Greenland from the Outside In

Bear-proof fence?

“Well, that’s the bears sorted out then,” said my colleague, as he finished setting up the bear alarm around our field camp in…

Imploding reindeer emoji

Last week the Greenlandic coalition government collapsed – again. This time, the problem was airports. For many years, Greenland has been keen on building…

Taking a loaded gun to the toilet

“There’s something a bit odd about taking a loaded gun to the toilet,” my colleague rightly noted. That’s what I’ve been doing this…

Northeast Greenland – the arrival.

Our arrival in Danish military base, Daneborg, was not fun. Daneborg is seventy-four degrees north, in northeast Greenland. To get there we flew…

Getting to Greenland by leaving it

About ninety percent of the tiny population of fifty-six thousand Greenlanders lives in west Greenland. East Greenland, by comparison, has fewer than three…

How much does it cost?!

Qaanaaq, a town of almost 700 people, is the second most northerly settlement in Greenland at just over 77 degrees north. People who…

Greenlandic carry-on luggage

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…

Learning to hunt from a book

Reindeer hunting season is upon us again. Hunting is an integral part of life in Greenland. Gun ownership is high, but gun violence…

We forgot your food

Last week, when my husband was camping in northwest Greenland, a failed helicopter resupply left him without a few days’ worth of meat….