EUW sv Greenland 2008

Europe Alive in Greenland April 2008

The Danish section of Europe Alive, trough Birte Iversen, had invited us to visit Greenland for four days in the beginning of April 2008. We were 8 European countries who participated. 35 ladies met in Copenhagen and landed after a 4 hours flight in Kangerlussuaq on the west coast of Greenland some 60 kilometres north of the polar circle. It is a former American military camp (1942-1992). It is beautifully situated at the beginning of a very long fjord. The weather was sunny with just a few degrees below zero. The week before there had been a record low of – 47 degrees C. We enjoyed a mild spell and had plus degrees during the days and the snow melted in the bright and strong sunshine. www.greenland-guide.dk/kangerlussuaqtourism

Greenland is the world’s largest island. If you put a map of Greenland over a map of Europe it reaches from a latitude north of Scotland to one south of Sicily. Greenland has only 56 000 inhabitants spread in small habitats along the coasts. There are only a handful of towns and airports. If you want to visit people living somewhere else, you have to travel with dog sledges or scooters over the ice or by helicopter. In the summer you can also go by boat. Travelling can be dangerous as the weather changes very quickly.

We spent the days on excursions beginning with a visit to the town, which has all of 550 souls. We made a short stop at the harbour further down the fjord and then at the science metrological weather station http://isr.sri.com, a Muskox sighting tour and where they gathered the wool, the local museum, a dog sleigh tour along the fjord with us clothed in wonderfully warm seal skin anoraks and trousers.

Some of us woke up in the nights to watch the Aurora Borealis. It could be a “fluttering curtain in the shade of green and yellow”. I never saw that, but two very slowly moving impressive white light beams. Here is more info: www.northern-lights.no

The final day, Sunday, was a very busy day. We started off with a visit to the church where the Inuits sung beautifully in their mother tongue. Bringing our lunch packs with us, we then travelled the two hours to the Ice Cap (inlandsisen), which rose a huge icy wall in front of us. The very old, clear, packed ice glimmered with a slight blue hue in the sun. A short while later we walked on it, skidded on it and enjoyed this truly unique experience.

On the way back we sighted a Muskoxen heard, e.g. three of them, not so very far away on the other side of the river. They are very shy being the prime prey in this area. They thrive here (Kangerlussuaq area) because there is a lot of food for them.

After a short stop to change clothes we went to a lecture on history with a political discussion, which was very interesting. There are very severe problems to solve with completely different cultures and languages, stone age contra modern age. There aren’t enough Inuit teachers and it is also difficult to gather all the children because many live in such small communities. And of course, living conditions are very harsh with the severe weather. Unfortunately the politians didn’t have time to meet with us because there was an election on Tuesday.

After the lecture we went to the Roklubben restaurant for the Greenland speciality buffet. We enjoyed Muskox steak, shrimps and delicious fresh fish.

We would certainly have enjoyed visiting Inuit families, but could readily understand a slight problem finding hosts for the lot of us even though the Inuits are known for their warm hospitality.

Returning to Copenhagen the following morning we all agreed that we had had a very fascinating trip. Many warm thanks to Birte for arranging it all for us.

Report by Inger and Inga.