East Greenland: Kulusuk

Joan and I lugged the packed duffels out to our tent's porch by 9am, and then we were off to breakfast. The morning activity would be a hike, or rather two, one a fast-packed and longer jaunt up the valley, and the other, moseying around with photography stops at any time.

But at the hike's start the groups were kept together, for there was a surprise. One of Julius' sled (and summertime bear-deterrent) dogs had puppies!

Mama didn't seem too concerned, Julius's dogs being very socialized for working dogs. She didn't even mind having her picture taken.

We were taken with the puppies. Or did they capture us?

We could even cuddle them. Can't take 'em home, though.

Mom got involved in a game: tug-of-war with Drew's glove.

We reluctantly left the puppies and began our walks. Joan and I went with the faster/longer group, and quickly put some distance between us and base camp dwindling behind.

The glacial valley had no particular trail, so Drew guided us through vegetation (the wild blueberries were delicious) and across or along watercourses and rocky bluffs.

After passing a series of lakes and pools, some of which contained arctic char, I took a photo looking back. Couldn't see base camp from here!

We returned to camp just in time for lunch. About 1:30 the helicopter arrived, carrying supplies for the next group.

The heli would make four trips to take fourteen people (twelve guests and Katie and Drew) plus their luggage to Kulusuk. Joan and I were in the first wave, and I was lucky enough to be assigned the up-front seat next to the pilot. The chopper covered the morning's hike in just a couple of minutes.

After cresting the pass our helicopter soon reached the ocean and flew over a series of islands and peninsulas.

Then the runway came into view, stretching from left to right.

Nobody from the hotel was at the airport when we disembarked. Drew made a couple of phone calls, and we waited only ten minutes before the hotel van pulled up. The Hotel Kulusuk was relatively close by, not in town, further away.

We were instructed to gather at 4:00 in the hotel lobby for a walk "with twenty minutes of sitting, so dress warmly." A mystery! A local Danish couple joined Drew and Katie to escort us to the new cemetery, near the top of the hill separating the hotel from the town. This view looks back the way we've come, before arriving at the crest. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

We paused briefly to peruse the cemetery, and then continued uphill.

At the top our four guides introduced a very animated and expressive Anda Kûitse,

one of children of the famous Inuit drum dancer Milka "Miilikka" Kûitse. He performed three dances for us:

• The Tale of Wonder. Don't puzzle over things such as your breath freezing in the air, just enjoy them.
• The Raven and the Goose. This is a love story gone bad whose theme was that sometimes two people can be so different that they cannot be together.
• The Bachelor's Song extols the virtues of the single life. In traditional Inuit life the single life would be rare unless a mother or sister were there to handle the women's jobs. A good hunter might have two, three, or even four wives!

This video clip records part of two dances. Can you guess which one the second half is?


Anda has toured in Europe as well, although he has a reputation for disappearing between performances.

We received departing gifts on the mountain, a carved tupilaq and a NatHab Base Camp patch. Earlier Drew had given each of us a hand-written card with a pressed Greenland flower in it!

The farewell dinner back at the hotel included an exchange of email addresses. However, today did not mark our last outing -- our flight tomorrow wasn't until the afternoon.