TRAVEL
Greenland
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Sa iling with the Mother of the Sea A ferry ride up the Greenlandic coast is a great way to meet locals and experience spectacular scenery. TEXT: Ben Mack
“The sea is really quite gentle today – it’s just like being rocked to sleep like a baby!” says Lars, smiling broadly from the Sarfaq Ittuk’s information booth on deck three. He’s not wrong. The slow rolling – up and down and up again – is relaxing. It’s all the more relief for someone who’s never been on a ferry at sea before. As I travel with the passenger ferry
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from Nuuk to Ilulissat, it’s obvious Greenland is a place unlike any other. The high, snow-covered coastline seems reminiscent of giant scoops of vanilla ice cream – some parts of the coast even have the same rounded shape. The inky blue water is dotted all around with the white caps of waves – like sprinkles on a blueberry kaffemik cake, the traditional Greenlandic dessert. The smell
of salt air fills the nostrils – it’s a real high-seas adventure! No wonder so many children are running around pretending to be pirates. Ships have provided transport by sea between settlements up and down the western coast of Greenland for centuries. The Arctic Umiaq Line came into existence a bit more recently, in 2006, though its roots go
