Up north with Sarfaq Ittuk: Sailing from Nuuk to Ilulissat

On the evening of September 28th, Charlotte, Maria, Ali and I set off from Skonnertkajen in Nuuk, heading far north to the village of Ilulissat. Ahead of us awaited two days of sailing along the West Coast of Greenland, crossing the Arctic Circle and stopping in small villages along the way. Instead of simply flying to Ilulissat, we had chosen this slower option to travel as locals and get to see a lot along the way. After all, travelling is not only about the destination.

As we were leaving Nuuk, Charlotte and I decided to go to the deck to watch our city disappear into the horizon. Painted black with only city lights to be seen, Nuuk looked so big. Enormous actually. I was surprised to find myself missing Nuuk already. I mean, I was only going away for six days! But I love Nuuk so much, although I was really excited to see some more of the country.

We had chosen the cheapest possible option on the ship, the couchettes, which is basically just a bed in a hostel-like environment. To our surprise, the beds were extremely nice and comfy! We even had power sockets, a curtain for privacy and individual lights! And there were also communal showers! So much more than I had expected when booking a so-called “liggeplads” (“laying spot”) on the website.

We didn’t do much during our first evening on the ferry. We ate some food, played a game of cards and then went to bed. It was hard to fall asleep as the ferry was rocking a lot. I hadn’t taken any seasickness tablets as I usually don’t get seasick, but I have to admit that I feared it a little that night. But it went fine and I eventually slept although I woke up a few times that night.

In the morning, we were woken up by the loudspeakers telling us that we’d soon be in Maniitsoq, the sixth largest village in Greenland, home to 2600 inhabitants. Our first destination on the trip – I was so excited!! Finally we would be seeing a village, but unfortunately it was still pitch black when we got there.

We only had a 30-minute stop, but Charlotte, Ali and I decided to spend that time exploring Maniitsoq as much as we could despite the darkness. We managed to walk into the city center, taking a few pictures along the way, but it was nowhere near enough. The small colourful houses, the outlines of the mountains and the small-town vibe had me in love with a village that I couldn’t even see properly. So I decided that I’ll come back. I would love to go back to Maniitsoq, maybe in late November on a weekend trip. Otherwise, I will definitely do it on my next trip to Greenland.

Back on the boat again, I went to the deck and met Maria there. We stayed there to watch as Maniitsoq disappeared and the sun started to rise. Back at the cafeteria, we met the others for breakfast, and then it was time to relax a little and watch the beautiful fjord views while waiting for our next stop at 10 AM.

Shortly before 10 AM, Charlotte woke me up from my nap, telling me to look outside the window. There it was, Kangaamiut, the next village on the ship’s list. Having no time to get my shoes on and walk up to the deck, I snapped a few photos from the window and then got ready to get off the ferry in Kangaamiut, a tiny village which is home to just over 300 people. But little did I know, it wouldn’t be quite as I had hoped.

Because the harbour in Kangaamiut is so tiny, it’s not possible for the large ferry to dock there, so instead, a small boat brought the passengers to and from the village. So there would be no village exploring for me this time around.

Hoping that we would pass the village again on the way back to the open sea, Ali, Maria and I stayed atop the deck to see it. But unfortunately, it sailed another way, but we still got to see some pretty amazing mountain views, and it was actually quite lovely to stand up there when the sun finally came through the clouds to warm up our cold faces.

Off we went again, this time on a 7-hour stretch towards our last stop for the day.

At 2.49 PM, it was announced over the loudspeaker that we had now crossed the Arctic Circle! Ali and I were in the lounge during the announcement, looking at the endless ocean outside with snow drizzling from the sky. No land could be seen at that moment. That was my second time crossing the Arctic Circle in Greenland. The first time was when I touched down in Kangerlussuaq for four hours on the way to Nuuk when I first moved there. But crossing it by boat was a much more surreal experience.

The last place on the itinerary for our first day on the ocean was Sisimiut, the second-largest village in Greenland with just over 5400 inhabitants. We sailed into the colourful harbour at 5 PM, standing atop the deck to watch the show. I was excited to finally have time to actually explore, as we had a two-hour stopover in the village!

The four of us all went out together, eager to explore Sisimiut. The village was founded in 1764 during the colonization of Greenland, although the area had been inhabited since 2500 BC. Many of the buildings from the early colonial era are still standing today, among them a house from 1725 and the Blue Church from 1775, which is the oldest surviving church in Greenland. In 1926, a new church was built above the old one, overlooking the old colonial part of town.

I had read in my guide book that there was a lake in the village that was worth seeing, and since we had plenty of time, we decided to seek it out. We walked past a few adorable Greenlandic dogs before getting to the large inland lake of Nalunnguarfik, the recreational spot of the village. The lake was beautiful with a mountainous backdrop that reminded me a lot of our own Ukkusissat Mountain in Nuuk.

We still had a bit of time left over, so we headed to the supermarkets Brugseni and Pisiffik to do some grocery shopping, before boarding the ferry again with 20 minutes to spare. Better safe than sorry! When we sailed away from Sisimiut, I went up to the deck again to wave it goodbye. It had been a nice, yet short visit, and the others even said that they preferred Sisimiut over Nuuk, even after just two hours there. Me, on the other hand, I’m in love with Nuuk.

The evening had arrived and so had our hunger, so we went to the dining area to eat, play cards and talk until midnight, before we finally caved in and went to bed with the crashing waves. Early the next morning, we were woken up by the loudspeakers, telling us that we would soon approach Aasiaat, the 5th largest village in Greenland with just over 3000 inhabitants.

The others decided to continue sleeping, but I had to see it despite it being completely dark out. It was only a 15-minute stop, so I only got off the ferry quickly and snapped some pictures of the harbour and then went back on to the ferry and into my bed to sleep for a few more hours. Despite being outside for only a few minutes, my hands were freezing when I got in. The minus degrees had arrived!

At 8.30 AM, I woke up and looked out of the window. The sun had risen and painted the sky a beautiful light pink. And then I saw it – an iceberg! A HUGE iceberg. I jumped out of bed, got ready as fast as I could and then Ali and I sprinted up to the deck to take pictures. But the wind had gotten stronger and it was really cold out, so we couldn’t stay up there for long. Instead, we went to the lounge to watch the icebergs float by, while waiting for our next stop at the Disko Island.

At 10 AM, there it finally was. The famous Disko Island in the Baffin Bay and its main village of Qeqertarsuaq, covered completely in a layer of snow. It was beautiful, this was the real Greenland, what I’d been so excited to see ever since beginning the planning of my semester here back in January. Unfortunately, we only had a 15-minute stop, but all of us wanted to get off on the island just for a short while, especially because it was the northernmost city that we’d get to on this trip. Also, the island is the 84th largest in the world, located in the territory of the world’s largest island – Greenland. That makes it a pretty special place to set foot on!

We were only on land for about five minutes, but those five minutes were glorious. I was in awe of how beautiful the village and nature surrounding it was. I didn’t want to leave, but we had to get moving towards Ilulissat, so back on the ferry we went. Maria, Charlotte and I went to the top deck to wave goodbye to the beautiful Disko Island as it disappeared in the distance, but it was too cold to stay up there for long. The waves had gotten really high and the strong wind didn’t help!

I spent the next few hours hanging out in the lounge and sleeping for a bit, waiting for Ilulissat to appear.

Half an hour before we arrived in Ilulissat, we got an exciting message over the loudspeaker. There had been a whale spotting! Ali and I grabbed our cameras and rushed to the deck to see if we could spot it – and guess what, we got lucky! We saw it, a humpback whale, our first Greenlandic whale sighting!! So exciting and a perfect way to end the long sailing trip!

To the sound of hundreds of howling Greenlandic dogs, the ferry finally approached Ilulissat at 3.30 PM, 43,5 hours after we had left Nuuk. Ilulissat, which is the third largest village in Greenland with over 4500 inhabitants, looked much smaller than I had imagined, but maybe that was because it was surrounded by huge icebergs, making the icebergs in the Nuuk Fjord look like peanuts compared to them. Ilulissat looked spectacular, like everything I ever dreamed it would be and more!

It was finally time for our Ilulissat adventure to begin! Stay tuned to hear what we got up to there!