Mike Merritt Icy wilderness melts the heart
Is enchanted by frolicking whales and giant glaciers on a cruise to Greenland
ITS first tourism was founded on one of the oldest recorded cases of misselling. But these days Greenland does not have to lie to attract increasing hordes of visitors. Wild, raw and savagely beautiful, the world’s largest island is a wilderness like no other.
I counted 17 fin whales – the planet’s second largest mammal – in a ten minute spell as we sailed between Iceland and Greenland, their huge blows exploding like geysers in the sea around us.
The whales kept coming – humpback, sperm, sei and even the world’s largest creature, the blue whale – not to mention countless dolphins, porpoises, bow-riding pilot whales and swooping seabirds.
Greenland, an autonomous part of Denmark, was until the 1950s an effectively closed country and strangers few and far between. But in remote towns, the warmth of native Inuit people was palpable.
Other than in the towns and settlements there are no roads and inside the Arctic Circle you will see more icebergs than cars.
On one occasion in Disko Bay we were prevented from reboarding our ship, the Marco Polo, for more than an hour because it was having to up anchor and reposition to avoid encroaching bergs.
GREENLAND was discovered – according to popular tradition – in about 982 by Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, a Norwegian Viking.
Erik then did a bit of misselling to lure fellow inhabitants. When he returned to Iceland he told stories of a ‘green land’ deliberately giving it a more attractive name in order to tempt potential settlers.
These days, Greenland’s bare wilderness is pulling a different kind of visitor fed-up with traditional package holidays.
Greenland, which has been inhabited for at least 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated from what is now Canada, has a population of around 56,000 – of which nearly a third live in the drab and functional capital Nuuk.
In contrast three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the largest permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica. Even in July, the ice fields often had a decisive say – our planned call to Tasiilaq, the largest town on Eastern Greenland with a population of just over 2000, was impossible because of sea ice.
Summer temperatures could reach just a few degrees at sea or incredibly in their 20s in the micro climate of glacier-carved valleys, where an Arctic fox popped up on one walk.
Ours was an unusual cruise and hike holiday setting out from Scotland. The ship had its fair share of naturalists, birders, whale watchers and photographers, positioning themselves logistically all over the ship, communicating sightings by walkie talkie so none would miss the next passing cetacean.
Travellers came from all over the world for the departure from Rosyth – including scores of Australians. Such is the increasing global lure of Greenland. To enhance the trip there were lectures from bird, photographic and Arctic experts, including Professor Eric McVicar of the University of the Highlands and Islands, who pulled no punches over the threats facing the Inuit from military, mineral and cultural exploitation.
The trip was a treasure trove of natural wonders. Deep in Disko Bay, we discovered the glacial gem that is Qeqertarsuaq, where fin and humpback whales exploded to the surface almost constantly. Lyngmark Glacier towers above the town and is said to be the only place to go dog sledding in summer.
The whole population had seemed to gather around an artificial football pitch for a match against rivals Ilulissat, whose team and supporters arrived in a flotilla of boats with whales spouting nearby.
With cheerleaders on one side of the pitch, icebergs behind one goal and chants of ‘Disko’, it was the Arctic’s own Old Firm clash.
Ilulissat boasts an array of adventures from dog sledging, wilderness escapes, glacier walks, kayaking, scenic flights as well as a growing arts and crafts and cafe culture.
FULL of youthful thrill seekers, it even has the post office where Danish children send letters to Father Christmas using what is said to be the world’s biggest post box.
Without doubt, the star attraction is to walk along a neat boardwalk – past the ‘husky city’ of scores of sled dogs – to the jaw dropping Jakobshavn Glacier. The Unesco World Heritage Site produces around 10 per cent of all Greenland icebergs. Around 35 billion tonnes of icebergs calve and pass out of the fjord every year.
The glacier is believed to have produced the iceberg that sank the Titanic in 1912, and is now the fastest moving glacier in the world as a result of a rapid increase in melting of the massive Greenland ice sheet.
At Sisimiut – the second largest town in Greenland with around 5500 people – we climbed nearly 2000ft to the top of Palasip Qaqqaa, or Priest Mountain, to stunning views of wild, snowy landscape.
But we were followed all the way by swarms of the dreaded Greenland black fly and Arctic mosquito, making the Highland midge seem almost innocuous by comparison.
Greenla nd may be the land of ice, but it will continue to melt hearts and attract those who want their tourism real.