Don’t expect the Northern Lights
The sun does not set from May 25th to July 25th, and it stays visible throughout the entire day and night. June to August are the summer months and the best time to visit. Expect temps in the 40s that feel like the 20s with the wind, which is often wicked.
The summer solstice in June is a national holiday.
Don’t expect a roadtrip
Greenland is connected by boat, plane, dog sled or snowmobile. There are virtually no roads connecting settlements. The road trips are for Iceland.
United flies from Newark into the southern city of Nuuk, the capital, which has a tiny new airport that locals are very proud of. But they didn’t account for the number of people they would need to run it and are short staffed, causing delays and very long lines. Plan for the extra time.
Nuuk is very beautiful and easily accessible, but if you want to see the spectacular northern icebergs and glaciers of Disko Bay and Ilulissat, that requires at least an additional flight or lengthy boat trip. Though summer is the time to visit, the weather is very unpredictable with severe winds and storms, so having additional time to compensate for delayed and canceled flights is a very good idea.
Estimates from locals put your chance of making a flight on time – or at all – at 50/50.
High winds – at one time exceeding 70 mph – delayed and canceled flights throughout our trip. Because of that, as well as United only flying to Greenland on Sundays and Wednesdays – weather permitting – our 12-day plan turned into 16. To pass the time, watching radar of flights circling, circling, circling, and finally heading to Iceland can be fun with a hotel cheese plate and bottle of wine.
But if you’re not retired, or a remote worker, or on a strict budget, that could become a big issue.
Clockwise from left: Air Greenland prop planes provide spectacular views – when the weather allows. Passengers are allowed one checked bag up to 44 lbs and one carry-on up to 18 lbs; the sole short baggage belt at Ilulissat’s tiny airport; safety instructions show you where to find polar suits and tents on your plane; Air Greenland’s flights; a happy day when you can move to the next adventure.
Don’t underestimate their boat driving
No matter how good a speeding vehicle-weaver/pothole-misser you think you are, the folks piloting the boats around Greenland have unimaginable skills.
A captain and his mate rush at top speed through water teeming with icebergs of all sizes, swerving and veering sometimes back on themselves seemingly like lunatics at times – but it works. You might hear a loud bang here and there, they told us, but that’s just a little ice cube and the boat is built to handle it.
It will be the ride of your life.
Don’t think you’re going to buy some land
There is no private land ownership in Greenland, which roots in Inuit tradition.
Land is communal, governed by the municipality, and one must apply for an allotment. People rent it and build their homes, which they do own, on it. Homes can be bought and sold – after again applying for the allotment.
The Greenlandic government has made it possible for companies and individuals to obtain an exclusive right to explore or exploit specific mineral(s) in an area.
Scenes around Disko Bay
Don’t trust typical world maps
In a true size map, Greenland is further east, west, north and south than Iceland. You will however find it west of Iceland on most maps.
Greenland, the world’s largest island, is roughly 20 times larger than Iceland.
But with less than 57,000 residents, Greenland is the least densely populated country in the world. Iceland has nearly 400,000 residents.
In the past, both Greenland and Iceland were part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Iceland assumed control of its own foreign affairs when Denmark was occupied by Germany in 1940 during World War II. It officially became an independent republic in 1944.
Don’t call them Eskimos
The Greenland National Museum and Archives showcases the Inuit experience in great detail starting with the Stone Age, and even includes the Qilakitsoq mummies, the oldest preserved remains in Greenland, dating to about 1475. They include a 6-month-old baby who appears almost lifelike.
Greenlanders are overwhelmingly descended from the Inuits – the same indigenous folks inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Canada and Alaska.
Never call them Eskimos.
The term is highly offensive to them, so much so that one lecturer speaking to us of ancient mythology wouldn’t even say the word. She pointed to it.
It’s considered a derogatory term because it was widely used by racist, non-native colonizers. Many people say it means “eater of raw meat,” which connotes barbarism and violence.
You can be as anti-woke as you want, but if you say the word in earshot of them, they will think you’re a racist idiot.
Don’t eat the polar bears
Did you know that polar bear meat is toxic?
We ate a LOT of seal, whale, reindeer, lamb, and musk ox, and you CAN eat polar bear, but you really need to be careful it was cooked for at least 12 hours.
Most polar bears carry the trichinella worm, which causes trichinosis – a parasitic disease caused by ingesting worm larvae in undercooked meat. They also have astronomical amounts of Vitamin A in their livers. One liver could kill 52 people, according to one expert.
Lots of seafood, obviously, but also lots of Musk Ox, reindeer, lamb, and whale. In the second pic from top left, the squares are a delicacy, mattock (whale skin and blubber), which is very chewy. Bottom center, whale sautéed with onions over mashed potatoes reminded us of our liver and onions at home.
Don’t think you’re bringing home a seal skin
Seal skins are ubiquitous in Greenland and provided by the Inuit hunters. They make them into purses, slippers, clothing, coats, decorative pillows, rugs, and many more things. The shops are full of their black or tan-spotted hides.
The U.S. prohibits fur from seals, polar bears, and sea otters under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Cashiers immediately ask if you’re American and let you know. If you can prove you’re at least a quarter Inuit, you can bypass the law, I was told.
Otherwise, you can buy Arctic Fox hides or the beautiful Arctic Musk Ox wool, Qiviut, taken from the animal’s soft underwool beneath its longer outer wool. It’s stronger and eight times warmer than sheep’s wool, softer than cashmere, and it doesn’t shrink in water. It’s one of the most expensive wools in the world. A simple head band covering your ears was marked at $400 US, a short scarf at $350. Some outlets claim it goes for $100 US an ounce.
Don’t expect low prices in general here. Practically everything is imported, and in limited supplies for the locals. Other than locally-produced items, you’re encouraged to buy only absolutely unexpected necessities. A small number of shops nationwide are like tiny Walmarts, with the rifles next to the produce; the parkas overlooking the frozen foods section.
Clockwise from top left: Examples of the many ways sealskin is used in clothing, coats, slippers, hats, etc.; the small “everything” stores have parkas next to the frozen food, guns next to the produce; examples of the beautiful and incredibly soft musk ox wool, one of the world’s most luxurious and rare natural fibers. Prices average around $100 per ounce. A headband I admired was $400.
Don’t think you’re going to beat an Inuit in endurance
A vital part of Inuit culture, Inuit games test survival skills crucial to endurance – hunting and living in the Arctic environment.
Inuits from across the Arctic and subarctic regions gather to celebrate and compete in events like the Arctic Winter Games.
These cultural games include:
One-Foot High Kick: This game tests leg strength, agility, and jumping ability, which is useful for jumping over obstacles or onto ice floes.
Knuckle Hop: This game requires competitors to hop on their knuckles and toes, tests strength, endurance, and balance, all important for navigating icy terrain.
Kneel Jump: This game assesses jumping and agility, skills that could be used for quickly moving across uneven surfaces or making leaps.
Sledge Jump: A test of strength and jumping ability, often involving a platform or sledge.
Triple Jump: A test of explosive leg power and jumping ability.
Leg Wrestling: A test of strength and leverage where opponents try to flip each other over.
Ear Pull: A game testing grip strength and endurance.
Don’t look at the clouds
It’s much more fun to follow local tradition and look for images in the icebergs.
I spotted a giant soft-serve ice cream, a leaping whale with its mouth wide open, cliffs of pueblos, a giant Jaws, and King Kong.
A happy little whale on a black sand beach; the Titanic sails again!
Don’t expect a short exchange about which glacier produced the iceberg that sank the Titanic
There is no question an Arctic iceberg sunk the Titanic.
Oh, but where did it come from? Locals have favorite theories they’re happy to share.
Some think it originated from the Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the fastest and most active glaciers on the planet, on Greenland’s west coast. Its icebergs provide a spectacular view at the Ilulissat Icefjord. If you were to melt the annual ice mass that calves from it, there would be enough water to provide for the United States’ yearly water consumption.
Some think it calved from glaciers in Baffin Bay in Canada’s Arctic. Some think it came from the east, though there’s much doubt about that.
In any event, scientists say the spring 1912 was a “perfect storm” for an unusually large number of icebergs. The doomed Titanic steamed right into them.
Don’t expect dog sledding
You might get lucky on Lyngmark Glacier on Disko Bay Island in the summer, but otherwise dog sledding is for the winter months in Greenland. Most recommend February to April.
But you will see many of the very special Greenland Dogs. Dog sledding with Greenland Dogs is considered a cultural heritage by UNESCO. They’re iconic.
They’re everywhere amid the rugged stony landscape, each chained alone – to prevent territorial fighting – sometimes with a small simple enclosure nearby. The landscapes often carry a chorus of their long howls.
One of the world’s oldest dog breeds, the Greenland Dog is considered vital to Greenland’s Arctic heritage. They were brought to Greenland by the Inuit thousands of years ago. They are the only dogs allowed in most of the country to protect the breed’s purity and prevent the spread of disease. Traditionally, they are fed seal meat, fish and whale blubber.
There are many differences between these wolf-like dogs and sledding dogs in other countries: they’re bigger, stronger, independent, semi-wild. They’re built for power and survival, not speed. As puppies, they are socialized and learn to run in Greenland’s unique fan-shaped sled harnesses.
They are working dogs, not pets. You are strongly warned not to approach them.
Other breeds are allowed in urban areas such as Nuuk because dog sledding isn’t vital to life there.
But as climate change is reducing the use of sleds, some dogs are sadly culled because families can’t afford to feed large teams that aren’t working, our guide sadly told us. In her young lifetime, numbers of these special dogs have been cut in half.
