Greenland  🇬🇱 – doing it all in one day

Our trip had us busy on this last day.  The sun had not set – actually the sun had not fully set in 5 days – but this day was planned to keep us moving.  The temperature was around 34 degrees , not expected to go above 37! Our group started with a home visit.  Normally these things are kind of weird, but this one was not.  “Going for coffee” is part of the culture in Greenland.  For special events, like birthdays, new baby, graduations or anything you want to celebrate you let your friends and relatives know that they should come for coffee.  We drove a short way from the hotel to get to the home of Pauline.  It was an apartment, and we were asked to remove our shoes when we entered her home.  The streets and walkways are mostly gravel and this helps to keep the home clean.  Her dining table and coffee table were set up for us.  Our group was only 6 so we sat around the coffee table.  We each were offered a drink – coffee, tea or water – and the tables were filled with different cakes for us to try.  Then we began our conversation.  Pauline told us about herself and her family.  It was actually her birthday and after she finished with our various groups she and her husband would be going north to her home village to spend time with her relatives to celebrate her birthday.  She was expecting friends to drop in later to have coffee with them.  We were free to ask questions and we found out about Greenland in a very personal way.  She shared about their educational system, healthcare, retirement and family life.  It was very interesting.  She even brought out her traditional clothing because we asked about it.  She was turning 64 but was not retiring from her work as an abuse counselor because she wanted to continue to help others.  We had a wonderful guide, Lise, who helped with the translating for us.

We then returned to the hotel, ready to go out for our next experience.  We went to visit sled dogs.  They are chained in pairs, one male and one female at this time of year.  First to keep them from fighting and second to hopefully produce more dogs.  The dogs were losing their winter coats.  We learned how they are harnessed and used for hunting and fishing.  The family that owns the dogs we saw, hunt seals and fish when the ice is frozen.  The sleds are about 10 feet long and they use 12 to 15 dogs to pull them.  When they are loaded they can weigh a ton.  There was a small sled, so our hostess could take her small children into town in the winter.

After lunch we were off to hike in a UNESCO World Heritage site, Sermermiut.  We saw the ice from a different point of view.  It was invigorating and even though we were told it was an easy hike, we all got warm and ended up taking off our hats and coats.

Then Bette was off to fly.  What a wonderful experience.  We could see the Ice Fjord, which is 70 kilometers long, filled with ice and icebergs.  We also flew along the coast for a while looking for whales.  It was a wonderful experience.

It was quite a magical day and a wonderful ending for our adventures.  We start back to reality in the morning.

Fitbit – 9090 steps, 42 floors and 4.3 miles