Boldly Go Solo

Want to kayak where the kayak was invented? How about go dogsledding, snowmobiling or on a musk ox or whale safari? Then Kalaallit Nunaat is the place for you. Also known as Greenland. A place where you can view icebergs from a hotel terrace. A place where dog sleds have the right of way. Seriously. 

I haven't been to Greenland, a nation of 56,000 people.  But the other day, in Washington, D.C., I had a chance to meet Aleqa Hammond, the country's minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs.

The United States wants to work more closely with Greenland. In 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Power, in the shepherds' village of Igaliku, signed an agreement, along with Denmark and Greenland (which is part of the Danish realm) to expand cooperation and deepen ties with Greenland. That's why Hammond was in D.C. last week.
 

As for tourism in the land of Erik the Red, there is bittersweet excitement over a new natural phenomenon. Due to climate change, the seas around the island have turned into something astoundingly different than what anyone can remember.

The locals have never seen so many icebergs afloat,
crunching around in the seas. "The ice chaos is fascinating," says
Hammond. "It's an awful thing, but it's beautiful to see."

Of
course, this makes one wonder whether we should all stop traveling,
period, to protect these fragile places. But
that's another discussion.

What really is enticing for me, as a solo traveler, is what
Hammond said about the people. Greenlanders are trilingual in
Greenlandic, Danish and English, but they don't get to use their
English much. So a visit from English speakers is something special,
especially outside the "big" cities.

It's considered unfriendly, almost hostile, she says,
not to make guests welcome. "Don't be surprised if someone invites you
home to dinner." That's my kind of country.

So what exactly IS dinner? The traditional menu is
dried fish, fermented seal meat, whale lard and pickled auks, marinated
in sewn sealskin bags for several months. Yum!

But there's also fusion
cuisine, which might include prawns, smoked musk ox, sea scallops, leg
of grouse, Greenlandic lamb and creme brulee. That sounds nice and
edible to me.

Takanna! (Bon appetit)

Other fun facts about Greenland:

– Nuuk, the capital, is the most populous city, with 16,000 residents. Home to the University of Greenland.

– Ilulissat is the most visited destination because
of its glacier views and location near an ice fjord that produces 20
million tons of ice a day. The Ilulissat Icefjord is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and since it's above the Artic Circle, the area gets 24 hours of daylight for a few weeks a year.

– In addition to kayaking and dogsledding, there's hiking, skiing, fishing and sailing.

– Even in winter, it's not as cold or dark as I would
have imagined. Light reflects off the snow and it's a dry cold that
doesn't sink into the bones damp cold…or so I'm told.

Photos:

1. By Kim Hansen, of his daughter, taken June 2007 in Upernavik. (Kim Hansen, CC-BY-SA license.) 

2. By John Rudolf, of a retreating ice shelf, 2006, in East Greenland.