听ILULISSAT, Greenland 鈥� It鈥檚 so cold, they closed the igloos. The icebergs are shivering. Two of my toes are slightly frostbitten. Yesterday my life seriously flashed before my eyes on a dogsled ride through the mountains.
But what a trip. What a place.
Exhilarating, that鈥檚 the word.
Close your eyes and hear the sounds of Ilulissat (e-LU-li-sat). The creak of the sleds rushing across the crisp snow. The crackle of the ice breaking up against the wooden prow of tiny fishing boats in Disko Bay. The ravens 鈥� odd birds to see way up here above the Arctic Circle 鈥� flapping their black wings atop the icebergs like dots of licorice on vanilla ice cream.
From the moment you leave Reykjavik, Iceland, in a rugged propeller plane for a three-hour ride to Ilulissat to the moment you pack up your frozen little body and leave, you are in another world.
And if you are willing to come to Greenland in winter (my late February trip was called 鈥淲inter Madness鈥� with good reason), it鈥檚 very affordable.
Almost all tourists to Greenland come from Denmark, followed by small numbers of Germans, Swedes and a tiny number from the U.S. Just 429 Americans stayed overnight in Ilulissat last year.
Why so few? First, it鈥檚 hard to get here from the U.S.
Second, humble Greenland gets overlooked in favor of trendy Antarctica.
Third, people tend to think of Greenland as one big, empty, melting block of ice. Wrong. Greenland is part of the Danish Kingdom and is bigger than Alaska. Most of its 57,000 people live in isolated towns along the rocky shoreline near the miles-deep ice cap. They have cars. They have schools. They have dogs. They have a life.
Ilulissat, Greenland鈥檚 most lyrical town, has just 4,606 people and 2,300 sled dogs. Most people here are Inuit or Danish, a melding of people that yields a unique and sturdy culture of fishing, shrimping, tourism and doggy paw prints.
What makes this place a star and a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage site is the Sermeq Kujalleq (or Jakobshavn, in Danish ) Glacier, the most active glacier outside Antarctica. Towering icebergs dot Disko Bay as the glacier sends tons of ice down the Ilulissat Icefjord into the bay each day. You don鈥檛 have to be on a boat to see the icebergs, either. You can see them from your hotel room window. Or your table at lunch over a plate of fresh halibut. Or while walking in town near the Lutheran church.
This tiny town鈥檚 zillion-dollar views are so stunning that a few years ago, some huge cruise ships included Ilulissat on their summer port stops, overwhelming the town.
鈥淔ive years ago, 63 cruises stopped here. It was too much,鈥� says Silverio Scivoli, owner of Tourist Nature, which runs local tours. 鈥淲e were not set up for that. Now we get just five, and the biggest one has 800 people.鈥�
Visiting Greenland in the winter means you won鈥檛 encounter many other tourists, and certainly no cruise ships. I never met another American.
The first day, I spent with six tourists motoring in a small wooden boat in Disko Bay, where we saw the icebergs up close. The icebergs鈥� aloof and menacing grandeur dwarfed tiny fishing and seal-hunting boats nearby, not to mention us. By turns, the tourists crammed into the tiny warm cabin to sip tea, hobnob with the captain, then launch themselves back out into the beauty of the bitter cold.
Afterward, one of my toes seemed slightly frostbitten and tingly. Later, the ice in the bay got so thick that no more tourist or fishing boats could go out.
The second day, I took a two-hour (here, they call it a sledge) dogsled ride through the mountains, wearing a warm sealskin parka and leggings provided by the tour company. Greenland dogs and sleds are everywhere in Ilulissat, and the drivers are experts, so I was only mildly panicked when my sled at one point was tipped over the edge of a cliff with the dogs behind me scrabbling backward to keep the sled from plummeting headlong to our certain death.
You know that scene where the Grinch鈥檚 sled teeters on top of the precipice? Crrk ... crrk ... crrk ... down, down, down ... Luckily, the dog team鈥檚 strength held out until we reached a gentle slope below. I was fine, absolutely fine. And after about three days, my toes defrosted, too.
Before I went to Greenland, people kept asking, are you going to stay in an igloo? And at the Arctic Hotel in Ilulissat, you can stay in one. Just not in February.
The hotel鈥檚 five igloos are beyond the place where I stayed, down a long boardwalk, past the sled dogs, near the shoreline. Made of shiny silver aluminum and looking like space pods, they are so hip that Prince Albert II of Monaco and singer Bjork have stayed in them. But they鈥檙e used only from May to September.
鈥淣ow is too cold for the igloos,鈥� a hotel clerk explained, not grasping that this fact might be considered quite astonishing for people back in Michigan.
And I do have to mention the food. The restaurants here serve Greenlandic specialties, and I had fresh halibut three times and a very fine lamb soup. No complaints. I also enjoyed a walking tour of Ilulissat with a local guide who pointed out all the sights, plus the fitness studio where she takes Zumba classes.
You may notice I have not yet mentioned global warming, which has been the major theme of every hand-wringing travel story about Greenland in the last few years. In my defense, let鈥檚 just say that it is hard to whip up a lot of interest in the topic when you鈥檙e wearing five layers of clothes, the temperature falls to minus 19 degrees Fahrenheit and you鈥檙e freezing your eyebrows off.
And what about the northern lights? Well, I did go outside on two clear nights to look for the aurora borealis, which can easily be seen from September to April here in Ilulissat, 180 miles above the Arctic Circle. You just look north past the sled dogs and silver igloos, and there you are. But nature had other plans, for a full moon was hanging up above, shining like a winter midnight sun, blocking any other solar shows.
OK. So I stood outside in the sharp cold, listening to my jagged breath, wiggling my toes, hoping for a flash of green. Then I thought of my dad, who died last fall. I bet he鈥檇 have loved this place. I waved at the sky.
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6 ILULISSAT SIGHTS
Besides the famed icebergs of Ilulissat, you鈥檒l notice:
鈥擭o trees! The land is bedrock and ice. In summer, you鈥檒l see wildflowers, sedges and small bushes.
鈥擫ots of cars and taxis 鈥� but not a single road out of town.
鈥擳raffic warning signs for sled crossings. Monument and a museum honoring Knud Rasmussen, a Danish-Inuit native son and famed polar explorer.
鈥擲mall wooden boats breaking through ice on Disko Bay. These old Danish boats seem to be able to function well in the harsh conditions when more modern boats would crack.
鈥擜n Arctic cemetery near the airport, where everything is white, even the crosses
鈥擫ots of sealskin. With seal hunting banned in the United States since 1971 (except for Alaska native people), this is unfamiliar to most Americans. Greenland allows traditional subsistence seal hunting. The warm parka and leggings you鈥檙e given for dogsled rides are sealskin. The seats at the airport are upholstered with sealskin. The hotel has sealskin lobby decorations. Shops sell sealskin purses and hats. The U.S. prohibits their import, so don鈥檛 buy seal souvenirs.
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IF YOU GO:
GETTING THERE: There鈥檚 a small window 鈥� mid-February to April 鈥� when you can visit Ilulissat in winter. Air service is spotty or nonexistent in the coldest parts of the year. I flew five hours on Icelandair from Boston to Reykjavik, Iceland, then transferred to the city airport, then flew three hours in an Air Iceland Dash eight-propeller plane to Ilulissat.
Icelandair flies between seven U.S. cities and Reykjavik (www.icelandair.com).
THE TRIP: I traveled alone on a 鈥淲inter Madness鈥� tour arranged by Great 91原创 Travel. It included three nights in Ilulissat, three nights in Reykjavik, hotels, transfers and flights between Iceland and Greenland. Including the flight from Boston, the total cost was $3,376 plus a few hundred dollars for food and tours. The company also offers many trips and cruises in summer to Greenland (www.greatcanadiantravel.com, 800-661-3830).
OTHER WAYS TO GREENLAND:
Continental Journeys offers winter and summer trips, including 鈥淭he Best of Ilulissat in Winter鈥� and a three-day dogsled trip (www.continentaljourneys.com, 800-601-4343).
5 Stars of Scandinavia offers winter and summer trips, including 鈥淲inter Image of Ilulissat鈥� (www.5stars-scandinavia.com, 800-722-4126).
Adventure Life offers small cruises of Arctic Canada and Greenland (www.adventure-life.com, 800-344-6118).
You also could book your own airfare and hotels and go on your own. For more on planning a trip to Greenland, see www.greenland.com and www.ilulissaticefjord.com
PACKING: Good winter gear is a must. You鈥檒l need snow pants, a parka, ski gloves, hand warmers and especially a balaclava that can cover your face in extreme cold.
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Ellen Creager: [email protected]
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