Destinations: Greenland
Your Wanderbird adventure will begin or end in the Arctic community of Aasiaat in Disco Bay in Greenland. This is an Arctic Expedition of a lifetime... a unique adventure to some of the most beautiful, remote and rewarding places on this planet. You can see all these places quite well on Google Earth!
The Arctic can be defined as the region centred on the north pole, where ice dominates the landscape, more precisely as the region where the soil is permanently frozen and trees cannot grow. The Arctic Circle is located at 66-1/2 degrees north. This is the lowest latitude at which the midnight sun is seen.
As we reach Disko Bay, we will sail amidst a parade of icebergs en route to Greenlandic communities; an out of this worldly experience... pure Greenland! We’ll meet the people who inhabit this demanding coastal environment, visit cultural sites and historic communities where sledge dogs out number the people. We’ll visit many spectacular fjords with calving glaciers. We will spend time cruising and exploring in Disko Bay in search of whales, experience the stunning bold & immense landscape, view sublime natural wonders, while enjoying the amazing Arctic experience of midnight sun!
Ilulissat 
Ilulissat means ‘the icebergs’ in Greenlandic and is located next to Sermeq kujalleq, the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere. On a hike above the community of Ilulissat, through an area where the sledge dogs are tied, one can gaze out upon the Ilulissat Ice fjord, where the mighty Greenland Ice cap pours into the sea!
The 55,000 people that make up all of Greenland are predominantly Inuit. Although fishing makes up 95% of their exports, the seal and whale catch is still of great importance.
Other Ports of Call & Settlements that we may visit include:
Ataa, Ilimanaq, Oqaitsut, Ilulissat, Aasiaat, Sisimuit
Sisimuit (Holsteinsborg)
Sisimuit (Holsteinsborg) In Sisimiut, we’ll visit the second-largest town in Greenland, with a population of 5,460 people, and a beautiful fleet of traditional Greenlandic style fishing boats along its busy harbour. Sisimiut is the largest business centre north of the capital of Nuuk, and is one of the fastest growing towns in Greenland. Fishing is the principal industry in Sisimiut, although the town has a growing industrial base.
Sisimuit is also home to a great museum that specialises in Greenlandic trade, industry and shipping, and is also home to artefacts based on ten years of archaeological research and excavations of the ancient Saqqaq culture settlements near the town, offering an insight into the culture of the region of 4,000 years ago. The museum also hosts a collection of tools, handcraft, art, house items and ethnographic objects compiled over fifty years, an inventory from the old Church with the original altarpiece dated to approximately 1650, and paintings from the 1790s. The peat house reconstruction of an early 20th century Greenlandic residence with domestic furniture is part of an outdoor exhibition. The exhibition includes the remains of a kayak from the 18th century.
The site of the present-day town has been inhabited for the last 4,500 years. The first inhabitants were the Inuit peoples of the Saqqaq culture, Dorset culture, and then the Thule people, whose descendants form the majority of the current population. Artefacts from the early settlement era can be found throughout the region.
Aasiaat (Egedesminde)
Aasiaat is situated on an island in the southern part of Disko Bay at the edge of a very beautiful archipelago often referred to as "The land of a thousand islands". Many of the islands in the area are conservation areas and provide fantastic opportunities to study the unique bird life or the abundant whales that were the reason Aasiaat was founded in the middle of the 18th century. Aasiaat is one of Greenland's oldest settlements from the colonial times, and in the old quarter you can still see buildings dating back to this period.
Oqaitsut (RodeBay)
In this area we will find a protected harbour strewn with icebergs and a small very genuine Greenlandic settlement. The population of Oqaitsut is around 50, with a small fisherman's coop, brightly painted houses and innumerous sled dogs.
Ilimanaq (Claushavn)
With a population of less than 100, visiting Ilimanaq is a like a trip back in time. Ilimanaq is located on the eastern shore of Disko Bay, just south of the mouth of the Ilulissat Icefjord. The name of the village means "the place of expectations" in Greenlandic. Exploring the nearby moraine (when weather permits) is a treasure for oceanographers and natural history enthusiasts.
Ataa
Ataa is a small abandoned settlement on an island with a very sheltered natural harbour with a view into three large glaciers coming off the inland ice. The last families left the village of Ataa around 1960. Ataa is in the bottom of one of Greenland's most spectacular fjords with a spectacular glacier called Eqip Sermia. The glaciers are calving constantly, but the outflow from a large river sweeps the ice away, so the fiord is navigable. We will land on the moraines and hike up to the ice.
©Photo by Karen Miles
See our sailing schedule and sign up for our amazing GREENLAND EXCURSION this summer!
Getting There: Directions & Resources
