Our first two days had not only delivered incredible weather and northern lights, but also an ocean full of orcas, with the odd sprinkling of a humpback here and there. These two days even astonished the locals. We now decided to push further east in search of the large pods of humpbacks. Pods mythical in size, perhaps.

And just as daylight broke, right on cue a large pod of humpback whales surfaced nearby. At least a dozen if not more. An almost fabled and the morning had just begun. 

A young humpback whale, tired of his mother's incessant search for herring, decided to stretch his wings and let his soul fly like the large winged New Englander he was. He breached again and again! Over and over, we witnessed this youngster leap out of the water in delight, from afar, and from nearby. Video after video, photo after photo. Everyone had a chance to not only watch, but record this magnificent splendor of nature on full display.

Wild Northern Norway at its finest.

After a wonderful morning with orcas, it was time to slowly head back towards Tromsø. But we still had a few hours in our pocket to play with. And so it was decided by our intrepid expedition leader Christian Engelke, supported by his trusty assistant Beau, to make a pit stop at Finnkroken for a few hours in the early darkness before heading back to Tromsø.

After a fascinating historical talk by Jo Martin, Oyvind and Helen (the pier owner and local inhabitants in Finnkroken), right on cue, the sky started to light up. One phrase... Northern lights!

The time was only 16:30 in the afternoon when the sky began to lighten. The northern lights continued to strengthen and dance its way across the sky, until reaching its peak activity at around 18:00. The sky literally exploded! Hues of intense green were superseded by reds, pinks, and purples. Colors so intense it at times it became a white hot streak, dancing and shimmering all across the sky.

Mother nature rewards those who are patient and we got one last hurrah of color in the sky!

What was your first impression of Greenland like?
I came to Tasiilaq in East Greenland in 2010. It was grand. After all, I had studied in Svalbard for two years and had an idea of what Greenland would be like, but it was even bigger, fiercer and wilder. Like Svalbard on steroids. Bigger mountains, deeper fjords, and the feeling of a very remote part of the world. Nature had incredible dimensions.

It’s been more than ten years now. You have been back every year and led more than 20 expeditions in Greenland. Do you know Greenland today?
Greenland is the largest island in the world so it’s impossible to know the whole country. But my job as a guide is to show different parts of the country and share my personal experiences.

Can you tell us a little bit of the Greenlandic way of life?
It is difficult to get a one hundred percent accurate idea of how the people in Greenland live because you are a tourist yourself after all. But from the beginning people lived in gathering and hunting societies and hunting is still a large part of the culture. The challenge is that large parts of the hunting rights have been taken away from the population, which has led to a lack of employment. Alcohol abuse is widespread, but there is hope. There are driven entrepreneurs who manage to make some money from tourism. The Greenlandic lifestyle is to live in the moment. They find it difficult to plan ahead and, for example, schedule a meeting. At the same time, you can learn a lot from their mentality, working with nature instead of against it, with the weather instead of against it.

Have you enjoyed the Greenlandic food?
I am a vegetarian, but I have no problem eating meat from animals that have had a good life. I have tasted typical Greenlandic food such as boiled seal, narwhal skin, whale blubber and reindeer stew. On one occasion when I was on an expedition cruise, we met a local hunter in the company of a film crew. It turned out that the team was happy to exchange muskox meat for petrol, cigarettes, or toilet paper. So, we traded toilet paper and got musk ox meat. Delicious!

What usually surprises the guests when visiting Greenland?
First of all the rawness.The first impression when you come to a small settlement may be signs of hunting and blood on the ground. A newly clubbed seal on the ice and sled dogs feasting on parts of the animal. The hunting culture is very visible, and you must be mentally prepared for that. It is important to respect the Greenlanders way of life.

What sometimes surprises people is the rather limited numbers of wildlife. In Svalbard you can get closer to curious animals, but in Greenland the animals have learned that humans are dangerous and therefore keep their distance. Also, not many people are prepared to social problems, such as alcoholism.

Rumor has it that there are wolves in Greenland, is that correct?
It’s true, but the chance of seeing a wolf is like winning the jackpot in a lottery. Nobody knows for sure, but there may be one or two herds in the Northeast Greenland National Park - it's a million kilometers in size. I've seen wolf tracks, but that's the closest I've come to wolves in all my years in Greenland.

Can you tell us about your most memorable wildlife encounter in Greenland?
This year I saw narwhals for the first time. It was super special for me personally, but I don't think the guests really understood how unusual it is to spot narwhals. I will also never forget the first time I saw a bowhead whale. Initially I thought it was a humpback whale, but as I slowly paddled towards it I saw that it was in fact a sleeping bowhead whale. With a kayak, you travel in silence, you are one with nature and can get very close. It was a super cool experience. I mean, man has nearly exterminated this prehistoric animal. The whale never noticed us and that felt nice too.

Which part of Greenland do you like best and why?
In East Greenland, it is easier to find places where no other human has ever been before. The mountains are steeper and the settlements are fewer. I have previously arranged my own two-week kayak trips with tents and brought a maximum of seven guests. During those trips, I have woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of a whale blowing air on the fjord. It is an indescribable feeling. Like cruising in a fjord full of ice. The last time I was in Greenland we had worked hard to get a special permit to drive into a certain fjord in a part of the East Greenland National Park. I had told the guests that this is something very special that very few tourists get to experience. We zigzagged between the icebergs and when we came ashore we first noticed a tent, then even more. I thought "Oh no, I who have promised my guests such a unique experience". But it turned out that the tents did not belong to other tourists but to a film crew from National Geographic Disney+. An old friend from Svalbard whom I hadn't seen since my student days was a researcher in the team that belonged to a multi-million dollar production. So, I was right after all. It was a very special place we were in.

1) Experts have speculated about the walruses’ diving habits for many years. Now we know that they will dive up to a hundred meters for about 30 minutes in search of food. Physiologically they are well equipped for these dives because walruses can greatly reduce their heartbeat and cut off oxygen supply to much of their body tissue except for the brain and the heart.

2) Walruses have incredible hearing. The Inuit who used to hunt walruses would imitate their calls and receive answers from up to 1.6 kilometers away as proved by scientists from the University in Anchorage, Alaska. The eyesight of walruses, on the other hand, is quite bad.

3) Their massive tusks are the most obvious feature of the walruses. They could not survive without them. The tusks are tools for climbing, defense, searching for food and for stabilizing the walruses on the ice. 

4) Walruses usually mate in the water. The females reach sexual maturity at the age of five to six years old. The males not until they are ten. And since a male does not become interesting for a female until he reaches a certain weight and position within the group’s hierarchy most bulls will not have a chance until they are around 15 years old.

5) There is shocking high mortality rate in calves. Only 20% of the calves survive. Polar bears are one of the causes but also an increase in algae due to higher ocean temperatures. Healthy walruses can live up to 30 years.

6) Male walruses can sing! During mating season, they produce a variety of wonderful vocalizations. These can include barks, clicks, grunts and bellows. A session of continuous singing can last up to two and a half days.

7) Their skin can change color. A walrus skin, which can be around four centimeters thick around their head and their neck, is generally a cinnamon brown color. However, on a very warm day their skin can change to a rosy, pink color in the sun. And after a long swim in the icy cold water their skin can go to a cool white.

8) Walruses have only two known predators besides humans: orcas and polar bears. 

9) The walrus mainly eats clams, shells and crustaceans, but it has happened that they have also been seen hunting seals. Scientists have even found tiny family members in the stomachs of some bulls.

10) Walruses must sleep between their dives to conserve energy. They like to sleep close together to keep each other warm.

How would you describe life in Greenland?
You live in small communities. The largest community on the east coast has around 2000 inhabitants. The communities on the west coast are a little bigger and this is also where we find the capital Nuuk, which has around 18,800 inhabitants. The life in Greenland is family oriented, and very far from all type of consumerism and status symbols. The distances are great and the infrastructure is unlike our own – there are no road and train connections. In Greenland you are completely dependent on flight, helicopter and boat connections. To go between smaller settlements in the winder time, they use snowmobiles or dog sleds, and during the few months of the year when the ice loosens its grip, they can use smaller boats.

Greenland is an island in change, life and opportunities differ on the east and west coasts. Traditions and pride are strong among the Inuit population, while new influences and opportunities in education, work and technology, mostly on the west coast, create a developing Greenland.

What do you love most about Greenland?
I get that question a lot. The nature in Greenland is magnificent, with deep fjords filled with iceberg, high snow-capped mountains, small communities with colorful houses against a background of the world's second largest ice sheet – the Greenland Ice Sheet. But Greenland wouldn't be so special if it weren't for the amazing people who live there. Because the island is isolated and quite expensive to get to and from, large parts of its population lack the opportunity to travel outside of Greenland. Therefore, there is a great need among the population to meet and talk to visitors. All the Greenlanders I have had the privilege of meeting have been incredibly hospitable, curious and open. Amazing people from whom I have learned a lot. While they are curious about the outside world, they also cherish their own culture, traditions, and way of life. If you come as a guest to Greenland with an open and curious mind, you will be warmly welcomed.

Could you tell us about the food in Greenland?
Most of the time I have spent in Greenland I have been on the east coast, in small settlements where logistics and connections are few. In these places, hunting and fishing are large parts of everyday life to supplement the goods that can be imported. With the Greenlandic terrain and climate, it is difficult to grow fresh produce that we are used to in Europe. A supply ship visits the communities on the east coast once in the spring and once in the autumn to supply them with goods that last a long time. The vegetables and the fruit you find in the store are mostly frozen to last longer, a smaller range of fresh fruit and vegetables is flown in from Iceland, but this is both expensive and in a small scale.

The Greenlandic diet consists largely of fish and seal meat, as these are fished and hunted locally in Greenland. My diet for long periods in Greenland consisted mostly of seal meat, a dark red meat that taste best when grilled with lots of pepper and thyme. It was also a great honor for me to be offered raw seal liver during a hunting ritual on the ice. It showed that I had really been accepted into the fine Greenlandic culture and meant a lot to me personally. The liver was so fresh it oozed heat.

You talk a lot about the importance of getting the outside world to Greenland. How do you mean?
Although Greenland belongs to Denmark, it is an isolated part of the world. Employment is low, it is difficult to get an education and many of the community-supporting jobs such as police and fire brigade are held by Danes. But with tourism comes more opportunities for work and economic growth to the people of Greenland. It becomes a mutual exchange of personal meetings, experience and opportunities.

How do Svalbard and Greenland differ?
I usually say that Greenland is like a mixture of Svalbard and Northern Norway. But the fjords are deeper, the mountains are higher, the icebergs and glaciers are bigger. The small communities are like blobs of color, almost like fairytale villages. In addition, Greenland is much greener than Svalbard and has its own special culture and ancient traditions. There is not as much animal life in Greenland as in Svalbard.

Is there a chance of seeing any wild animals?
The extent of wildlife depends on which part of Greenland you are in, but generally you can spot humpback whales, seals, reindeer, arctic foxes, and musk oxen.

What are the chances of seeing a polar bear?
On Svalbard there is a relatively high concentration of polar bears in a small area. Greenland is so much bigger, so the chance that you will see a polar bear on our Greenland trips is very small. But at the same time, we carry weapons when we go ashore on the east side, because you never know. There are also musk oxen that you must respect.

What type of traveler will get the most out of a trip to Greenland with PolarQuest?
A person who is genuinely interested in nature and would like to experience a stunning landscape. Greenland is also for the one that has a curiosity for new cultural impressions and openness to communicate and learn from people from a culture very different from our own. If you are curious and open-minded, there is a good chance that you will be invited for coffee when we visit isolated Inuit communities. The Inuit will want to share everything with their big, almost toothless smiles and try to communicate in any way they can. We will do some disembarkation with hikes and the terrain is not always super easy.

What will the weather be like?
In summer, the weather is stable with a temperature of between 10 and 20 degrees. The large ice cap provide constant high pressure.

Can you tell us about the different trips?
We travel with the luxurious expedition ship M/S Balto. She carries only 12-passengers just like two of the ship we operate in Svalbard, M/S Sjøveien and M/S Stockholm. The first trip of the season is in June and we start in Ilulissat on the west coast. In mid-July we will do a life-affirming adventure of 26 days as we travel from Ilulissat on the west coast to Scoresby Sound on the east coast. In August, we will do 3 expeditions in the northeast Greenland.

What characterizes West Greenland?
The Disko Bay area is known for its diverse and astonishing landscape, including unique geological formations, deep fjords, springs and caves, magnificent towering icebergs, and impressive glacier faces. The ocean is home to humpback, minke and pilot whales and ashore we might meet reindeer and Arctic foxes. There are significantly more people living here than on the east coast.

What characterizes East Greenland?
A wonderful and dramatic nature and the feeling of being at the end of the world, in the most positive sense. The communities are extremely isolated here and the silence unreal. The chance of seeing polar bears and musk oxen is greater than on the west coast. The east coast of Greenland is to me the most beautiful place in the world.

What do you think the guests will take with them from the trips?
An almost religious feeling of the magnificence of nature, fond memories of the atmosphere on board and warm meetings with local people. A greater understanding of how to protect one of the last unspoiled wildernesses in the world!