Greenland is a colony of Denmark,
therefore the currency used is the Danish Krona. Those living in
Greenland are mainly a mixture of Inuit and Danish. You can hear
Danish and the local language spoken throughout the local shops and
restaurants.
Men in Greenland often say hello
by raising their eyebrows. Yes, it's very strange. I thought they
were hitting on me at first.
Ilulissat is located in western Greenland, approximately 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. It has a population of
about 4,000 people, making it the third largest city in Greenland. (The
entire population of the country is 56,000).
The town is very
clean and organized with buildings painted in bright, bold colours.
Some of them date back to 1741. Several icebergs of various shapes and
sizes are always floating in Disco Bay, creating a very scenic and unique landscape.
Food in the restaurants is quite
expensive. I paid $15 for a chicken sandwich at a cafe and $18 for
Pad Thai. That was the cheapest food I could find. In the grocery
stores, however, the food is surprisingly affordable and nearly
comparable to Canadian prices.
You probably shouldn't come to Ilulissat if you don't like fish. It's a
staple in nearly every dish. Other seafood, such as shrimp and mussels
are also in
abundance, making it a seafood lovers paradise
The climate in late August varies.
One minute I'm down to a T-shirt, sweating during a moderate hike on
a sunny day. The next minute I'm bundled in four layers wearing my
gloves. It all depends on whether there's a breeze, which feels like
air conditioning blasting on your face. Brrr!
Hundreds of sled dogs live on the
outskirts of the town. In 2006, Ilulissat had
5,000 sled dogs, but that number dropped to 3,000 in 2011 because
there isn't as much ice anymore, especially around the harbour. Many
fisherman have quit using the dogs because they can fish for halibut
year round with their boats. The town has about 350 fisherman and
hunters.
The nearby Ilulissat Icefjord is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has made the town a popular tourist destination in Greenland. The massive fjord of continuous ice
stretches 70 km until it reaches the enormous Jakobshavns Glacier,
which drops icebergs the size of small cities into the frigid waters
of the Atlantic ocean. Jakovshavns remains one of the world's
most productive glaciers, only surpassed by Antarctica. The 20-km
wall of ice dumps 46 km cubed of ice into the ocean each year -
enough to cover water consumption in the USA for an entire year.
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| Ilulissat, Greenland from the air. |
