GREENLAND, ILULISSAT: OUR FINAL FAREWELL TO ILULISSAT

June 17, 2019

On our last morning in Ilulissat, the ten of us took three cabs to the head of a trail, where we met up with Lisa, our Danish guide from the first day, who took us on an eco-tour of the area:

She explained to us that under the thin green layer we could see, most of ground was perpetually frozen, or permafrost.

In the scanty topsoil layer, mosses, flowers, and other plants flourished:

No photoshopping or filter was used on this picture. It was actually this brilliant shade of green:

We were asked to stay on the boardwalk and off the fragile flora:

The area is a wonderful blend of miraculously green growing things contrasted with unyielding stone:

On we journeyed down a long boardwalk quite different from the ones I am accustomed to at Newport Beach or Santa Monica Beach in Southern California, and it wasn't just the differences in clothing on the tourists:

At the end of the boardwalk was a pot-of-gold (of sorts), Greenland's WHITE AND BLUE gold:

We got closer . . .

. . . and closer, arriving at a finger of the Ilulissat Icefjord:

We were careful not to get too close to the "beach," however:

Further down the path was a great expanse of the semi-frozen icefjord, with land visible on the far side.  

It was an awe-inspiring experience to sit on the rocks and look down at this fjord so crammed full of icebergs and bits of ice that it looked like we could walk across it. However, this was no solid surface. One step onto the ice and we would have immediately been in the water:

This photo better illustrates that the sense of solidity is just an illusion:

Again, I loved the contrast between the immovable rock and the shifting ice, which reminded me of the shifting, unpredictable sands of the desert:

It looks like our friends were standing right on the edge of the icy water, but that's an illusion too. They were quite far above it, which gives an idea of the scale of the icebergs:

Humans weren't the only life form enjoying this landscape. Note the object flying in the air in the photo below. Is it a huge bird? Perhaps a helicopter? No, that huge blob is a mosquito:

And see the drones flying over the icefjord?

 Oh wait. Those are mosquitoes too.

Yep, they were everywhere. Huge bugs invading my photographs. Someone let the snake into Eden with these creatures.

Which explains our lovely fashion statement. Notice that Bob is the ONLY one not wearing a mosquito net:

Mosquitoes aside, what an adventure!

But really, don't forget your net:

On our way out, we did get to see a few more Greenland dogs, including this mother dog with her pup:

We had been told that ONLY Greenland dogs are allowed on Greenland, but this brown-spotted puppy looks quite different from the others:

Here is the rest of its family:

I snapped a picture of this building with a weird contraption on one side:

Zooming in now, I realize it is a dog sled. Doesn't that look like fun?

We had lunch at Restaurant Mamartut, which I've already written about, and then headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and meet our airport transfer.