Greenland – Northern Lights

Greenland

The northern lights are a wonderful phenomenon. Its idea is relatively simple, but it’s still very fascinating and effective.

Long, dark nights in Greenland (with “some help from the Sun” 😉 ) give a great opportunity to observe northern lights.

p.s. I was already writing about northern lights, that I’ve seen in Norway; so you’ll find seem practical issues in my previous posts:
http://travelingrockhopper.com/photographing-northern-lights_norway_21/
and
http://travelingrockhopper.com/northern-lights_norway_16/ .

Greenland – When to go

Greenland

When is the best time to visit Greenland?
-Well, the answer is not so obvious. Summer gives lots of possibilities for tourists. However, visiting Greenland in winter is a unique experience; and in winter you have almost 100% chances to see northern lights!

I was in Greenland in winter, and I loved it. I have to admit, I still would love to visit Greenland in summer, hopefully one day.

Greenland – Seals

Greenland

5 species of seals can be find in Greenland, i.e., the ringed seal, the harp seal, the hooded seal, and two less common – the bearded seal and the common seal.

Seals are quite safe in Greenland, they just should stay away from polar bear and arctic fox. 😉

Greenland – Musk Ox

Greenland

The musk ox (musk-ox or muskox) is the largest land mammal living in Greenland.
From far, musk ox looks like a brown stone (at least some people say it); from close – it’s kind of bison (from my point of view).

On today’s picture, you cannot see any musk ox; or maybe one is hiding in a “house of the lords”. 😉
However, it’s quite easy to spot musk ox or reindeer in Greenland; I’ve seen many of them just didn’t manage to take a good close up photo of musk ox.

Greenland – Language

Greenland

Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) is the official language in Greenland; it’s also spoken in Alaska and Canada.
Greenlandic is considered as a very difficult language for foreigners to learn, but don’t worry basically all Greenlanders speak also Danish (if it helps 😉 ) and very often know basics of English.

Greenland – Greenland or Iceland?

Greenland

My first impression, after visiting Iceland, was “it’s so green here, the country should be called “Greenland”; but there is already Greenland; why Greenland is not called Iceland and Iceland is not Greenland”. 😀
Of course, there is also “ice” on Iceland, but not as much as on Greenland.

About 75% of Greenland is covered by the permanent ice sheet!

Greenland – Self-Sufficient

Greenland

I’ve seen a sentence on “Visit Greenland”, that “Greenland is self-sufficient with regard to fish, certain meat products and ice cubes. Everything else has to be imported.”
“Ice cubes” made me laugh. But indeed, Greenland is a huge, kind of remote, island covered with ice; and that’s the beauty of Greenland, as well as its limitations.

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