Narsarsuaq: Autumn colours in a rare Greenlandic forest

Narsarsuaq stands out from the other Greenlandic villages. Despite it’s extremely small size with less than 150 inhabitants, it’s a lively place with much to do and see. And it’s home to one of the only forests in the country, the Greenlandic Arboretum. At the end of my trip to South Greenland, I chose to spend two days in Narsarsuaq. On the first day, I went for a long solo hike to the ice sheet, so for my last day, I decided to take it slow and go for a relaxing walk through the forest and to the top of Signal Hill, a 226 meter high mountain located in the middle of the forest. The trees in Narsarsuaq are not native, as no trees grow naturally in Greenland. The arboretum is instead made up of thousands of planted seeds collected in tree-line regions from the 1970s to the 90s. Dr. Søren Ødum was the driving force behind the arboretum and spent many years travelling to the tree-line regions of Siberia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, USA and Canada to find the right plant material that would have a chance to survive in the Greenlandic climate. He started trial plantations near Nuuk and in Kangerlussuaq, and later founded the arboretum in Narsarsuaq with great success. Today, the Greenlandic Arboretum is one of the most extensive tree-line arboreta in the world, comprising an area of about 150 hectares with over 110 tree species. 

 I spent several hours walking through the orange-coloured forest, enjoying the fresh air and complete silence. The silence was only broken twice by two hunters, who unfortunately shot two snow hares. But apart from that incident, I had a beautiful day. I love nature like this. Despite the trees not being native, it feels so natural and it’s obvious that the trees thrive in the South Greenlandic environment. Walking through a forest IN GREENLAND is such a wonderfully weird experience. It was probably the last thing I expected to do when I first came here, but nonetheless, it turned out to be one of the best days of my exchange semester! 

 The climb up to Signal Hill was easy, following a well-trodden path through the forest. The view from above was magnificent. I could see tiny Narsarsuaq below me, and past the valleys, I could even see all the way to the glacier! I sat for a while, looking at the incredible view and enjoying the solitude. All I could hear was the nearby waterfall, the calm wind and the occasional bird song. It was so peaceful. 

 From the Signal Hill, I climbed down on the other side of it and entered another part of the forest. A wilder, quieter part. I walked through the area for a while, past lakes and streams and tall trees in every shade of orange. 

 Towards the end of my hike, I decided to climb another hill, as I wanted to see the view of the ice sheet just one more time before having to leave South Greenland. But getting up there proved quite difficult, since there was no path. I walked through a valley following the nature path, until it suddenly ended and I was surrounded by tall trees. I didn’t want to turn back, so I decided to fight my way through the dense forest instead, climbing up as much as I possibly could. The view was worth every effort! For the descent, I chose another route as I didn’t want to fight the trees again. I’m so glad I did because I saw an Arctic fox!!!! He was so cute, but he ran away from me instantly, so I didn’t get to take a picture. I got lucky a little later though, as I spotted the fox again before he spotted me! 

 The hike through the colourful forest of Narsarsuaq was my last adventure on an amazing trip to South Greenland! But if there’s one place that I want to come back to in this country, it’s definitely the South. There is so much to see and do, it’s incredible! So many places I haven’t seen yet – and I’m already dreaming of coming back to Narsarsuaq to do more hikes. I also feel that while Ilulissat is amazing, it’s more of a once in a lifetime place to visit, whereas the South is a place I could see myself settling down in. It’s definitely not the last time I set foot in the South!