I read that doctors in Scotland are prescribing a walk in nature to people afflicted with mental illness, diabetes, heart disease, and stress, amongst other conditions. Science says that going for a walk in the wilderness is good for us. And there are plenty of stories about people who find, to their surprise, that it’s …
*Photo by Julian Idrobo, Creative Commons I used to live in Australia’s tropical north where it’s so hot and humid that you long to swim in the dazzling blue sea. But you’d be wise to resist the temptation unless you wish to share the experience with saltwater crocodiles. What I didn’t realise, until I flew …
My eyelids flickered in the grey November Copenhagen morning. It seemed too dark to be waking. Then my focus fixed on the red numbers of my bedside digital clock and I sat bolt upright. “$&@#!” It was past seven. My flight to Greenland departed at nine. I was about forty five minutes from the airport …
Last week, my husband was out fishing on a fjord close to Nuuk. When he was ready to return home, he turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened. The engine had failed. There were no boats around. Being still close to Nuuk and fortunately within mobile reception, he called the police. Explaining the …
People say that no matter what the debate in the Greenlandic parliament, the politicians always end up talking about fish. Fishing dominates Greenland’s economy, accounting for about 90% of the revenue. This is a bad position to be in, in a changing climate, as the Government of Greenland well knows. And thus, they are looking …
When you sail into Nuuk fjord, it looks big. A wide expanse of water opens out in front of you. But sailing south of Nuuk, unless you looked at the map, you would hardly know that Ameralik Fjord is there. Passing the rocks that curve landward, you wouldn’t know that the rocky hills don’t simply …
“Does Nuuk have a chocolate factory?!” asked my son excitedly, having overheard a conversation between my husband and I. “It’s not that kind of chocolate,” I replied. “Oh,” he said, disappointed, realising what we were talking about. The chocolate factory is the sewage pumping station on the southern end of a peninsula close to the …
*Photo by Peter Mark Jacobsen. See The Fourth Continent. October swings around again, with the prospect of autumn storms, and I am reminded of this photo of a bus stop in Nuuk. It gives you an idea of what the storms can be like. When the wind blows, it tears across the sea, ripping the …
The whop whop whop of the helicopter blades grew in the distance. We’d been slumped, resting on the packed boxes, waiting for that familiar sound, and now we leapt into action as the red machine curved into view around the low hills. I stood arms skyward, back to the wind, directing the pilot to a …