The Big Hole

Nope, it's not for diamonds they dug here like in Kimberley. But since 1854 they spent men, time and a lot of money to go for a worthless white rock you'd just walk by. But throw it in the fire with corundum and you get - aluminum. Well, not just like that, it's a little more complicated. But Cryolithe, the "ice stone", was not only of economic value but - think war here - also of strategic importance. And so the military moved in to protect the place, until the mine was abandoned in 1987 when artificial cryolithe was produced.

All that remains today is a ghost town on the fringe of a unfathomably deep pool, framed by woodworks that once were the mine's bulkhead. But one of these buildings is a mineralogy museum with a superb collection of rock and ore samples, mostly taken care of  by John, a true rock man, always recognisable by his hammer and the magnifying glasses round his neck. So sit in the sun or in the shade (they have real trees here! You don't see that often in Greenland…) , walk across the plains and marvel at the beautiful rocks or see the museum. 

But whatever you do - watch out for musk ox!! About 300 of these bulky relatives of goats (!) are currently living in the area, and you sure do not want to bump into those in the thickets, they are known to charge quickly. But today we're lucky, no encounters. Instead we see a group of the brown furry animals in the slopes of the fjord just after our departure. So they are there, after all. We have time enough, so Captain Arnvid stops the vessel and we spent a little while, watching the oxen ramble across the mountain flank. A wonderful sight! 

A buzzing day in Nuuk

So, this is the capital of the country that has so much to deal with transition, independence, social and economic changes. This is where up to 500 people move to per year, mostly in the new-built living compounds in the southern part. This is where the very old past meets yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is the place where young political hopes coexist with hunting tradition and - believe it or not - leisure activities like paragliding.
This is where we spend the day. In the fully restaurated museum with the famous mummies, in the cultural center, in the many nice shops, or in the pittoresque nature just a few minutes away. So, dear reader , please follow the rest of our day just by the pictures shown here. Get your own idea. In the meantime we are moving on, away from the cities. From here to Iceland it will be small settlements and pretty nature. Feels good after a busy buzzing day in such a large town…

Eternity is over

Going south is strange after spending a long time in icy places. But of course, there is also ice to be found here: In the morning we do a little boat cruise in front of the glacier in Evighedsfjord, the "Fjord of Eternity". Weeeeell, considering the amounts of ice that still were here only last season, we might need to redefine eternity… But lucky we were, the sun was piercing the clouds in various places, shedding magic light on the white-and-blue wall that loomed high over the waters surface. What a fabulous stuff ice is!

In the late afternoon we reached the city of Manitsoq where we were welcomed in the small harbour to a perfectly mild late summer evening. A very peaceful town awaited us, with colorful houses, a neat museum next to the old cemetery and a good opportunity to go shopping for good handicrafts.

During a warmly lit sunset we lifted anchor to go south again, to our "big city event" - Nuuk.

The last Kanger

Two weeks gone just like that. Time is such a weird thing, look back at it from one point it seems much shorter than it was, but just shift your angle by a little bit and it feels like an eternity. So much we have seen in these days, adorable things, frightening things, happiness and misery, sometimes in the same spot. We were spoilt by the weather, admittedly a little short on the polar bear side, but beauty and nature and also entertainment was always with us.

Alas, now it's time to say good-bye. The bumpy ride to the icecap is a last sensation before the evenings barbeque. (Speaking of which: See that musk-ox in the truck? It's hunting season.) And then it's the airport. Some are eying the plane enviously, because it is the very aircraft that just brought the new arrivals.

And that's how it is: It never stops, we all carry on. That is a good thing, it brings us moments to look back to.

So, yep, let's go on then!

Teaching with a view

This is a story about a man and a school. But before I tell it you should know that teaching children in Greenland has very peculiar problems to deal with. In many areas fathers still take their boys out to hunt for whale and seal, so they miss a lot; the girls attend school, get a good education and come back - maybe even from university in Denmark - as smart, modern young women who get good jobs and are certainly not interested in the hunter boys. Depression is still widespread among young Greenlandic boys, the suicide rate is way beyond average.

Even in places where this traditional problem is not present, children are often sent to bed late at night (if so at all), resulting in tired kids who are all but attentive at school in the morning. Alcohol is among the permanent issues as well, so it is quite a struggle to actually create an awareness for the importance of education in a people that is only slowly catching up with modern times, in a country that has surfaced just now on the international stage by getting independent.

Where these problems are not constantly addressed, you will find places that we consider backward, even hopeless. We all remember Kraulshavn with its wonderful people who just did not seem to be taken care of.

And then there are other stories. Like the one of Jimmy from Itilleq. When he came to Greenland as a teacher, his collegues in Sisimiut predicted he wouldn't stay longer than three months. He and his wife hoped for three years. Six and a half year later, Jimmy proudly presents the brand-new school in his village, looking out onto the most stunning fjord view. Inside, everything is there, well-organized, and so we do not only enter a school building but also a new era. Not so long ago Itilleq was an unknown place with all the above mentioned problems, and Jimmy had to use all his patience and persuasion to slowly erode the reluctance and unwillingness to change things. But finally he reached the parents minds: Now his school ranks as number five in the whole of Greenland, in a village of only 120 inhabitants. With quite an effect of repercussion: Proud parents are taking care of their children's skills, looking after them, encouraging them. Education has become a value, here we see that changes are possible and not necessarily negative and spoiling. It takes a lot of effort and idealism. But as long as there are people who deeply care like Jimmy the wonder of Itilleq can take place in many places. Then it is not only teaching with a view, but also with perspective.

Tapas in Ilulissat

That's it, transition complete, we are in tourist city. Ilulissat, Greenlands Paris, has so much to offer that you have to take your pick; in only one or two days you won't make it all: So, what's it gonna be: Fly into the fjord with the helicopter, go on a really long hike to Holmsbakke (beau-ti-ful!!) or take it a little slower by joining a boat trip into the icefjord or simply by walking down to Sermermiut, the "Great Glacier" which cuts through wide parts of the land behind the town. Whatever it is, you will encounter the largest, highest, most impressive icebergs there are. In the world. The size is hard to believe, it is more a mountain range made of ice that anything else. It is a truly unique sight, you cannot help but breathe more deeply, and if you sit down somewhere on a rock, silently, without moving, you will have a true Arctic moment that stays with you for a long time.

The rest is relaxing, shopping, having a coffee on a terrace in the afternoon sun. Or go and witness how much this place has adapted to international standards by having seal tapas in a restaurant nearby. If it weren't for the many, many fishing boats in the harbour or the large number of dogs in the plains just outside town you'd really think this place could be anywhere. But just a few days ago we were in Kullorsuaq, remember?

Epic Eqip

No road, no house, nobody. Just us, in the far recess of a long fjord, strewn with ice blocks of all sizes. And I mean all sizes, the biggest bergs by far taller than FRAM, let alone the volume under water. Equip Sermia, the "glacier of Equip", releases incredible amounts of ice every day, and blimey!, it is an impressive sight. No one wants to believe that the front is actually nearly 4 kilometers wide and some 3,5 miles away. That's because we don't have a reference object. Normally, that is.

To our amazement there is a local ship that appears out of nowhere just in front of that huge blue-and-white wall. And suddenly we get the real picture… The rumbling and thundering keeps our heads spinning around every few instants - we all want to see it calving. But since most of the collapses occur inside the glaciers body, there is only minor splashing to be seen. Nonetheless a fantastic stop, inviting for long hikes into the tundra, on top of the hills or along the shoreline. Some, of course, have tough duties like Janus who, is in charge of watching the glacier… After a splendid stay ashore we are lured back on board by the smell of the on-board barbeque, the olfactory equivalent of sirens singing. With the most spectacular background we end this day eating peacefully, and with the last light of the day FRAM makes slowly out again towards the open sea.

(S)upernavik

If you were a taxi driver, would you stop for someone who has a rifle under his arm? No? Well, it is possible in Upernavik, capital of a very large community on the northern west coast. So there's taxis and there is hunters, and they live in peaceful cooperation. Here, as it seems, the transition to modern times is smooth. The whole aspect of Upernavik is different from any other town in Greenland: It is clean, almost neat, the houses are in good shape, there is a big sports hall and a soccer field, a pretty church and a nice little museum. There is graffiti on the walls - beautiful whales. No kids at the pier, though, that is something we immediately notice. And miss. 

Apart from that, the whole place looks organized, we get a good and instructive introduction on board, the meeting with the choir at the church is well planned, people are on time. Upernavik works. Even national soccer championships are being played while we are in town. A modern, friendly town. But remember the man with the rifle. We are still in Greenland.

The Children of Kullorsuaq

People have a tendency of giving names to prominent landmarks. And so this village bears the name of the steep column of rock that miraculously survived the millions of years of erosion - The Devil's Thumb. Apart from the name there is not much to feel of Lucifers presence, on the contrary: After the introductional little welcome concert by the locals on board, dozens of children are hopping up and down on the landing site, eager to meet us, hold our hands, jump on our backs, tickle us. It is a waist-high wall of little exited faces that we have to gently permeate before we get to the village. We do not come unexpected - all are on their feet, have set up tables with coffee and cake and things they hope to sell. But next to the usual assortments of handicraft you see objects that clearly indicate that we are far from the common tourist route, next to large amounts of narwhale penis bones we find bags of freshly extracted seal claws and polar bear teeth. This is a hunters settlement, and no mistake. All over the place you find kayaks, tied-up dogs, sleds, hunting tools and remains of dead animals. Don't let the warm welcome fool you - these folks do not supply themselves from the supermarket round the corner, they use weapons. They are tough, weather-hardened and used to a dangerous life.

But no, you wouldn't think that today, everybody is so cheerful, so welcoming, so friendly. You cannot help but smile. Of course the traces of contrast between old life and modern world are obvious like in Kraulshavn, the "modern" cemetery with its white fence sticks out like a foreign object next to the old stoneheaps, garbage issues are also not to be resolved any time soon, and to see a mobile phone used from a traditional kayak is a strikingly strange sight.

We get invited for a singing in the church, painted in friendly blue and white. It's psalter, pure christian contents, only in Kalallissut, greenlandic language. Paulus, "Paalu" in his country, is the local priest, the catechist of hunters. It is a place so full of contrast! Young girls texting messages on their phones while their fathers are demonstrating their Kayak hunting skills, TV antennas next to the seal skins that are pinned up for drying.

Finally the sunset reveals the most stunning of all colors on the opposite side of the bay, where the slopes are suddenly gleaming red, with bluewhite ice swimming in front of them.

But - again - what remains longest is the unadulterated happiness of the many children who are growing into this world of contrast with a big smile.

The Qaanaq event

Twice a year a big ship arrives in Qaanaq, "Ultima Thule", the place to where people were evicted by the military in 1953. It is always a sensation, attracting everybody in the village. Today, there is something completely different going on, attracting many a tourist instead of the villagers: The unveiling of a memorial in honour of Eivind Astrup, one of many participants of Robert Peary's expedition of 1892, when the men crossed the Greenlandic icecap for the first time. A monumental walk, indeed, and today quite a few relatives of young Eivind Astrup are gathered in Qaanaq to witness the ceremony, along with FRAM's officers and all the "bluejackets" that take a shot of the inscription.

Even without this uniqe event, the landing would have been remarkably nice: A few bizarrely shaped clouds drift across the blue skies that frame the iceberg-loaden bay with the tricky tide that requires sophisticated pontoon building by the landing party. The museum shows many fantastic artefacts and features one of the last iron meteorites that had been widely harvested and brought to the US by the above mentioned Peary. Beautiful carvings are to be found in a small shop nearby, the hike to the icecap keeps a large number of mountaineers busy for hours. And then there is the great basketball game, FRAM's crew versus the villagers. And - believe it or not - victory was ours, 29:25 in the end! A very rare day indeed...