HX Expeditions’ ship MS Fridtjof Nansen can move at a fair rate of knots (15, to be precise) but, even though we’d been powering along Greenland’s west coast for 40 hours since leaving capital Nuuk, there had been few signs of human habitation.
asserted
we → move → habitation
Mountains, however, were in abundance and, when we approached the town of Ilulissat so too were icebergs.
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icebergs → approach → Ilulissat
These floating giants had been borne by the Ilulissat Icefjord which produces three per cent of the world’s icebergs.
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which → float → icebergs
It was amid the ice that we embarked on a Tide to Table boat excursion with award-winning local chef Inunnguaq Hegelund, who has created a variety of Greenland-inspired dishes for HX Expeditions.
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who → embark → Expeditions
Among the icebergs we bought dinner from a fisherman hauling in his catch, then we paid a visit to an Ilulissat resident.
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we → buy → resident
Our host lives in a typical wood-clad home which belies its warm and spacious interior.
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which → live → interior
Emily (who was among the last generation to be given Western names before Greenland began restoring its traditions and culture) produced a generous range of dishes including dried fish, reindeer patties and narwhal skin.
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Greenland → give → fish
We learned about the tradition of “kaffemik”, where people gather at someone’s home for special occasions.
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people → learn → occasions
Later that day Emily was expecting to welcome over 200 people for a kaffemik celebrating her grandson’s school graduation.
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Emily → expect → graduation
At the town’s edge I followed a boardwalk behind the informative Icefjord Centre.
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I → follow → Centre
Less than half a mile into the walk I watched the constant flow of icebergs as they calved from the 65km-long Jakobshavn Glacier, which itself is fed by the 1.7 million sq km Greenland ice sheet.
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which → watch → sheet
Here the only sound was the trickle of ice flowing through the water, punctuated by loud booms as pieces cracked or broke off.
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pieces → flow → booms
That evening Inunnguaq treated us to his exceptional cooking skills, using today’s catch to conjure dishes such as halibut tartare and breaded cod fillet, all presented in a way that would impress the finest of diners.
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that → treat → diners
Later in the cruise he displayed his local ingredients prowess once again, a popular dining option among the 490 passengers.
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he → display → passengers
Such is the menu to be found on land and beneath sea.
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menu → find → sea
In the 24-hour darkness of winter the colourful houses must help lift the spirits (the colours once denoted a building’s function: red for churches and schools, blue for anything fishing, green for technology, yellow for hospitals).
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houses → help → hospitals
It sits on an island of the same name beneath a twin-peaked mountain that sharply soars 1,170 metres into the frigid air.
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that → sit → air
All around are snow-capped ranges and glimpses of ice sheets and here, too, icebergs occasionally float by.
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icebergs → cap → sheets
HX Expeditions organised a hike to the mountain’s base.
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Expeditions → organise → base
We were accompanied by two of the expedition team, one of whom carried a firearm just in case a polar bear makes a rare visit (and one did, a few days later).
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one → accompany → visit
About an hour into the hike we reached Santa’s House, a squat wood building erected in the 1980s by a Danish TV crew filming a series about Christmas elves.
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we → reach → elves
Uummannaq is replete with places to visit, including turf houses that were occupied until 1989, and a museum filled with exhibits on exploration and Inuit history.
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that → visit → exploration
At Salliaruseq Island I had two opportunities: walking to a viewpoint from where the ship looked tiny among the icebergs, and a “polar plunge” in the 6C sea.
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ship → have → sea
Both options proved exhilarating in very different ways.
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options → prove → ways
Part of the joy of these wild excursions were the righteous indulgences aboard Fridtjof Nansen that followed, such as a sauna with large windows framing dramatic scenery, or restaurants serving wide-ranging menus, or my suite and its pale-wood-and-dark-metal Scandi design.
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that → follow → menus
So far we’d been blessed with blue skies, but at Vaigat Sound clouds descended, creating a gloomy atmosphere.
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clouds → bless → atmosphere
Zodiacs ferried us from ship to shore.
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Zodiacs → ferry → shore
On the other side of a muddy isthmus, a whale skeleton added to the ambience.
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skeleton → add → ambience
Chef Inunnguaq accompanied me, pointing out the herbs and flowers he forages as well as the tracks of reindeer, which he occasionally hunts.
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he → accompany → which
Champion of Inuit rights Aleq Peary joined the cruise as cultural ambassador.
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Peary → join → ambassador
An Inuit himself, he convincingly defends his people’s right to hunt.
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he → defend → right
“Without seals or seaweed we as a people would not exist,” he says.
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he → exist → people
“If we could be farmers we would farm, but up here we have to hunt.”
uncertain
we → farm → ?
Because of the distance from Nuuk, which itself only has a population of 20,000 people, Greenland’s small communities must be self-reliant.
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communities → have → people
“As a hunter you have to be many things: a carpenter, vet, butcher, weatherman, mechanic,” Aleq explains.
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Aleq → have → hunter
“I told my uncle when I was younger it would have been easier for me to become a doctor than a hunter.”
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me → tell → hunter
There’s no high streets in Greenland, no outdoor spaces in which communities gather, but in Qeqertarsuaq I watched as the town’s small population came together to celebrate Greenland Day (June 21) with a seal hunt.
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population → ’ → hunt
During an 8km walk to giant basalt cliffs I saw hunters race below on speedboats, returning to the town beach with their catch shortly after.
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hunters → see → catch
The winner later spent time chatting with me and showed off his prize rifle.
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winner → spend → rifle
Paddling among ancient ice
That experience illustrates the juxtapositions on this expedition cruise: the warm atmosphere in small communities and the hostile wilderness all around.
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experience → paddle → communities
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
