After a so-so night, it was time to get up early. 24 hours of sunlight takes a lot of getting used to and even with a sleep mask, earplugs and relatively tight shutters, sleep was quite restless, so we needed a nice breakfast.
And so it was, the breakfast at Hotel Icefjord is small but delicious. With good coffee, delicious orange juice, bread rolls and things like "reindeer salami", "lamb ham with Greenlandic herbs" or "home-smoked halibut".
Today we have a whale watching tour planned followed by a walking tour in Ilulissat by a local.
The transfer to the tours is always included here at the hotel, as it is located a little outside. Although we had arranged what felt like 40 transfers yesterday, this morning's transfer was a problem as the driver wasn't there. But, as we had been told beforehand, you have to be pragmatic here in Greenland. And so a receptionist grabbed the key with the words "I'll end up driving anyway" and then drove us into town. She collected our guide and drove us to the small harbour from where most of the tours start.
We had booked a 3-hour excursion this morning with the provider "Disco Line", which has a virtual monopoly on ferry trips and boat tours here.
Off we go through the icebergs. Which actually seems to be quite challenging, as the captain often had to find a new route and make a sharp turn here and there.
But after 30 minutes, the path was a little clearer and we were asked to look outside. Because somewhere ... there should be ... a whale or two to be seen. And shortly afterwards the first one, a humpback whale, came blowing a small water fontaine to the surface and the whale watching tour began.
Very cool! And the icebergs around us did the rest, so that we couldn't stop marvelling. Once again.
Finally, there was also a fin whale. They are bigger, but (according to our guide) more boring. Humpback whales are small, but more exciting, as they surface and reappear more quickly and therefore promise more "action".
And because we were travelling well, we visited an old whaling settlement where whales are still hauled in today if they are caught. The quotas for Greenland are tight in order to protect the population, but every now and then there is still a whale that ends up here. Incidentally, the settlement was founded by Germans, who were considered the "best of the best" in whaling at the time. Even back then, the whales were pulled ashore at this shallow spot and then cut up. They then provided food, tools and other materials for a large number of people.
After this tour we went to the hotel and freshened up a little bit before we went to the "Ilulissat walking tour" which started at the only larger road crossing in the area in the town center.
This tour was very interesting as it was kind of a private tour with us being accompanied by two guides. They both were very knowledgeable and friendly and wanted to show us even the darker and not so good aspects of living here.
The first stop was a small workshop next to the shopping street with 3 (!) shops, which was somewhat arrogantly labelled a ‘pedestrian zone’. Here, local craftsmen can make traditional totems or other items and sell them directly themselves. This cuts out the middleman and gives the craftsmen the opportunity to earn a little extra money on their own.
The "H7" on the roof dates back to WW2. Greenland still belonged to Denmark, which was occupied by Germany. The Americans then took over the task of supplying the settlements in Greenland, as this could no longer be secured by the Danes. In addition, the Americans were able to establish strongpoints here in order to defeat the Germans.
However, as there was no local knowledge, the pilots had to somehow orientate themselves as to where they were. And that's what these clues were for, because ‘H7’ on the map was Ilulissat. H8 was the whaling village further north and so on. You can still find this in most settlements.
We then popped into the shop, but without buying anything. Most things, such as narwhals, are not allowed to be exported anyway.
The tour was quite extensive and I am not showing every detail. We visited the harbour, heard a lot of stories about what the water means to the people and its influence on the culture. After that we went along the facilities where the fish is stored and prepared for distribution and learned about the economy, the problems after Covid and again the problems they have here maintaining their culture while becoming a part of the globalized world.
And so we strolled through the city, stopping here and there and getting so much input that we certainly forgot 80% of it.
We didn't forget the fact that most of the shops in Greenland belong to global chains, but have often changed their name and logo. The Italian chain "Netto" with the black dog carrying a shopping basket in its mouth was definitely adapted very appropriately.
After hearing stories about the danish explorer Knud Rasmussen, which grew up in Greenland and was a scolar of the Inuit culture, we saw this: A cage for children!
This dates back to the time when sled dogs were allowed to roam free here and there were several accidents with children, some of them fatal. These cages were therefore built so that the children could play safely.
The last things we saw were the church and the museum. Both sadly closed but we heard enough stories, facts and legends anyway.
What a place!
Dinner today was served in the oldest hotel of Ilulissat, "Hvide Falk", which had a very modern and fairly new dining room.
Very good service and very interesting and tasteful food! Halibut with fennel, angelica crackers and a herbal sauce.
My motto became: A day without musk ox is not a good day, so I had musk ox tartare with a very exciting mushroom mayonnaise.
Fully satisfied we went back to the hotel to process everything we encountered today. Which was a lot!
