Located
mostly in the Arctic region in the far northeast of North America,
Greenland is the world’s largest non-continental island. It has the
lowest population density in the world. The fact that the place is
mostly covered in snow, should not, however, deter anyone from planning a
trip to the awesome place. The place offers every form of entertainment
and adventure ranging from mountaineering, hiking, sledging, and skiing
to fishing, sea gliding, kayaking and hunting. Not to mention the
heavenly sightseeing and the cuisine. You can reach Greenland either by
air or the sea. Air Greenland offers quite regular flights from Denmark,
Iceland and Canada, which will take you to Nuuk, Kulusuk, Narsarsuaq
and Ilulissat. However, the sea route is not much well developed,
because of which, more and more shipping companies are trying to get
into the tourism business by making passenger ships available to the
coast of Greenland.
For the purpose of travel, it is best to chalk out the country into eastern, western and southern regions. East Greenland is one of the remotest parts, where one can spend some quality time in Tasiilaq, watching the lifestyle and culture of the Greenlanders and midnight hiking to Ammssalik Island. A helicopter trip over the beautiful village is exciting, and can offer much to lift up your spirits for the rest of the trip. The best way to visit the famous Knud Rasmussen Glacier is through kayaking along the stunning Ammassalik fjord, which is surrounded by high mountain walls. West Greenland offers a better taste of the Arctic environment. The Icefiord, near Ilulissat, a UNESCO’s World Heritage site, calves the most impressive icebergs of the northern countries. South Greenland, on the other hand, presents a contrast between the green of the landscape and the blue colours of the ice calved from the ice caps. The settlements here are closely spaced and one can easily hire a boat for nearby trips. Some of the places that one must visit include the Nuussuaq Peninsula, Mara Mountain, Sarqarput Strait, Jameson Land and Maniitsoq.
The places in Greenland usually have two names – the official Greenlandic and the non-official Danish, which
can get confusing at times. The people out there are very hospitable
and one need not think twice before asking for directions from a local
inhabitant. Most places are too small to put up signboards for
directions, and the people know every nook and corner fairly well. So,
do not be surprised if you bump into a grey factory-like building in the
middle of nowhere, only to find a fully equipped supermarket inside!
The Northern Lights
Due to the geographical location of the
country, the tourists may easily experience the midnight sun, depending
on the season and location. Far north of the Arctic Circle, Midnight Sun
can be experienced for a period lasting from one day to five months.
For enhanced experience, the best time to visit is between May and July,
during which, the soft, warm rays from the low-lying sun make the
surrounding scenery appear ethereal and dream-like. Icebergs and
hilltops, in the Disko Bay glow in a colourful bath of pink, purple,
yellow and red light, which presents a breathtaking sight. But, above
all, be sure to experience the “Aurora Borealis”, the biggest light show
on earth, which occurs due to a natural geographical phenomenon. The
best time to watch the northern lights is between November and March,
though December through February are the best months to see the lights
because nights are clearer. Qaqortoq (south Greenland), Ittoqqortoormiit
(east Greenland) and Kangerlussuaq (west Greenland) are some of the
best spots to observe the lights from.
Arctic wildlife
The fauna of the place primarily consists
of the polar bear, the arctic dogs, reindeer, musk oxen, the
white-tailed eagle and the whales, which can be spotted all the year
round. The best way to experience Greenland’s Arctic nature is usually
on a sledding tour or snowmobiling excursion. If you happen to be during
the summer, then you can also take a whale watching tour between the
Fjords and the melting icebergs along the coastal towns of Nuuk,
Qeqertarsuaq and Aasiaat. During the summer months, you can see
Humpback, Minke, and Fin whales in Greenlandic waters, while, during the
winter, Beluga, Narwhal, or Bowhead whales are the most spotted ones.
The Eskimos
When it comes to Greenland, the first
things that comes to mind are the Eskimos and their Igloos. The
Sermermiut settlement in Greenland has some of the best preserved
remnants of Eskimo indigenous cultures in the Arctic region. You can get
a taste of the history of the country from the colourful colonial
buildings and cute wooden churches in the towns located along the west
coast of Greenland that offer a nice glimpse into Greenland’s Danish
past. When you visit south Greenland, you can see the remnants of Eric
the Red’s one thousand year old Norse colonies and Viking ruins, which
include the Hvalsey Fjord Church and Brattahlid ruins located near the
town of Qassiarsuk.
Ice Hotels
Greenland offers some of the best places to
stay and enjoy, combines with exquisite mouth-watering cuisine. One may
stop at the Arctic café, which offers much more than just coffee and
cupcakes. The food tastes better, when taken with the waiters’
appropriate wine combination suggestions. To one’s surprise, Greenland
also has a plethora of hot springs where one can enjoy a warm relaxing
soak, the most popular of them being the Uunartoq hot springs in the
island of Uunartoq (east Greenland) and Disko Island’s hot springs,
which are just a short boat ride from the town of Ilulissat. The country
also provides a unique accommodation in the form of Ice-hotels that is
bound to make your trip memorable. It is a hotel, make completely out of
snow and providing living facilities according to the environment. One
can get a room in an Ice hotel at Kangerlussuaq, where the rooms are
actually in the form of small igloos. Therefore, it really does not
matter if you are an Eskimo or not, you can always get an igloo for
yourself!
Museums
Housed in a spacious warehouse, the
Greenland National Museum some of the world’s oldest rocks from the Nuuk
region, highlighting the geological changes that took place over the
ages. However, the main attraction is the spooky display of the mummies
of two 15th-century women and a very spooky six-month-old child, whose
cause of death remain uncertain, dressed in beautifully embroidered fur
clothes and kammiks.
Paamiut Museum is a spectacular house,
constituting of a circle of five historic stone-and-timber buildings
around a turf-ringed well house. Among its various geological
collections, it has a whaling exhibition that includes a very rare
sealskin diving suit, a reproduction of an original sold in 1913 and now
in St Petersburg.
Technology enthusiasts might also pay a
visit to the Tele-Museum that traces Greenland’s role in the development
of transatlantic communications. It has many mechanical curiosities
like the 1900 telephone-switching table, which, although already archaic
in Denmark, was sent for use in Nuuk in the 1950s.
You can also drop by the Qasigiannguit
Museum to discover an excellent, well-preserved collection of finds
dating from the Saqqaq culture to the present Inuit culture, which gives
a detailed picture of life in Greenland’s earliest Stone Age culture.
Things available for display include a large collection of tools and the
northernmost discovery of the now extinct great auk. The Emanuel A
Petersen Art Museum, offers an exotic collection of Greenlandic
landscapes, mostly the works of the eponymous Danish artist, Petersen.
The Qaqortoq Museum, housed in a
tar-blackened building, dating back to 1804, hosts the works of explorer
Knud Rasmussen when he was preparing his later expeditions and that of
the famous American aviator Charles Lindbergh when he was scouting sites
for a Pan Am stopover airport.