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Another flight gets us back to the west coast and Greenland’s second largest town Sisimiut, a small town centred around a harbour full of fishing boats. Behind the port are the old houses of the original colony, now a museum spread across seven buildings - only four seem to be open. The Colonial Manager's house is the largest, of course, and houses a museum on hunting and fishing, complete with a fearsome harpoon gun. A display also gives us instructions on the right way to attach dogs to your sled; it depends on the sled type apparently!
It's minus 2 with light snow so we head out to sea in an open boat with Jan to look for whales. In the second fjord that we explore, we find four humpbacks feeding and diving; it's worth braving the cold for. The boat's engine is turned off and we sit in silence; there's a sudden whoosh as a humpback surfaces close by, blowing out a jet of fishy air and spray. Eventually, the whale's enormous back heaves out of the water and finally, its fluked tail appears before it,too,slips under the water. Two more whales are blowing further across the
fjord, large spouts blowing high into the air. It is just us and the whales.
On the way back, we try our hand at fishing for cod. Jan works out that they are swimming about 120 metres down and soon our line goes tight. We pull in the huge length of line and, sure enough, a nice cod on the line. Two more tries get us three more fish; Jan fillets and skins the fish. We can't take them home, we fly later the same day, and Jan says his family will be very pleased; 2 kg of cod fillets for 15 minutes work.
We have seen many packs of sled dogs but, as they are working dogs not pets, we've been told not to approach them. In Sisimiut we have a chance to meet a pack that are used to human contact. Julia owns 17 sled dogs and she introduces them to us individually. These beautiful dogs have coats so thick that your hand just sinks into the two layers of hair; this is why they can sleep outside at minus 40c. Tough, intelligent and with lots of stamina, they are a very
special breed and the government rules that they must not be cross bred. The law is that they are the only dogs allowed above the Arctic Circle in Greenland and sled dogs that cross to the south can never come back.
We were due to fly that evening and fly we did. To Nuuk, over Nuuk, around Nuuk, over Nuuk again. Nukk was clear to see, the fjord was clear, but not the airport, it was fogged-in. After 4 attempts at landing, we returned to Sisimiut.
The next day the weather was fine and we finally arrive in Nuuk and soon we're walking up the local mountain (400m) to see some 'Tentsiles'. Imagine a large, strong, triangular sheet, held taut in mid-air by strong horizontal ties at each corner that are attached to high rocks. Now imagine that the sheet is actually the bottom of a dome tent. No? OK, just look at the picture of our tent in mid-air that kept us warm and dry and off the cold rocky ground. Oh, and it was at the top of a rather big drop - good view from the door though.
The weather changes, snow showers; it's the day to visit the museums. The National Museum is superb with lot of artifacts to tell the story of the Inuit and a collection of old kayaks, sleds and other boats. But the showstopper is a display of four mummies, over 500 years old and found preserved in a dry cave. The women and a baby were all dressed in furs and laying on reindeer skins, you could even see the tatoo on one woman's forhead; it is impossible to describe the impact of these figures had on us. It was shocking, fascinating, disturbing and sad and more.
The next day we fly to the east coast, right across the ice sheet and to the tiny town of Kulusuk, population 200. A young British couple take us in for a cup of tea and home-made scones. To get to their home we travel on the back of a quad-bike, a bit dodgy, and Matt is carrying a big-bore shotgun. This is polar bear country and you don't travel without a gun. Matt and Helen live with the Inuit in the village, leading extreme mountaineering and skiing tours. It is a
very different life where you hunt for your meat, go fishing and freeze everything.
The second leg of our trip is a 10 minute hop in a helicopter to the town of Tasiilaq, population less than 2,000. Again, the isolation is immediately apparent; the last supply ship was here in December, 5 months ago and the nearest town is over 500 miles away up the coast.The next supply is due in a week and it will be met by a traditional kayak and fireworks.
In the last 2 months 3 polar bears have been seen around the village. We are warned not to venture outside the settlement alone - or we could borrow a gun ! We are able to do some short walks and there are signs of spring in Flower Valley. There may still be patches of snow and ice but a few flowers are already appearing.
We went to tea with two sisters, one born in the village and one born in a now deserted settlement ; they wanted to serve us a traditional meal. The first course was rather good fish soup, the second course was more
challenging- Greenlandic tapas. There were 5 kinds of dried fish, raw and smoked seal and raw narwhal blubber. Luckily the next course was whale risotto- better than it sounds. A delicious banana and chocolate Swiss roll to finish.
It is time to leave Greenland but travel here always has 'maybe' attached to it. A katabatic storm is coming over night; storms that only occur in Arctic and Antarctic regions. Winds start blowing down from from the ice cap and the cold, dense air 'falls' down the mountain sides onto the relatively warm ocean, pulling more and more air behind it. This can mean extreme winds but this storm should be OK and it will have cleared through before our helicopter flight tomorrow. Maybe.
We have spent more than a year researching Greenland; reading everything that we could find, listening to everyone who would give us their time. Over the past five weeks here, it has been a privilege to meet so many people, to travel to so many places and to see so much of this huge country. On our return we will be busy writing; our Bradt Guide to Greenland will be out
next year.
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