This was my husband’s carry-on luggage for a recent internal flight in Greenland. A musk-ox skull, adorned with piece of remaining face, and a walrus penis bone. Yes, it’s a walrus penis bone. What’s weirder is that this is not particularly unusual carry-on. You encounter all sorts of interesting carry-on in Greenland. Much of it is food, mattak in particular – the skin and fat of whale. When it comes to check-in luggage, you can get away with a lot more. Reindeer antlers – not the easiest item to pack – rarely raise an eyebrow with the check-in staff. And guns are quite common as check-in (see ‘We bought our gun on Facebook from a policeman’).
My favourite story is one that I think I can relate now that enough time has passed and the people involved no longer work for the respective companies. Some years ago, items were being shipped from west to east Greenland to support a field expedition. This is no small feat – everything has to be planned to the last detail. In east Greenland you can’t exactly pop down to the shop for something you’ve forgotten. And guns are essential, as east Greenland is home to thousands of polar bears. So the team arrived at the airport with crates of gear, pre-arranged to be shipped as freight in a small passenger aircraft. Unfortunately, the paperwork wasn’t in place for the handguns. The guns would have to wait for the next flight, but this would mean no weapons on the ground for the first week – a major problem. After much discussion with the air freight manager, there was no satisfactory solution and the plane was ready to depart.
“OK”, he whispered, “Just take them into the cabin”.
So they boarded the aircraft and, as inconspicuously as possible, stowed a carry-on bag filled with .44 magnums in the overhead locker.
