A Glimpse of Greenland

Text taken from the club newsletter.

A GLIMPSE OF GREENLAND by SUE WALSH

Kulusuk is a small island off the east coast of Green- land. I had been there five years ago and had to go back. Last time I was in transit, this time I chose to stay for a while. When I Googled the hotel I had booked, it looked to be in the middle of nowhere when I thought it was located in the local village. When I got there I saw that the hotel was most definitely in the middle of nowhere; although the airport was only a short drive away. The road to the hotel continued past it to the village which was about a 10 to 15 minute walk away, and then it went on to various highpoints. Kulusuk’s main claim to fame is the airport which means it is the jumping off point for adventures in East Greenland.

The afternoon I got there was very quiet while I found my feet. The next day I went on a boat trip to see some icebergs with other guests at the hotel. We were at recep- tion at the agreed time. However, the staff had a laid back attitude to things so we waited awhile before they finally appeared, told us where the life jackets were and gave the instructions on where to find the boat. We walked past old sheds down to the water’s edge where we found the boat which was operated by a local Inuit. He mimed for us to put the jackets on and get in the boat, then we set off.

The boat slowly crossed the water. At one point I could see a gap between Kulusuk and another island was

Glacier on the island of Kulusuk chocked with icebergs of all sizes. It looked so interest- ing, but that wasn’t our destination. We headed towards a small bay that had two small glaciers in it that went down to the sea. Due to the dangers of ice calving off the glaciers we didn’t go in too close. The engine was shut down and we drifted in total peace and semi-silence; soaking in the views and taking photos before turning back.

In the afternoon, fellow tourists and I did a walking tour of the village of Kulusuk with one of the hotel staff. After about seven minutes walking we came upon the cemetery which was on a small hill, which also had a good view. The Inuit don’t bury their dead, mainly because the ground is so hard and rocky, so a shallow trough is dug and the deceased person placed in that with stones piled on top. The crosses don’t have names on them as they be- lieve the name disappears from the person when they die. There were lots of artificial flowers on the graves adding colour to a sombre place.

The view from the top of the hill was great. Behind us was the airport, swinging around to the other islands and a mountainous horizon, then sweeping views down the coast with the shoreline disappearing in the haze of the after- noon. Big icebergs sat in the water behind the village.

We went back to the road and carried on towards the village going by a small lake on one side. The lake is the main water supply for the town and goes through a puri-

Cemetery on Kulusuk fier before being pumped into the homes. Carrying on down the road we started to get to the first houses. My eye was caught by a snow mobile parked next to a trampo- line with a grave on one side and huskies off to the other side. As we rounded a corner a small cove came into sight and floating in the water tied together were three dead seals. We were informed that the sea is the fridge for the locals.

We wandered through the village which seemed de- serted. It was Sunday and apparently the locals don’t come out much. If it had been a weekday the place would have been bustling. We walked to one end of the village with the guide pointing out different sights and down towards the water’s edge, then back to the centre and down the other road. There were huskies tied up everywhere and they looked amazing, skinny and hungry. We were told they are fed only every three days during summer so they don’t put on too much weight. A pup went skulking across the road in front of us and the guide said that pups are left to roam the village until they get too big and dan- gerous at which point they are tied up.

I looked back the way we had come and the village looked desolate. There was rubbish everywhere, rusted metal piping (that our guide said carried wires for elec- tricity), huskies sitting in the sand and prams left at the bottom of hills.

As we retraced our steps the local school was pointed out along with the play area which was just dusty ground in front of the building. We continued to retrace our steps until we got back to the hotel and first-world luxury.

I had a wonderful helicopter flight the next day going to Tasiilaq. In the hotel I was upgraded to a room which had its own bathroom. It turned out that the room I had booked was in an annex and a group of Icelandic road workers were staying there.

In the afternoon I walked around Tasiilaq and found myself in a bookshop that had a Mrs Brown look alike from the TV programme Mrs Brown’s Boys. I was totally taken aback when this person stood up and asked me if I would like some help. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!

I was keen to see if I could afford a helicopter flight onto the icecap, however, the cost was prohibitive so instead I booked another boat trip to look at icebergs and went for a walk in the Valley of the Flowers. It was quite a hurried walk as it was a perfectly still day. It sounds ideal, but the only problem is that there are little tiny insects that like still days and particularly like trying to fly into your mouth, ears and up your nose; so you walk along constantly flapping your hands in front of your face as

Kulusuk scenery they can’t cope with any type of breeze.

I got talking to a Danish girl on my way back and we ended up by the doing the boat trip together although it wasn’t quite as we expected. They had cancelled the boat trip going down the coast to a fishing village as the swells were too bad. On the boat looking out to sea it looked absolutely flat so I had high hopes of seeing huge icebergs like I had previously. There was one in the entrance to the sound and I was all set to start taking photos when we hit the first swell. Well… There were six of us on the boat and we were all at the front of the boat where you would get prime views of everything. It also meant you got prime views of the bow dipping into the water and then heaving up before going down again. It was impossible to move and near impossible to take photos. I had to worm my fingerless gloves up my hand so it was my actual hand holding onto the railing as I was scared my gloved hand would slip and I’d go flying in some uncontrolled direction that wouldn’t be nice for my camera or myself. We didn’t have life jackets on and weren’t given any instructions when we boarded about emergencies. Two people eventu- ally went inside, but I stayed out as I needed a horizon to look at so I wouldn’t get seasick.

The skipper was moving the boat around trying to get to some smaller icebergs. Initially I was actually enjoying myself. It was quite exhilarating to be going up and down and left and right so sharply in the waves; it reminded me of a kayak trip I had done some years ago where we battled our way along a coastline in a washing machine. I remember it took two hours to paddle and when we came back the following day it took just 45 minutes. Back in Greenland though, the excitement wore off after a while and I was starting to get concerned about what was going to happen. It was around this time the skipper ob- viously thought enough was enough and he turned the boat around and we lurched back into the sound and calmer waters. We got taken to all the small icebergs in the sound before finally heading back to the wharf and dinner – and yes, I did have dinner as I was starving!

I was leaving the next day and in the helicopter going back to Kulusuk I gazed out over the water to the distant icebergs and my thoughts were all over the place. At the airport (which is just a big hangar divided into about four separate areas – arrivals, departures, bag check in and a shop) I updated my diary as I had quite a bit of spare time before my flight left. The airport gets really busy when a flight comes in as it gets packed with those leaving and then those arriving. Room is cramped and those who have been on expeditions of any type take the comfy seats and spread themselves out leaving the rest to sit on hard seats at small metal tables. After one flight had left and quietness reigned again, I went outside and looked at the amazing scenery.

I had been absolutely set on coming back to Greenland but in the back of my mind I hadn’t been sure whether it was the right thing to do. Last time I’d seen Green- land with rose-tinted glasses; this time those glasses were off, and to be honest I got more of a buzz from the first visit. This visit was more about people and those random connections you make when travelling. Greenland is an awesome country and the small amount that I’ve seen kind of whets the appetite to see more. I thought I’d closed the door to returning, but.....

Sue in the Valley of Flowers