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Greenland Monthly recaps

My September 2019: Goodbye Nuuk, hello Tasiilaq

by on 03/10/2019

September started and ended in Greenland, Nuuk in its beginning and Tasiilaq in its end. I wouldn’t have wanted it otherwise!

Two blissful weeks in Nuuk

Oh Nuuk, my wonderful Nuuk. I travelled back to my favourite city at the end of August, and still had two weeks left when September came.

The days merged together in a beautiful blur, they were all incredible. I hiked in the mountains, played dart and billiard at the local pub, hung out with friends, painted house for a wonderful family, visited the university where I used to study, attended a fun pride parade, chased northern lights and – very exciting – got a new tattoo! It’s inspired by the Bahá’í Faith and the message of unity between all people and religions. 27 religions are represented on my tattoo inside a nine-pointed star (the Bahá’í symbol), and the quote reads “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth”. A beautiful message to get on my body on the anniversary for 9/11.

During my time in Nuuk, I also went around with my CV to different travel agencies as I want to work in tourism after I finish my BA, and I’m happy to announce that I got offered a job as a travel guide at Tupilak Travel, starting in June next year. I’m so excited to finally be moving back to Nuuk!

A four-day trek to Kapisillit

The toughest days of the month, but also some of the most beautiful days. Together with my friends Torben and Max, I trekked from shelter 5 by the Ameralik Fjord to the tiny village of Kapisillit, located deep in the Nuuk Fjord, over the course of four days.

We were supposed to start our trek at shelter 4, 17 km from shelter 5, in the morning of September 2nd, but stormy weather got our boat trip cancelled. We spent the entire day figuring out what to do, when the guys came up with the brilliant idea to sail in the evening – if the wind had subsided – to shelter 5, which is located right by the fjord.

Thankfully, the weather did get better, and we got going! The first night was a bliss. We were all excited to be on our way and northern lights gave us a beautiful show.

For the next four days, we trekked 74 km through rough terrain, through mountain passes and dense forests (okay, the trees aren’t high, but high enough to be near impossible to get through as a short person), on rocky beaches and mossy meadows.  By the end of the trip, my feet were so dead that I could hardly walk. The terrain had been much worse than I’d imagined and getting through the dense forests had especially been rough. But it had been so worth it. We’d seen some incredible nature and wildlife, including 21 reindeer and 7 Arctic hares. We also saw the best northern lights show I’ve ever seen on our last shelter night, no light pollution and very active and bright auroras! One of my photos of this show even made it to the Politiken newspaper in Denmark!

Getting to Kapisillit was amazing. The first thing we did was to go to the shop and buy all the unhealthy food we could find. We deserved it! Afterwards, we decided to go to the hostel to ask for shelter as it was raining, and our boat transport was five hours away. We were welcomed by a bunch of Danish war veterans, with whom we spent a memorable afternoon – and we later met some of them again in Nuuk. Our worlds truly couldn’t be further apart (I’m a pacifist), but they were so wonderful and open, and I learned a lot from their life stories. A perfect way to end a beautiful trip!

Welcome to Tasiilaq

My reason for coming back to Greenland in the first place was an internship, which I’m currently doing at the local museum in Tasiilaq, the largest town on the East Coast.

I arrived here with helicopter on Saturday the 14th, after a brief stopover in the small village of Kulusuk where the airport is located. I spent the first evening with the museum director, who introduced me to the town, and the next day I had to spend inside as there was a piteraq, an East Greenlandic storm which can get really rough!

I started work the next day and got started on my project, which involves some ethnographic work on special East Greenlandic people.

Other than working, I’ve been hiking a whole lot as the weather has been amazing for the most part. I’ve climbed two mountains, hiked through the gorgeous Flower Valley and been on several shorter hikes in the area. I’m actually running out of places I haven’t been – but who’s to say I can’t visit them all again!?

I’ve also attended the local fitness center (as it’s free, yay!) and started painting (yes, you read correctly – Mel is finally doing something creative in her life!).

I’m enjoying life here in Tasiilaq to the fullest, and look forward to two more months here!

Destinations visited in September 2019

  • Nuuk, Kapisillit, Kulusuk and Tasiilaq, Greenland

Highlights

  • Hanging out with dearly missed friends in Nuuk.
  • Getting a beautiful tattoo in Nuuk.
  • Trekking through immensely beautiful landscapes and spotting wildlife on the way to Kapisillit.
  • Seeing vibrant northern lights without any light pollution en route to Kapisillit.
  • FINALLY getting to Kapisillit after four tough days, and eating ALL of the well-deserved unhealthy foods!
  • Meeting the Danish war veterans. Heroes that truly touched my life.
  • Seeing Kulusuk village from above on a short hike during my stopover.
  • The many incredible hikes and mountain climbs in beautiful weather in Tasiilaq!
  • Getting my picture of northern lights in the Danish newspaper, Politiken!

Challenges

  • Trekking through dense forests as a short person… Not fun!
  • My poor poor feet after the four-day trek to Kapisillit. They’ve never been so painful before!
  • Saying goodbye to Nuuk – always a difficult thing to do!

Most popular post

The other posts

Most popular Instagram picture

Announcing my upcoming new job in Nuuk with a picture from a beautiful hike!

Coming up in October 2019

A full month in beautiful Tasiilaq. Lots of internship work and hiking on the programme! And hopefully a trip or two to one of the nearby small villages – that would be wonderful!

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7 COMMENTS

  • Felix
    4 years ago

    Aren’t polar bears a threat when you just wander around greenland? I’d love to do it too, but I think I would be scared.

    Reply
    • Melissa Cherry
      4 years ago

      They are always a theoretical threat, but in Tasiilaq, polar bears mostly roam when the drift ice comes. It’s always advisable to bring a gun when hiking in Greenland. I’ve done that before, but I didn’t have access to one in Tasiilaq and the chances of meeting a bear were very slim 🙂

      Reply
  • Philippe
    5 years ago

    “Our worlds truly couldn’t be further apart” since I am an atheist and believe that we will never experience peace unless all religions* are eradicated (which will never happen). I used to be much more optimistic, but since Charlie Hebdo – they executed the cartoonist that made drawings in my children’s program in the 80s – and Aftenposten, there is a saddening sense of terror and loss of freedom looming, which I never expected to see in my lifetime. For me, symbolically, this was even worse than 9/11.

    Still, your tattoo is cool, and as long as people can discuss together as you did with veterans, as we do here and as we used to do not such a long time ago, there is still hope. Are people in Greenland Christians or did their proximity to nature made them develop something animist ?

    *except buddhism, it is not a religion

    Reply
    • Melissa Cherry
      5 years ago

      What about if all religions become one? Wouldn’t that also create peace?
      Terrorism has nothing to do with true islam. It’s a terrible abuse of an otherwise peaceful and beautiful religion. God is used as an excuse to execute heinous crimes. The vast majority of muslims are peaceful and good people just like everyone else.

      Most people in Greenland are Protestants, only very few believe in the traditional animism. The Bahá’í Faith is also growing rapidly here!

      How is buddhism not a religion?

      Reply
      • Philippe
        5 years ago

        > How is buddhism not a religion?
        Because Buddha teaches to “believe nothing, no matter who says it, unless you are able to experience it as true for yourself.” He does very specifically rule out believing things just because they are in a scripture, or because they have been repeated many times. [source: http://zentravis.blogspot.com/2012/09/did-buddha-really-say-believe-nothing.html%5D

        While the other religions tell me how to think, what to do and – even more – what NOT to do, how long should my beard be, that music is evil, and so on…

        Reply
        • Melissa Cherry
          5 years ago

          I guess it depends how you define religion. People worship buddha and believe in his teachings, which are divine (= a religion). Buddhism is a philosophy as well and a way of life, just like all other religions. And buddhism does have rules (or guidelines) just like any other religion – see the five precepts. I will agree that it is a less strict religion than most, but I think you’d be surprised to hear that the Bahá’í Faith is quite liberal too.

          Here’s an article that differs from your source: https://www.lionsroar.com/yes-buddhism-is-a-religion/

          This is also a very interesting article: https://bahaiteachings.org/buddhism-and-the-bahai-faith

          Reply

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