Saturday 24 July 2010

When A Glacier Goes Mad

After Nuuk, we sped through the night to arrive in Ilulissat by 16:00.  Ilulissat is a Unesco World Heritage Site largely due to the insane volume of ice spewed out by the glacier Sermeq Kujalleq in to Kangia Fjord.  The glacier calves 46 cubic km of ice annually. The fjord is choked with ice.  The number of icebergs in the region is incredible.  It is a stunning site. It is what happens when a glacier goes mad.

A 45 minute hike through town and then across a very well constructed boardwalk brings you near the mouth of the fjord for a jaw-dropping view.

En route to the fjord, our hike lead us past a soccer match.  It seemed nearly everyone in Ilulissat was at the game.  It turned out that today was the final match for the national Championship of Greenland!  No wonder so many people were there!

Just outside of town we walked by what seemed like hundreds of Greenland dogs.  It was a veritable dog town.  All of the dogs, with the exception of puppies were chained.  Puppies are free to roam until they are six months old.    North of the Arctic Circle Greenland dogs are the only breed of dog you will find in Greenland.

If you come to Greenland you MUST come to Ilulissat and you have to see Kangia Fjord!!