When the news broke of Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland from the Danes for strategic, mining and perhaps golf course development purposes, it was a perfectly timed affirmation of what had otherwise looked an eccentric choice of summer holiday destination — namely to spend three days last week exploring part of the island’s east coast.
When friends asked ‘Why Greenland?’ I explained that Iceland had served as the gateway drug. A fortuitous visit to Reykjavik a few years ago to advise on a new budget law had prompted return trips, not least for the food but also to explore the country’s fabled natural landscape. But it wasn’t enough. Surely you must have something else behind the counter, you know, a little harder…?
In this quest, last week my elder son and I flew two hours west from Reykjavik’s tiny city airport to Kulusuk, a small island flat enough for a runway, and then ten minutes further by helicopter to Tasiilaq, the largest town in the east, with around 2,000 inhabitants. Attractive in its own right, with colourful wood and iron houses clinging to the steep slopes that rise from its misty harbour, it is a perfect base to explore the surrounding fjords and islands by boat.
On the trip we took, we were struck not just by stunning natural beauty — ice floes the size of office blocks framed against huge mountain ridges rising from the water — but by man’s tenuous existence in such an environment. Beautiful Tiniteqilaaq (pop. 110) looked viable enough, with kids playing on the village basketball court as sled dogs (resting for the summer) looked on. But a few miles down the fjord lay Ikkatteq. A thriving cod fishing village 30 years ago, the settlement went into decline and was finally abandoned by its last two residents in 2005.
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