S: Ilulissat & Oqaatsut

As announced before, here comes the blog post about the absolute highlights of our stay in Greenland. It's indescribable how we can keep telling each other every evening how impressive and majestic today was.

After settling into Flemming's Airbnb with a view of the harbor, our first stop was a walk to the infamous Kangia Fjord - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The glacier pushes about 40 meters of ice into the fjord every day. As the fjord near Ilulissat is only 200 meters deep, hundreds of icebergs pile up along the entire fjord. The glacier is the most productive in the northern hemisphere and is probably also responsible for the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 (Is that the right year? Unfortunately, I don't have internet here while writing the article, as well as most of the time here in Greenland :-)).

The next morning we went on a whale-watching tour. The captain of the about 10-meter-long boat was Willi, a German immigrant to Greenland about 30 years ago. This encounter turned out to be a stroke of luck, especially since we could benefit from his enormous wealth of experience. He told us about life in Greenland and his own personal, very interesting experiences and encounters. Willi proved to be an excellent whale spotter, as he could approach the giants to about 10 meters. Currently, the bay of Ilulissat is teeming with whales, especially humpback whales and fin whales. By the way, since the first day in Ilulissat, we have seen several whales every day. It seems like there are more whales here than birds.

About 70 km north of Ilulissat, the Eqi Glacier calves directly into the sea. We witnessed several icebergs breaking off, the largest being about 70 meters high. The boat ride to the glacier was already a highlight, as we had to spend most of the time outside on the boat due to lack of space in the cabin, and so we could admire the incredibly beautiful landscape, of course along with the whales, very well. Fortunately, we were provided with these ultra-cool, water- and airtight suits.

After four cozy nights in Hollywood (Flemming's Airbnb), we set off with lightweight backpacks towards the village of Oqaatsut, located north of Ilulissat. During the 24 km hike, we - of course, in addition to whales - were also surprised by snowfall. When we arrived in Greenland in the afternoon, we still had pleasant temperatures, which even tempted me to wear shorts occasionally. Meanwhile, they are packed deep in the backpack. The temperatures currently range between -3 and +3 degrees.

Oqaatsut turned out to be a pearl of the Disko Bay: The sleepy village with about 40 inhabitants has a school with 4 children. The school also serves as a church and multipurpose hall (with a ping pong table!). In Oqaatsut, we stayed twice in a cozy, warm house that we had all to ourselves. During the two days, we were the only tourists in the village. Another important building for the locals, in addition to the school, was what I call the "running water house". Since there are no water or sewer pipes in Oqaatsut, we used plastic bags on the toilets, got our water from the village's water tank, and showered in the running water house, which, in addition to regular toilets, showers, and three washing machines, also had a mini gym. Almost no one in Oqaatsut speaks English. Communication is done with gestures, some words in Greenlandic and Danish. We inquired about where to buy fish for our dinner. The caretaker of the school apparently caught fish today, Ole, the landlord of our accommodation, told us. When we addressed the caretaker with "frisk fisk" (I read that somewhere in a supermarket in Ilulissat, it apparently means fresh fish in Danish), he pointed at the four on the school clock and pointed down with his hand to his fishing boat. Arriving there at four, he showed us his catch, which was huge for us but probably normal for him. At first, he wanted to sell us a fish that felt about 1 meter long. However, we decided to buy the smallest one he had caught and wanted to give him some money for it. But he insisted on giving it to us as a gift! What a friendly gesture... Once again, we were speechless.

We were left speechless for the second time that day around 11:30 pm when Fabienne spotted the Northern Lights from the bedroom. At first, Simone and I thought it was a bad joke. But once we realized our luck, we ran out of our little house and enjoyed the dancing curtains for about 20 minutes, an unforgettable moment.

Meanwhile, we are back in Ilulissat and planning our last three days here... Update will follow.