed, in
order to give them practice in removing heavy
Icelandair Stopover / 43
The homes in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, are an eclectic combination of brightly-painted wood houses and these more modern apartment complexes. The image on the previous page is of an
iceberg in the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat ice fjord.
outerwear quickly and swimming to shore
should a vessel they are in ever capsize. “Kids
often die first; they’re not as strong,” the
instructor tells me matter-of-factly. “You really
only have about 15 minutes.”
At this gateway to the Arctic (about twothirds of the island lies above the Arctic Circle),
such survival skills retain equal importance in
the school of life alongside other traditional
proficiencies, such as how to hunt ptarmigan,
smoke reindeer, salt fresh fish and prepare
whale blubber to make it less chewy. And
these abilities are evenly matched with more
contemporary instincts, such as knowing
how to use Google effectively or how to
create a Spotify playlist. A trip to Greenland
is a glimpse into a unique blend of Inuit and
European cultures, a modern (and increasingly
independent) nation that is calling upon its
rich cultural and natural history to forge a
prosperous future.
Road trip
One cannot escape the sea in Greenland.
But who would want to? One bright evening
in Nuuk, the country’s friendly and colourful
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Cheerful wooden homes like these are common in Ilimanaq,
population 41 humans and 97 dogs. This husky is resting up
over the summer until he begins another action-packed winter
pulling sleds between communities.
capital, I donned a massive orange boiler
suit and wool-lined rubber boots to board an
eight-seat fibreglass open boat for a midnight
cruise into the eponymous fjord. (Many tourist
activities take place at this late hour; the light
of the ever-present midnight sun glinting off the
ice is ideal for photographers.)
I sat in the front, facing the waves. Captain
Josef, clad in an identical suit and thick
waterproof gloves, gingerly inched up the
speed as we bobbed along the water. Despite
the breeze picking up, it was still relatively
balmy. Then — CRASH! We hit the first wave.
Sea spray in my hair, on my glasses, salt
landing on my lips and drying on my fingertips.
Josef grinned. I suspect he enjoys every
tourist’s breathless exhilaration on these trips.
The next morning, as photographer Siggi
and I toured Nuuk in a Honda hatchback, our
guide Grace J. H. Nielsen told us about the
area we had seen on the boat trip, and about
the various communities’ relationships with the
ocean and the seemingly barren, rocky land.
Grace moved to Nuuk in 1966, when she was
nine and, aside from a ten-year stint studying in
Denmark, has lived here ever since. She could
Josef of Touring Greenland has been taking visitors on boat
tours of Nuuk fjord for many years.
CRASH! We hit the first
wave. Sea spray in my
hair, on my glasses, salt
landing on my lips and
drying on my fingertips.
These young teens are going for a stroll in the outskirts of Ilulissat. They were no doubt disappointed with my relative lack of
fashion sense.
roads on our driving tour with Grace, past
rattle off the history of nearly every building in
lollypop-coloured timber houses and long,
town without a moment’s hesitation.
more drab apartments, many with lines of
One-third of the population speaks only
laundry hanging on the balcony. There were
Greenlandic, she told me, despite Danish
more pedestrians than I was expecting for
being taught in schools. (Greenland is a
a chilly climate: commuters walking along
self-governing nation within
the shoulders, hands thrust in pockets,
the Kingdom of Denmark.
winter boots crunching through the May
It achieved home rule in
snow, baseball caps pulled low; young
1979 and self rule in 2009;
couples hand in hand; Arctic hipsters
Denmark retains control over
with Apple’s universal white earphones
foreign affairs, security and
firmly fixed in ears; and clusters of
certain other jurisdictions.)
Kimmernaq
laughing children.
She was unsure how many
Kjeldsen
We also made a stop at
are bilingual: When it comes to
Malik (the Greenlandic word
language, “people don’t brag about
for wave), the nation’s only
how much they know or don’t know,”
swimming complex, where
she told me. English is increasing in
I came upon the children
popularity too: “With Danish there is a
undertaking their lessons in
colonial connotation, but young people
Inuk Silis Høegh
survival swimming.
see English as a language of opportunity.”
In more cosmopolitan Nuuk, Danish is heard
Big sky
far more on the streets than in smaller towns
As the capital, Nuuk is home to a more active
along the east or south coasts.
cultural and artistic life than other communities
Nuuk is home to 3,000 cars but only
in Greenland. A few hours after visiting the
115 kilometres of roads on which to drive
swimming complex, I meet up with local
them. We covered a large chunk of these
filmmaker and artist Inuk Silis Høegh and
singer-actor Kimmernaq Kjeldsen for dinner.
Both have spent part of their lives in Denmark,
but then returned to their home country
for professional opportunities and familial
connections.
Over a starter of catfish with baked
artichoke and pickled turnip at the upscale
Sarfalik restaurant atop Hotel Hans Egede,
Inuk tells me about his decision to return
after completing studies at the Royal Danish
Academy of Fine Arts. “You can make bigger
waves in a small pond,” he smiles, as we watch
some late winter snowflakes float gently down
over the town. Last year, he released Sume —
The sound of a revolution, a documentary film
about a Greenlandic band in the 1970s whose
subversive, pro-independence lyrics shocked
the establishment. The film has received
critical acclaim both at home and at a number
of international film festivals. Inuk’s artistic
creations are also well known throughout the
country.
Kimmernaq is excited to talk about
Greenland’s flourishing cultural scene, the
latest political scandals, and debunking the
Icelandair Stopover / 45
World of Greenland guide Jens Jonathan Andreassen gazes across Ilulissat ice fjord at 1 a.m. The space-age structures are igloo-style rooms operated by nearby Hotel Arctic.
various stereotypes surrounding her homeland.
After dinner, she tells me about a journalist
she once spoke to a few years back. “She had
some pre-conceived ideas about Greenland.
And seemed quite disappointed when I had to
tell her that we live differently today.” Indeed,
she adds, Greenland “changes much faster
than other countries. We must adapt to new
things as we do for the weather.” For example,
the nation’s first pride parade was held only
five years ago, but in late May this year, its
parliament approved legalizing same-sex
marriage in a unanimous vote.
Both Inuk and Kimmernaq tell me that
they were also drawn back to Greenland for
its nature. “The sky is just so small in other
places,” Inuk muses to me.
World of ice
Twenty-four hours after an indulgent meal
that included smoked lumpfish roe with dill
marinated apple and saddle of grilled muskox,
I am standing on the deck of another boat,
in another fjord, on another midnight cruise. I
am sailing in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Ilulissat ice fjord, some 250 kilometres
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GREEN PARTY
Combining the
inspiration of New
Nordic trends with
the availability
of unique local
ingredients,
Greenlandic
food alone is
worthy of a visit to
the country. Highlights include “Arctic
umami” (dried halibut, spiced with red
algae and grated frozen egg yolk) at
Restaurant Ulo in Hotel Arctic, Ilulissat;
grilled fillet and braised shank of musk ox
at Sarfalik in Hotel Hans Egede, Nuuk;
a simple trout soup at Inuk Hostels; and
red fish with fresh mussels at Nipisa in
Nuuk. This is the country to taste creative
presentations of mattak (whale blubber
and skin), reindeer (in season), and
lumpfish roe (pictured here). Wash all
of it down with a beer from Godthaab,
one of only two local microbreweries,
or one of chef Kim Sander Pedersen’s
homemade herb schnapps at Restaurant
Mamartut in Ilulissat.
north of the Arctic Circle. This fjord is unique
in the northern hemisphere, an area the size of
66,000 football fields where the Greenland Ice
Sheet calves icebergs into the sea that move
at an astonishing 40 metres per day. Floating
about in chunks of all sizes, the bergs lazily
make their way out to ocean, splitting, calving,
and doing somersaults along the way.
Even at the mouth of the fjord, 70 kilometres
from the glacier itself, we must gently weave
our way over the calm sea between the
mammoth pillars of ice: stray too close, and
falling chunks or a rogue wave could well
capsize the ship.
Our vessel Katak, a red former research
boat from the 1960s that’s been re-fitted for
sightseeing excursions, stops and skipper
Edvard shuts down the engine. An eagle soars
past. An uncanny silence is punctuated only by
gentle creaks and groans of the ice, bubbles
occasionally gurgling to the surface. The bergs
reflect a mirror image in the water beneath
them.
This “calm and quiet” is what our guide,
Jens Jonathan Andreassen, says attracts
him year after year to Ilulissat from his native
Ilulissat in the evening, with Disko Island in the distance. Located some 250 km above the Arctic Circle on Greenland’s west
coast, it never gets dark here from May until August.
Flying over the ice fjord provides a unique perspective on the bergs below. From the air, little lagoons of azure meltwater reveal
themselves.
Denmark to work for local tour operator World
of Greenland. I also suspect the opportunities
for virtually unlimited hiking and other outdoor
pursuits, as well as a friendly gaggle of fellow
adventure-loving summer employees, hardly
detract from Andreassen’s enthusiasm to
return each year.
The ice fjord is undoubtedly Ilulissat’s main
attraction, but Jonathan also leads us on some
other excursions, including a boat trip to the
nearby community of Ilimanaq, population 41
humans and 97 huskies. We are escorted
there by the local schoolteacher (she teaches
a whopping six students aged 6 to 11), who
serves us fresh trout soup and seal meat soup
in her living room.
Later, we board an Air Zafari sightseeing
flight over the famous fjord, cruising low over
hundreds of icebergs deep into the fjord. The
headsets pipe in “mood music” by Icelander
Ólafur Arnalds to create a tranquil soundtrack
for the bewildering, beautiful IMAX film below.
Azure water near the bergs, contrasting with
the rest of the water’s deep blue, marks the
brighter reflection of the ice that lies just
underneath the surface.
The next generation
The cliché of heading off the beaten track
certainly applies to most of Greenland: the
country only sees about 80,000 tourists
each year. Unlike many isolated communities
elsewhere, however, most people seem
content in their environment. This means they
do not bide their time until leaving for bigger
and better things, but rather work to improve
their communities and – for those employed in
tourism – to showcase their many highlights to
a global audience.
At the midway point of my short visit, I
flew with Air Greenland from Nuuk north to
Ilulissat. The trip allowed us to make two stops
in communities along the way. At the first, in
Sisimiut, as we descended the steps of the
aircraft, we were greeted by about a dozen
flag-waving children and another ten adults
standing eagerly behind a chain-link fence
overlooking the airfield.
Was this a school field trip? A contrived
greeting for tourists? Hardly. The group was
there to greet Sisimiut’s newest and youngest
resident: a chubby-cheeked, dark-haired
newborn, snugly wrapped in a snow-white
Chef Jeppe Nielsen of Restaurant Ulo grates frozen egg yolk
over a flavour-packed “Arctic Umami” starter that features
fibres of dried halibut, fried lolla bionda lettuce, and red algae.
It was one of eight delicious unique courses from the upscale
establishment’s tasting menu.
sleeper, and no doubt arriving after his first
flight, having been born at the hospital in Nuuk.
The extended family quickly gathered
around the slumbering infant, passing him
between eager and curious hands of all ages,
while a somewhat shell-shocked father and
a remarkably rested-looking mother were
showered with congratulations and broad,
rosy-cheeked smiles.
The scene was over in just a few minutes.
We re-boarded the flight for the next leg of our
journey. I had just a few more days ahead of me
to explore this magical place, and as this reality
dawned, my envy grew of that lucky wee fellow,
who has a whole lifetime of discovery ahead of
him in a land that is, for me, now impossible to
forget.
The author flew to Greenland with Air Iceland
from Reykjavík. Her visit was arranged by
Visit Greenland, with accommodation at the
Hotel Hans Egede in Nuuk and Hotel Arctic
in Ilulissat. Remember, there is plenty of time
for a visit to Greenland during an Icelandair
Stopover!
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