Ilulissat is a little further up the coast to Kangerlussuaq where I’d just come from and rather than being inland, it’s on the coast, right on Disko Bay. The sea ice was breaking up while I was there and there were huge icebergs out in the bay. And when I say huge, these are staggering proportions, they are almost unbelievable. It’s impossible to describe how enormous they are, and in fact, the photos do nothing to give anyone an idea of the colossal size of these giant pieces of ice. You really do have to see them. From a distance they look massive, so the scale of them when you get up close is mindblowing.
I stayed in a guesthouse rather than a hotel in Ilulissat, I didn’t want a week in a hostel, the hotels were expensive, the guesthouse was a good compromise. There were 3 friendly Greenlandic dogs chained up outside. They had kennels, but the dogs didn’t bother going in them, they seemed quite happy to curl up and sleep outside in the snow instead.
When I arrived there was a clear view of the town and Disko Bay. 24 hours later it was snowing hard, there was no view out into the bay and it looked thoroughly unpleasant outside. But actually it was okay. It wasn’t particularly cold especially if you were wrapped up, it was just very low visibility and my cheapo $10 sunspecs I bought in the States a few years back came in very useful against the glare of the snow.
The snowstorm had grounded all the planes, so Pedro who was staying in the guesthouse was going to be lucky to get to Copenhagen today. He was from Brazil and had come from plus 40 degrees in Rio to minus 20 degrees in Greenland. He’d had to come a long way round to get here too, Rio to Paris, Paris to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq and Kangerlussuaq to Ilulissat! He was going back to Copenhagen and then on to the Faroe Islands! Wow! Quite a journey.
On a day like this it was recommended I check out the museum, apparently you could spend hours there. No, you couldn’t. For a start, it’s only open 4 hours a day and it has 5 small rooms of exhibits. However, it is interesting, detailing the ancient settlements found nearby, the history of the town and the explorers from Greenland who went on expeditions around the Arctic. I spent just over an hour there and then headed off to the art gallery as my entrance fee to the town museum also gave me entrance to the art gallery.
The art gallery was very impressive for a small town. There was one artist, Emanuel A Petersen, a Danish artist who spent time in Greenland whose paintings from the 1920s and 1930s were displayed on the ground floor. They were definitely my kind of paintings, snow scenes, icebergs, I love those kind of scenery paintings. And my favourite was one of the Northern Lights. Upstairs was a photography exhibition by an artist from Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, and some ivory carvings. It was only a small gallery, but it was a good way to pass the time when you have nothing else to do.
The next day I went on a boat trip. In Greenland in March the weather is unpredictable and you can have blizzards and snowstorms at any time, so when the weather is good you have to seize the opportunity to do something. The boat trip took place on a small fishing boat and there were about 18 of us on board. There was plenty of space to move round and find a good spot for taking photos. The icebergs were amazing and what made it very special was the halo sun that lit up the sky and made the icebergs really beautiful to look at. A halo sun is a rare phenomenon where bright, white rings appear around the sun when light travels through ice crystals found in upper level cirrus clouds. Everyone get that? Just look at the photo and you’ll see what I saw. It was beautiful and as for example icebergs, some were very blue and glassy, others were white and some had jagged pieces on them or huge cracks down them.
There was still quite a bit of sea ice, we went into a really small area of it, but we weren’t on a nuclear powered Russian icebreaker like the one I went to the North Pole in, we were on a small fishing boat, so the captain didn’t venture too far into the ice and risk getting us stuck.
We were out in the fjord amongst the icebergs for about 3 hours, so we got our money’s worth. It did get a bit cold, but I was well wrapped up and it wasn’t particularly windy and the temperatures weren’t that low. It was only about -4 degrees Celsius which is positively balmy for Western Greenland in March. Seeing the icebergs with the halo sun overhead was a bit special and made for stunning photos. But again, it’s impossible to describe how big these icebergs are, you just can’t explain it, you really have to see them. But it was well worth taking the trip, it’s fantastic to see them so close up.
After the boat trip, I did a hike from the power station in town which took me out to the fjord where the boat had sailed earlier. You get a different view from the land and the sun was setting too, so the colours of the sky and the icebergs were beautiful. However, as it was getting later in the day, no one else was on the path by now and I ran out of trail markers and footprints and I couldn’t tell where the path went. I didn’t want to get lost or stranded in the snow or the dark, so I simply backtracked, following my own footprints to get back to the power station. It was very pleasant for walking in though, I was so warm I had to take off my hat and scarf!
The following afternoon I was supposed to be going on a walking trip, unfortunately it was cancelled because of a blizzard. Not a lot anyone can do when the weather is as bad as that, but it was forecast to be much better over the next 4 days so I was hopeful that the rest of my booked activities would go ahead.
Despite the blizzard I decided to venture back into the town, so I put on all my layers and headed outside. It was thoroughly unpleasant outside. The wind was so strong it was almost knocking me off my feet, which also meant snow was blowing everywhere. It was difficult to tell if it was snowing or if it was just the wind whipping up the snow that was already around. There were some steps at the back of the guesthouse which were a short cut into the town. I was planning to use them, but there was a huge snowdrift covering some of the steps. I decided it was a bit risky going down them so turned round to come back and go the long way round, when a young lad came bounding past me and ran down the steps. The snow came up to his waist and he just ran through it. Obviously he was used to it. I continued on my route through town and as the weather wasn’t improving, decided it was time to go back to the guesthouse and I was going to come up the steps and not walk the long way round. Going up isn’t as bad as coming down and I had a railing to hang onto. On the very last section where the snow had drifted, that’s when the wind decided to whip up again and blow snow into my face. I almost fell over, but I managed to stay upright.
I went back into the guesthouse and poured myself a glass of wine. I certainly had no intention of venturing outside again today in the blizzard. It does seem a bit of a waste when you’ve come all this way and you stay indoors, but when the wind is trying to knock you off your feet, you can’t see where you’re going because the snow is blowing into your face, snowdrifts make the paths impossible to make out and you feel like Scott of the Antarctic, if you have got the option of staying indoors, sometimes you just have to wait out the storm.
I travelled to Greenland in the second half of March 2017.
I travelled to Ilulissat with Air Greenland from Copenhagen via Kangerlussuaq.
I went on the boat trip amongst the icebergs with Ilulissat Tourist Nature
I stayed at Paa & Jannik Guesthouse in a room on one floor of the house with a bathroom, living room and kitchen shared by 3 rooms. The guesthouse is located conveniently within an easy 15 minute walking distance to the centre of Ilulissat.
I visited Ilulissat Art Museum which is located in the centre of the town.
Read more about my adventures in Greenland.
Viewing the Aurora Borealis by Snowmobile
Camp Ice Cap
My First Day in Greenland
Snowshoe Hike to View the Kangia
Two Day Dog Sled Adventure
