Greenland, land of the Inuit people

A relatively unknown and highly preserved natural destination, Greenland, 9/10th covered by the ice cap and plunged into the polar night for half the year, seems inaccessible. Yet it is an exceptional destination that summer and its midnight sun offer us in all its splendour. Fjords filled with icebergs, glaciers that actively produce them and encounters with the Inuit people... this is the program of this report

Arrival is in Kangerlussuaq, a small town that hosts the international airport. This former American military base is the starting point for many treks across the tundra and allows you to observe the edge of the ice cap. A fascinating sight in summer when water sculpts the ice to push back step by step this wall that is transformed into a river. The vegetation is minimalist as it is put to the test by the climate of "Grønland", the famous "Green Land". In fact, it was the Viking Erik the Red who gave us this misleading name. A real marketing operation, this attractive name, promising a peaceful life where livestock farming could be practiced, was intended to attract new settlers. The Arctic peoples present since the beginning of the first millennium had already clearly defined the harshness and whiteness of the area. Inuit legends, which arrived in the 13th century, also leave little doubt that Greenland is an inhospitable land of fascinating beauty. The reading of the different parts of the Song for the One Who Wants to Live cycle by the Dane Jorn Riel is a wonderful testimony to all this Greenlandic mythology. It had been several weeks since his adventures had plunged us into a mysterious Greenland. For the time being, we are joining the other tourists heading for the boarding gate. Air Greenland aircraft make smart jumps between the few airports and there are not many rotations. Adhering to the windows, we will very quickly have an incredible view of the ice cap and its glaciers

Illulisat, world capital of icebergs

Much further north in Disko Bay, this small town of 4,000 inhabitants has no less than 2,500 dogs. Very handy in winter to pull sleds, they seem exhausted by the oppressive heat of summer, which can still reach 14°C. The arrival by plane is one of the most spectacular in Greenland because it is preceded by the flight over the Isfjord. The latter is an ice-covered fjord 3 to 6 kilometres wide and 60 km long; it discharges 20 billion tonnes of icebergs into the bay each year. Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the fjord is the largest iceberg producer in the northern hemisphere. The latter are of varying sizes and shapes; they culminate at 50 or even 100 metres in height

Illulisat's skyscrapers are made of ice, while the houses are small coloured wooden houses hung on the rock. There are some historic buildings, including the old wooden church or Knud Rasmussen's house, which has been transformed into a museum. This local legend, born in 1879 from a Métis mother and a pastor father, established a network of trading posts and played an important role in the exploration and development of the Inuit, whom he considered his people. The city spreads along the bay and the eye has difficulty leaving the incredible spectacle of icebergs drifting along the currents. They seem to move little, but after a night at the window, we realize that the landscape has completely changed. Privilege of summer, the sun pretends to go down while making sure to maintain the day and then rises a few hours later: it is the midnight sun. The long polar night will be much harder to live with, but the whiteness of the icebergs and the colourful dances of the northern lights provide an equally amazing spectacle

Cruise in Disko Bay

Illulisat lives to the rhythm of its port with fishing and tourist boats snaking between the ice. While flying over the area provides a unique view of the Sermeq Kujalleq Glacier, the fracture zone where icebergs float and accumulate in the 60 kilometres of fjord, the Illulisat cruise at the mouth of the bay provides a closer look. Such gigantism, the different shapes, the bright white, the bright blue fascinate and frighten at the first crackles that let us imagine the worst. What is most common is to see huge blocks detach from the most vertical parts, fall into a huge crash and create large waves. But the balance is precarious and the rupture can be deeper. The unbalanced iceberg can easily change its centre of gravity and waterline. The black spots on the ice are parts of the iceberg that have scraped the bottom of the fjord and, as the movement progresses, have found themselves in the open air. If there are straight lines characteristic of ruptures, there are also rounded shapes, changes in texture, some arches, cavities... all this is the play of water currents around icebergs, snowfall that has inserted itself over time into the crevasses, different types of ice more or less compressed. Nature's creativity seems limitless. When the sun pretends to set, the horizon blazes and a spectacle of amazing colours transforms the cruise. The blue, yellow or pink colours stand out depending on the composition of the iceberg: more or less ancient snow, very compressed ice, ice that has been in the water... Its position in the glacier and the way it was subjected to pressure and then its iceberg life thus naturally create this phenomenon that seems unreal. The cold is intense as the hours spent on the water pass, but the magic of icebergs keeps all tourists on deck listening to what the Inuit call "the song of the icebergs"

The territory of an ancient people

For more than 4,000 years, Inuit hunters and fishermen have lived in Greenland. Their descendants keep a ragged and collected appearance with a round face, prominent cheekbones and laughing eyes. Coloured wooden houses have replaced round houses made of stone, peat and salvage wood. In the summer, the fish is always dried and the dogs are eagerly awaiting the return of the snow to pull the sleds and go hunting with their owner. Hunting and cooking are very closely linked on this frozen ground which does not allow much to grow. The typical Greenlandic meal is protein, fat and starches. Vegetables, fruit and dairy products are imported and absolutely out of reach. So the whale, whose flesh is very tasty and its skin a little plastic, is very appreciated by the Inuit. More surprisingly, the polar bear or narwhal are also on the table! To the south, it is the muskoxen or caribou in all their forms that delight us, as well as shrimp and halibut that are truly delicious. To those who are horrified that we can eat whales, Astrid, a very eco-responsible guide we met, explained that in a time of global warming, it is better to eat what is close to home, fished or hunted in a very controlled way with quotas allowing for the renewal of species, than to import products from around the world raised in an industrial way..

The Eqi Glacier

It took us 5 hours to travel north up the Ataa Fjord to reach Eqi, a 6 km wide glacier that moves 2 to 3 metres a day. Facing him for a few hours, we are sure to see him calving, that is, ice breaking and falling into a huge crash. In fact, the noise is continuous because the crackles also occur inside the glacier. We stop at 1.5 km for safety reasons because some waves are real tsunamis and the danger is really there. In fact, it is so huge that it seems to be next door and the show is absolutely magnificent.

It is here that the French Polar Expeditions led by Paul-Émile Victor established their base camp in the summer of 1948. He had settled there with 90 tons of equipment and 25 men. His hut is still there on the southern edge of the bay, now a little far from the glacier because of its retreat in recent decades. The objective was to open a trail to the ice cap and conduct numerous scientific surveys. "... The white, infinite, uniform, overwhelming desert opened before us. No place was reserved for man. The Sahara has its oases, the Himalayas its green valleys. The Inlandish, whatever face it shows to man, maims, kills. Man is not made to withstand cold temperatures of minus 70°C, to fight against winds of 180 km per hour, to support the blinding reverberation of the sun..."

Today, the few weeks of summer allow you to reach the glacier, stay in the camp and even climb the moraine. The mass of rock debris carried by the glacier offers an incredible view. The activity of the night is quite strong especially around midnight for a reason that scientists do not explain to this day..

The whale song

If we have enjoyed the song of icebergs, there is another song that we have become accustomed to recognize, it is the humpback whale song. Very quickly, during walks in Illulisat along the bay to the mouth of the fjord or in the surrounding villages accessible by boat such as Oqaatsut or Ilimanaq, it is possible to spot their presence. Between two crackles of the ice, their noisy breathing is heard and the large jets they project at regular intervals towards the sky are visible from afar. They are feeding on fish near the surface, the ridge appears distinctly several times as it swims and then suddenly it is its magnificent caudal fin that emerges largely out of the water just before it dives deep. Many humpback whales have made their home in the bay, their breath quickly becomes familiar and the chance of strolls makes you sure to see them in summer. The outings on the fishing boats allow you to multiply the encounters, observe them when they are at rest but also to sail by their side. Their majestic journey alone or in groups to feed on krill beds is a real delight with icebergs always in the background

Another possibility that is part of the beautiful experiences of the stay is the canoe trip. You really need to wear the right suits to float among the icebergs and this is done in areas where they are small to avoid the tsunamis caused by their collapses. Here too, the scrolling of the ice landscapes and the approach of icebergs may be disturbed by the whale blast, with the anguish of being so small. Fortunately, the guide, an Inuit or a passionate Dane, is always there to reassure and talk passionately about his environment

With Jean-Pavia in search of muskoxen

It will have been difficult to leave the small town of Illulisat and its absolutely magical bay, but the return to Kangerlussuaq will reveal another aspect of Greenland. It is with Jean-Pavia that we go in search of muskoxen, the animal with a fur like a beard, in the mountains near Lake Fergusson on the edge of the ice cap. It is the largest land mammal in the country and lives in small groups. It is quite hard to find and has almost disappeared, but these mountains are home to some groups. We behave like real hunters, discreet in the approach by taking advantage of the hilly terrain. Once identified by the group leader, they will quickly move away from the potential danger. It must be said that they are still hunted and that their tasty meat is very much appreciated. On the ground, some bones are there all along the route and Jean-Pavia, our guide, has observed them all. This one was a young man he killed two years ago, another one is an older one who died of old age. There are also some caribou bones. The climate and the long winter period mean that decomposition is very slow. It will take a day and 14 km of challenging terrain to reach our destination by the lake. The tents carefully hidden behind a rock are quickly set up and it is time to get some dry wood to build a fire and prepare the meal. Provisions brought back in our backpacks but also delicious boletus and berries picked along the way. Two groups of muskoxen were spotted on the course. The next day's walks, further away from the village and therefore less frequented by hunters should allow us to see more... It will not be dark, since the sun sets just after midnight, but the fatigue and freshness produced by the lake, make us happy to find our sleeping bags for a good night's rest. Very early in the morning, one of the muskoxen we had been looking for grazed on the hill overlooking the camp. The morning meeting is a delight for all of us. The wind has calmed down and it will be possible to take the canoes to meet the muskoxen. If the latter are very suspicious during land approaches, they let the kayaks do it without any problem. So they will be very close and in case of panic of the group, they will not be able to put us in danger because they do not swim. With only the noise of our progress on the water and the paddling movements, the day is a delight and the meetings are there. The landing on a calm edge and a quick ascent allow you to picnic on a rock with the ice cap as your horizon. It is about thirty kilometres away and its line is very clearly distinguishable

It will take a good day of hiking to reach Lake Fergusson and Kangerlussuaq. On the way, some traces left by Inuit hunters remain. Mainly stones placed in a circular way to shelter them during hunting but also piles of stones used as pantry

Greenland has really been an enchanting and unique journey. The midnight sun allowed us to fully enjoy it. On the spot, we met passionate people, Inuit or Danes, who shared with us their love of this unknown destination, but also its incredible fragility. We are back, but already with the desire to leave. Maybe in winter, but this time it'll be another adventure

Smart info

When? When? Summer is very short from mid-June to mid-September with the midnight sun from late June to late July. This is the most active iceberg production period, which allows access to the Eqi glacier and the opportunity to discover nature with temperatures between 5 and 15°C. Winter will be harsher with temperatures of -25°C and the polar night from November to mid-March. It's the right time to see the Northern Lights and do dog sledding

Getting there. Direction Kangerlussuaq International Airport.

Find your flight at the best price - Compare

Useful. To prepare your trip as well as possible.

NORTH ESPACES - More information on the website