7 reasons to take a nature tourism trip to Greenland

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Colorful houses in Narsaq in Greenland

Greenland It is one of those few corners in the world that can practically only be visited in the summer months, since the rest of the year this huge island goes into hibernation, like another one of the inhabitants of the area, the polar bear.

But in the summer months, the coasts thaw and give life a chance.

It is not a usual tourist destination with a wide range of accommodation, where you also have various transportation alternatives between cities.

How is Greenland

Travel to Greenland It is so complex to organize from the logistic point of view, that in practice it is almost impossible to make a tourist trip on your own.

To give you an idea, apart from low plane connections between some small inhabited areas, it is barely possible to travel if it is not on board private boats.

Greenland It is so inhabited that most populations only have dirt roads to move within them, but there are no roads that connect the various villages.

Its highways are the fjords, and most of the towns are small villages with very few isolated houses in the countryside.

This set of circumstances makes a trip to Greenland It becomes a small adventure, in which it is key to have an open mind, a positive attitude at all times.

Sailing through the Qooroq Glacier fjord in Greenland

If you do, Greenland It gives you some unique sensations and landscapes that are found in numbered places in the world.

We have taken advantage of this summer to visit Goenlandia in a travel with the agency Polar Lands.

It is the main agency specialized in the destination, which has vehicles, boats and hostels own to organize the trip.

It is curious to note the great influence of Polar Lands in Greenland, to the point that you find inuits (Eskimos) who speak Spanish, since they collaborate with the agency, and it is common to see flags and posters in Spanish.

What to see and do on a trip to Greenland

And after living this special experience we have decided to show you the 6 reasons why Goenlandia is worth a visit.

1. Landscapes and Nature in its purest form

Iceberg of Qooroq Glacier in Greenland

It is said that much of the progress of human beings is due to their ability to adapt the environment to their needs instead of adapting to the environment like the rest of the animals.

But this in some areas of the world like Greenland Easier said than done.

No doubt being so isolated does not feel the hand of man and this has kept them intact, almost as it was centuries ago.

A country that is basically an immense glacier covers almost all its surface, an authentic ice desert that extends forming in its coastal areas huge ice tongues, full of icebergs.

And you can count on the fingers of one hand the destinations in the world of these characteristics.

This combination creates unrepeatable landscapes in which you could spend the afternoon just looking at them.

2. Sleep in a camp like real explorers

Greenland Camp in Greenland

In Greenland you can live an authentic experience, live in a base camp at the foot of a glacier.

This is land of arctic explorers, and one of them is the director of Polar Lands, Ramón Larramendi.

Ramon He is one of the most important polar explorers in the world today, and in his numerous expeditions he has traveled thousands of kilometers and has developed the sleds pulled by wind kites.

Based on what would be true polar camps, they have created some igloo stores in which it gets dark during the trip.

It is a very special place, since you are an hour by boat from any town, while listening to the sound of icebergs coming off the glaciers.

3. Know the land of the Eskimos (Inuit)

Eskimo in Greenland

When we talk about EskimosNext, the characteristic features of this community come to mind.

Actually they are the inuits, well Eskimo It is a denomination that they don't like because it means raw meat eater.

But beyond the semantics, it is really fascinating to know how this community of inhabitants lives Greenland.

The inuits They were nomadic hunting tribes, which are native to Siberia, which for centuries went through the entire Arctic chasing animals.

Several tribes inuits Over the years they were appearing and disappearing from Greenland for thousands of years.

The inuits They are really tough people accustomed to loneliness, but absolutely charming and smiling, and on the trip you will have the opportunity to share moments.

4. The curious history of Greenland and its villages with colorful houses.

Colorful houses in Narsaq in Greenland

When they talk to us about Greenland, images of spectacular landscapes in green environments with large icebergs always come to mind, but what they don't usually tell us is their story.

Did you know that in Greenland the first Christian church in the Americas, for as long as the vikings were they in these lands?

In fact before the year 1000 the vikings they had already arrived in America, so they stepped on this continent 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

In the most recent time, during the WWII, Greenland It served as an American military base, which is the origin of the air transport infrastructure that exists today.

But as the subject of the Greenland history It is fascinating since it is a very peculiar site, we have written a specific article where we tell you all the historical curiosities of this region.

Replica of the first Christian church in America in Qassiarsuk in Greenland

We do not forget the characteristic houses of Greenlandic colors, and it is not a coincidence that the houses of all towns and cities are painted different colors.

In one origin the houses were painted in several bright colors depending on their uses; in this way it was very easy to distinguish where stores, doctors or schools were with a simple look.

And it is that in summer, with the sun shining, they would have no problem distinguishing them, but in the dark winters with snowstorms, it should not be so easy.

5. Walk on a thousand kilometer Glacier

Trekking on the Qalerallit Glacier in Greenland

In these expeditions where you settle in a base camp, one of the excursions that are made is walk on a glacier.

This activity can also be done in other countries, as in Jostedal in the fjords of Norway, but there is a substantial difference.

When you walk through any glacier in another geographical area of ​​Europe, however large it is, you usually see the end more or less, or at least, as far as you know it occupies, you can intuit it.

But get into a glacier in Greenland It is different, since the end of it is several thousand kilometers away.

The best way to get a little idea of ​​the glacier size It's from the plane if you fly from some city in the south of the island, like Narsasuaqto the capital Nuuk in the West.

We had the opportunity because the return flight was canceled due to bad weather, and we had to fly to another city to return to Copenhagen.

6. Navigate among icebergs on the land where the kayaks arose

Kayak in Greenland

Obviously these glaciers give way to beautiful fjords, which propitiates my favorite activity in Greenland, the Kayak between icebergs.

The word kayak it comes precisely from the ships that built the tribes of inuits to navigate, so the experience cannot be more authentic

It is very curious to see the different shapes and colors that icebergs show depending on how long they have been submerged, or whether they have turned around or not, or of hundreds of factors that shape them.

But it is an enormously pleasant sensation to paddle unhurriedly listening to the sound of the icebergs breaking or turning.

7. Travel environmentally friendly and sustainable

Zodiak in Greenland

Greenland It is such a special destination that even the agencies operating here base their entire development on trying to make a zero impact on nature.

In these routes to get to know Greenland, they are always very careful with the waste that is generated and the treatment of them so as not to spoil the natural paradise that is this island.

As I have seen, in Greenland you will find yourself in full harmony with nature with a sustainable tourism.

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Video: Experience Greenland - The Coolest Travel Destination in the World (March 2024).