GREENLAND – eternal ice

Right after Midsommar we start our journey around the globe. Our first destination is already a highlight: Greenland is the world’s largest island and it’s an exciting destination in the Arctic for all adventure minded travelers.

Although it’s the largest island on earth, we knew almost nothing about it. Only after serveral researches we know places like Kangerlussuak, Nuuk and our destination: Ilulissat.

Ilulissat

Every town has a claim to fame, and in Ilulissat it’s the icebergs, without a doubt.

We arrive in the middle of the „night“. Well… there is no real night as we know it during the greenlandic summer, as the sun never disappears below the horizon. Due to our excitement and the light, we don’t feel tired at all.

Accompanied by a young Husky (we call him Fido 😊) we start our search for a nice place to stay overnight. We can enjoy his company until lunch time day 2, when he probably leave us to get some raw fish for lunch.

We are very thankful for our mosqito nets througout our first day. Luckily for us there will be almost no more mosqitos for the rest of our visit.

We spend the first 5 days in Ilulissat, discovering the surroundings and enjoying nature. Hiking, whale watching, kajaking, cooking and even sleeping outside and we absolutely love it! We find a fantastic spot to put up our tent were we are well hidden for hikers and were we almost constantly can enjoy the sound of icebergs breaking and whales breathing.

Our culinaric menu is porridge with apple for breakfast, and we cook one meal ourselves each day (rice, couscous, scramble eggs, sausages or trek&eat) and one meal a day we enjoy at a restaurant. Worth mention is the catch of the day @ Hotel Icefjord and the greenlandic buffet @ Artic Hotel. The second one we enjoy together with Dieter and Gabi, very lovely people from Germany that we met on the yellow trail earlier that day.

From day 6-8 we have booked a trip to the amazing Eqi glacier. We enjoy a sunny boat ride between icebergs and spend 2 hours just in front of the glacier. It don’t look that enormous at first but when we see the boat in front of it, we realize the size of it. Wow – it’s huge!!!

At camp Eqi we get the honour to be the very first guests in their brand new tents. Even though it’s not really fair to call them tents, as they are lovely furnished with very comforable normal beds and even a carpet. The view is amazing and we recommend everyone to go there to enjoy a night, as long as you are a nature lover. Book one of the tents – they are cheaper and in our opinion much more charming.

Camp Eqi is amazing: The comfort, the view, the food, the hosts and the hikes make it to an extraordinary place we will never forget. Also highly recommended: try out a Greenlandic Coffee*. Strong, wild and unleashed…. Lukas loves it!

Directly upon our arrival we go for a very nice 3 hours hike to the Moraine together with Nils, a nice guy from Germany that we met on the boat. The highlight of the hike is a great view over the Eqi glacier – breathtaking!

The second day we start our Icecap-Tour at 9 o’clock together with a couple from Poland and our guide Jetta. Unfortunately the weather isn’t as good as the day before but we still enjoy the hike and even more, the time spend on the eternal ice. It’s foggy so we can’t walk that far in as it’s too dangerous to get lost. Everything looks the same and without our guide we wouldn’t have a chance to get out. On the ice we find a lot of water streams, with fresh and tasty drink water.

We spend a pretty cold night in a tent close to the dead glacier. After breakfast we leave the group to hike down by ourself and by that we gain some time that allow us to go for an extra hike (River-Delta). It was absolutly worth it and a perfect end of our visit @ Camp Eqi.

Back in Ilulissat we see the icebergs from their best side. We have our last dinner (muskox-burgers) while enjoying this beautiful view. The next morning it’s time to pack…. a new adventure is waiting…. next stop Iceland!

* ingredients: whiskey (the man), Kahlua (the woman), coffee (the night), Grand Marnier (the nordic lights) and whipped cream (the icebergs).