SUMMERING

TASIILAQ, EAST GREENLAND

We make Tasiilaq our home base one summer. Summer lasts from early July when the ice breaks up to late September when darkness returns with nightly northern lights. We're here a few days at the start and end. Weeks between we're out on the land.

We meet Roberto, Tasiilaq’s most seasoned outfitter, to arrange boat transfers, satellite contact and the loan of a 12-gauge shotgun for polar bear protection. Through him we meet Harald, a respected hunter, and Axel, who knows how everything works. Being popular and speaking both Danish and English, as well as Tunumiit, Axel could well become East Greenland’s first Inuit tour operator.

Summer sees the return of MS Mary Arctica and MS Johanna Kristina, two Royal Arctic freighters bringing weekly rounds of fresh produce, building supplies and weak Danish beer. A few loud blasts signals SHIP’S IN! We rush to the harbor with everyone else. Including Gerda in her pink VW van, here to fetch ice-cream for her eclectic bookshop. Like every kid in town we warm to her company and heap on the scoops, no matter how cold the day.

This summer Tasiilaq’s ablaze with niviarsiaq, dwarf fireweed that paints the town in hot magenta. Flower pots line village windows and flourish like hothouse plants. We amble beyond Flower Valley to discover another sort of blooming: plastic garlands laid on fresh graves to last the winter.