Greenland – a name of a mystical place. It is huge and we realize it while crossing it. The mountains are high, all snow covered and countless glaciers.
Some short photo shooting on the tarmac of Reykjavik airport (the life suits just look great!!) and then flying north over some really nice mountains. After one hour we spot the first bit ice blocks in the sea below us – would be enough for a lot of drinks! The mountains are spectacular but half way to Ilulissat the weather turns bad. Fog and rain. The landing is very demanding for the pilots but they do a fantastic job. Normally the airport is closed on Sunday but for us the make an exception. The chief in the tower has to go to the village so he gives us a ride. We want to pay him but he refuses.
The hotel is quite nice but check-in takes a while. We decide to explore downtown Ilulissat and walk roughly 1 kilometer to the city center. It is a very fascinating place; almost from a different planet. The wooden houses are Scandinavian like and very colorful. The whole place needs a spring cleaning; it is a bit dirty due to the melting snow; looks a bit like Flüela Passhöhe in April. The people look a bit Chinese but with a white touch. In the hotel are only two TV channels that show mostly movies in English with subtitles in Icelandic. There are several Radio stations that play some good music: Rock, Pop, some Chill-out and all in this funny language; you don‘t understand a word!
We learn, after walking around for 15 minutes, that „grill“ in Icelandic does not mean grill in English. Wherever is a „grill“ on the map there is no restaurant. So we end up in an Asian place with ok food. We decide to walk down to the harbor and look around the fish factory. Here the boats bring in the catch, it‘s getting unloaded, processed in the factory in packed in containers for the export.
Dinner at the hotel is very good: scallops with fish and dill sauce. The Alion wine is very suitable to go with it. We all feel a bit tired since the time here is UTC -4 hours; or Swiss time minus 2 hours. A thing called jet lag is calling on us. We all three feel like we are on the road, sorry in the air, for a week already. And Transafrica was only yesterday; the jokes are still the same!
In Ilulissat live around 6‘000 people; and 3‘500 sledge dogs!!! The municipality of Ilulissat is the largest in the world: it is larger than Spain and has 17‘000 inhabitants. Ilulissat, also called Jakobshavn, was founded in 1741, and today it is the third biggest town in Greenland. Jakobshavn was named after the Danish grocer, Jacob Severin. The present name of the town, Ilulissat, means icebergs in Greenlandic. It is also the birthplace of Knud Rasmussen, the famous polar adventurer. He learned his skills as a sledge driver in Ilulissat and used it later during his expeditions.
I am afraid to say that somehow we have technical problems with the Internet at the hotel and I can not load up the update for today. While in Africa the technology was not always up-to-date, we have the opposite problem here; too many firewalls!! I will try my best tomorrow from another access point – sorry folks.
7th of May
A day of rest after the two long flights and some sightseeing is planned for the day. The boat trip into the bay with all the ice bergs is unbelievable. Unfortunately the helicopter flight to the Ilulissat glacier has to be cancelled due to bad visibility.
What a bummer: rain and fog in the morning. But according to the weather forecast it should clear up around mid-day.
After breakfast, the hotel bus takes us to the offices of „World of Greenland“, a local tour operator. The bus has, like all other cars here, a „Graubündner“ licence plate; all show a big „GR“ here. We are told by the local office lady to better wear some Seal clothing since it will be quite cool when we are in the iceberg region. We can rent them there and now we really look like tourists!! But the pants and jackets are well done, very comfortable and warm.
A bus takes us down to the harbor where the boat and her captain waits for us. We hop on board and off we sail. Immediately after leaving the harbor we see the first ice blocks. The weather is still foggy but ok. The blocks are getting bigger and soon we see the big icebergs. It is absolutely quiet, misty; out of this world!! We have never seen anything like this before. And now it starts even to clear up a bit! The captain steers his boat sometimes right through the ice; memories of the Titanic come up!
Ilulissat Glacier is the most productive glacier, no only in Greenland, but in the northern hemisphere. The glacier is 7 kilometers wide and more than 1 kilometer steep. More than 40 million tons of ice flow out into the fiord 24 hours a day. The result is gigantic icebergs, which can be more than 100 meters above the water line. Generally 90% of an iceberg is below the water! These giants strand at the end of the fiord; and that‘s where we sailed among them for the morning. An unforgettable experience!
Lunch again in the local burger joint and then we learn at the office of World of Greenland that our helicopter flight has to be cancelled due to bad visibility. What a shame! But there is not much to see in this weather and the risk is just too big. So some shopping for the folks at home and back to the hotel. The pilots are preparing another long flight for tomorrow and the webmaster is updating the webpage.
Dinner at the „less fancy“ restaurant in the hotel is excellent. After having some Nachos (yes, we can‘t be without it), we have some locally caught mussels and the main course is a Muskox stew. Dr. Rohner is remembered during the main course…
Waking up at 01.00h at night by the sledge dogs in the backyard of the hotel, you realize that it is still daylight out there; actually it is daylight the whole night through! One wonders how it must feel during the winter with 24 hours night!
A day of rest after the two long flights and some sightseeing is planned for the day. The boat trip into the bay with all the ice bergs is unbelievable. Unfortunately the helicopter flight to the Ilulissat glacier has to be cancelled due to bad visibility.
