Greenland Blog

Perhaps the only constant aspect of life is change, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Arctic. Here, the seasons sweep the earth in dramatic contrasts, from the dormancy and darkness of winter to abundant summers of endless light. And in Greenland, there is ice – the blanket of winter sea ice, or currents of glacial icebergs, making visible the infinite flux of the ocean. A local’s house on the coast of Ilulissat, West Greenland. Home to the most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere,Ilulissat’s ice-choked waters offer a constantly changing view. Looking out over the town of Ilulissat, West Greenland, where towering icebergs glided past in the tide, I found myself reflecting. In a place like this, each day, current, and weather system could bring a staggering difference in the local scenery. Overnight, open water could transform into a barricade of crystalline sculpture, the size of mountains. In a place like this, one’s acceptance of change would have to be innate. What does that do to a person? I thought. What could one achieve with that kind of adaptability, openness, acceptance of the unknown? Quark Expeditions guides take in the magnitude of Ilulissat Icefjord, West Greenland. Overlooking the shores of Ilulissat stands a beautiful wooden museum. It is the childhood home of Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933), the famous Greenlandic/Danish explorer. Raised in Greenland but educated in Denmark, Rasmussen was able move seamlessly between two very different worlds: that of European academia and research, and the indigenous Inuit culture of his origins. Throughout much […]