Saturday 29 June 2013

The Nature of Expedition

Expect the unexpected. What was used for a marketing slogan could not be chosen better for our kind of voyage. Only reluctantly should the word "holiday" be used - it sounds like beach, planned meals, little umbrellas in colourful drinks and no surprises. We, however, are on expedition, and that is a totally different animal altogether. To think that the entry into the most touristic, most vibrant city of Greenland is granted would be wrong. Like today, when heavy ice was blocking the bay of Ilulissat. In spite of all the efforts we had to turn around at the end of the night and do something else. 
So, instead of going to the crowded touristy hub of the country we went to a place that hardly sees tourists at all - Qasigiannguit (don't try to pronounce it!) And it turned out to be amazing, as the villagers made a huge effort to come up with a wonderful program for us. There was the visit of the village's children, to begin with. 
But that wasn't it:
Not only they quickly printed a small map of the attractions on-the-fly, they arranged for a mask dance, a dog sled presentation, local dances (which is basically a Polka, remnant of the whaling era), and a wonderful choir in the church. 
We even got the chance to sing our very first song - in Greenlandic!
This was more the true Greenland than we had anywhere else before, and so we leave Qasi... (you know, what I mean) with warm feelings.