In 1964, 17 muskox calves were transferred from east Greenland to west Greenland via Copenhagen zoo. One of them was Willi.
Willi got used to people at the zoo, and came to like people more than his fellow muskoxes. One day he decided to stay at the airport, and he became very popular with everyone there – except for the pilots of course.
They tried to scare him away from the airpost, but one American soldier had to be sent to hospital and the airport fire engine got some heavy dents on the car.
Dogs were brought in from Denmark, but they were too scared of the huge animal. Finally an American cowboy from the US Army caught Willi with lasso and transported him to Lake Ferguson, 5km away.
He is still there, at Lake Ferguson – but in stone. Unfortunately his ending was sad, because he returned to the airport, and there he attacked a transit passenger and her little child. By that incident, he signed his own death sentence.
He will be forever remembered though, as a much loved citizen. A country- and western singer, Al Perry, even wrote a ballad about him.
In 1968, 8th December, three American Lockhead jetplanes flew from Goose bay in Canada heading for Keflavik, Iceland. They were hit by bad weather over Greenland and tried to make an emergency landing at Kangerlussuaq. In those days, there were no roads whatsoever in Greenland, and this area is still called ”Arctic Sahara”.
This ”highway”, or ”Autostrada” as the Greenlanders call it, was built partly during WWII and partly 1995. The river is in low water prone to sandstorms that disturb GPS signals. Tall masts have been built to help out.
Anyway, no road existed where the three planes were lost and finally ran out of fuel. The whole crew of four people, managed to jump out before the planes crashed in no man’s land. In winter the temperatures can fall to -40 degrees C. And this was in December.
Luckily all four of them were saved by helicopters before freezing to death.
The remains of one of the planes were still spread out along the Autostrada, and our bus stopped for us to have a look. There was a sign warning people not to take any souvenirs – but showing respect for the pilots and the remains of the jets. But, there wasn’t much left to see, I guess there were souvenirs brought to many homes as the road made the area accessible.
The driver told us there were many stories about this accident, and he told us one of them – one that he believed was really true:
Since the Autostrada was built, family and relatives of the pilots started visiting the place. Story has it that when the daughter of one of the pilots and her husband was on their way to the site, her father (the pilot) asked them to look in the glovebox for his wallet. And – they found it.
The airport in Kangelussuaq had some interesting guests the day we happened to be there –
The Red Arrows, based in RAF Waddington and on their way to the USA for the 4th July celebrations.
We met some lovely gentlemen, as Englishmen usually are, and really nice young guys from the crew. I was granted a photo after a chat with this young man.
Nine BAE systems Hawk T1 for their Diamond Nine formation. Although I only caught seven of them…They have performed over 4800 displays in 57 countries worldwide. Their Motto is: Éclat, French for ”brilliance” or ”excellence”. The aerobatic team celebrated their 60th Diamond Season in 2024.
One of the first things I noticed in Greenland were all the colourful houses. In this harsh landscape, they really stood out. And they made me happy!
This is a green gym to the left, and to the right a kindergarten. Every kindergarten we saw had these multicoloured fences.
This supermarket chain in Greenland can provide you with everything you want or need. This one in Kangerlussuaq.
We stayed here for some days, making excursions to glaciers and walks in the mountains. The first look into Greenlandic everyday life and joys. As you can see, letting their children out alone was nothing to worry about.
Everyone living here was somehow connected to the airport, and its buildings dominated the whole village.
There were loads of huge containers with everything needed for the aircraft – mostly fuel of course. And, even the containers were colourful…
On our tours out of the town, we saw ”summer houses” in the mountains. Very lonely – but not abandoned.
Next we stayed several days in Ilulissat, a charming town with a busy harbour and colourful houses and boats. It was a relaxing joy to walk there watching the boats come in and go out, loading and unloading their cargo.
Now, why all these bright colours? We learned that there were several reasons to this. One was that a certain colour meant the owner of the house had a special profession and the building was meant for a special thing. Red – churches, schools, Yellow – hospitals and doctors, Blue – maintainment and factories in the fishing industry, Green – post and telecommunication. Black – police stations.
It all started in the 18th century when there were no street names and no numbered houses. It was also easier to find what you were looking for when everything was lost in snow during winter.
Nowadays you can paint your house in whatever colour you want, but most churches are still red and hospitals are still yellow.
Old and new are mixed – as Greenland expand and get more tourists
– but all buildings and houses have their pipes on the ground because of the harsh winters. People also depend upon steps and stairs to reach their front doors…I can truly say I have never walked that many steps in two weeks before.
Close to our hotel we also found some super modern cabins overlooking the sea. Somehow the architects had managed to make them fit in with this very special landscape – both shape and the open glass solution seemed winning concepts.
Many houses were brought from Denmark or Scandinavia and put together in Greenland. They have no forests here – in fact the only thing I might have missed during these glorious two weeks!
The northeastern part of Greenland is the world’s largest national park. Climate change is a great danger to flora and fauna here. We know that the fastest warming is in this area. I captured some photos of the most frequently seen flowers, and not surprisingly they are mostly white and very small.
Labrador tea ( S.skvattram)
White cotton grass.
Not sure…alpine bartsia? (S. svarthö)
Round-leaved wintergreen (S.Pyrola)
Woolly lousewort ( S. Ullspira)
Let’s finish with a bird – a lapland bunting. At sea there are other birds, but they will have to wait.
In the header – surprisingly a Fritillary came along. But it was also the only butterly we saw!
A gallery of faces I will remember from Greenland. From Ilullissat, Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk. The poor musk ox was unfortunately dead, but we saw two in real life…very far away though. I got them in my binoculars, but the camera didn’t make it good enough. On the plate we had them every other day – and they were delicious.
Look who I met in Malmö! Margaret ( of From Pyrenees to Pennines) and her husband Malcolm. So grateful for seeing you for a couple of hours – strolling, chatting, and of course we enjoyed a Swedish Fika! So sorry for my lack of knowledge of the city – but at least we saw the castle and Turning Torso…and, you brought sunshine to this constantly windy and rainy city. I’ll have to rethink my opinion of Malmö…
Dear Margaret and Malcolm, I wish you a wonderful stay in Sweden and a good piece of Midsummer celebrations!
My calendar is full these days – and I guess it’s the same with you… I have great difficulties in keeping up with everything.
Babysitting, and going with my son and the grandchildren to see a puppet theatre…
…then to a nunnery and castle for a great exhibition of Ukrainian quilt art.
As I have close contacts with Ukrainian friends, I admire their art, their resilience and ingenuity.
We had three major birthdays too in May!
I also met an Alien…
…and realized how much I love stripes…
…and beautiful skies!
You get the idea? My mind is reeling with thousands of things. We also have guests living here for some days. Even if I love having all these events around, deep down I am a person who loves silence and being on my own, doing my own things. I could easily live alone in a cottage – with a dog or cat.
In Spring, we usually go to the southernmost part of Sweden, for the apple trees and for the charm of the old villages.
And, for the sea – we seldom see the sea and this is a brilliant opportunity to enjoy it. No tourists! This beach is totally closed since some 5 years now because climate change has made the sea sweep away the sand and the banks around the bay. Some houses fall down into the water.
This time we decided to visit an old village that was moved from its original place because of new building plans. The typical houses were placed along a new village road, but kept their charm – and some their thatched roofs as well.
The village is called Knäbäckshusen, and such a name is easily remembered…
We also drove into some neighbouring villages, there are plenty of old fishing villages along this coast. Here I totally fell in love with this pink house. maybe you did too?
We had a lovely outing, and finished it off with Glimmingehus, the best-preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. Never rebuilt.
Built in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand, it worked as a luxurious house as well as an advanced fortification. We went here with my class when I was a child, and I can still recall how cold it was inside those walls…so now we stayed outside.
Some facts: the walls are up to 2,5 m. thick, the building is 30 meters long and 26 meters high. It has details made by the well kown German sculptor Adam van Düren. For more: http://www.glimmingehus.se
On our way home – we loved seeing the typical flat landscape of Österlen, the colouful fields and the blue sky with cotton clouds. Mountains and hills are lovely, but this too is beautiful – in its own way.
Leya 
Du måste vara inloggad för att kunna skicka en kommentar.