IMAGES: ALAMY; GETTY
GREENLAND
From top: Dombrava Delta in Hurry Fjord, Greenland; husky sled dogs in the small Greenland settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit
REMOTE EXPERIENCES AROUND THE WORLD
willow and crowberry. During a boat ride in the shade of icebergs as big as battleships, black-legged kittiwakes surface-dip for fish. In many places, wildlife is accustomed and often ambivalent to us. In Scoresby Sund, every creature, from the barnacle geese to northern wheatears, eavesdrops as if itching for news from the outside world. For co-expedition guide Sergey Shirokiy, who
carries a bolt-action rifle and holstered flare gun on land in case of a polar bear rendezvous, the native fauna isn’t nearly as abundant as it should be or once was. The firearm makes me apprehensive, but I have no real need to be. What I know about the hunting traditions of Greenlandic communities sketches a stark reality for the area’s creatures, including the world’s largest land carnivore. Estimates claim there are only a few thousand polar bears left in Greenland, with hundreds still being shot and skinned every year for meat and fur. In Ittoqqortoormiit (the ford’s only village:
population 350), locals make full use of their annual quota of 35 bears, with hunting season extending from 1 October to the end of July. Wolf and fox populations have also been dramatically impacted by centuries of fur trade. The emptiness reflects the daily realities of life in a ford whose closest neighbour is at least 500 miles away across untouched terrain. “Your senses sharpen on land here, but as for
things that can bite, chase or kill you, Greenland isn’t like other places in the Arctic,” says Sergey, one morning as we climb to a viewpoint overlooking Øford. “Fox, wolf and polar bear are scarce. So too are whale, orca and narwhal. Scoresby Sund is for landscapes on a scale you’ve probably never encountered before.” Fittingly, the reward for seeing such superlative
wonders is a visitor experience that’s increasingly regulated. In a move to create a protective ring-fence around wildlife, new restrictions on landing sites were introduced by the Greenlandic government in June 2023 and the distances expedition operators can cover are now limited by a speed restriction of three knots per hour (the average cruising speed of Arctic vessels is around 10.5 knots). Another concession to the environment
given by the government is that half of Scoresby Sund has become a no-go zone. But even without a surplus of creatures, the ford is a symbol of a precarious world so rarely seen — and I’m dumbfounded by the scenery alone.
Bear necessities Several days later, we dock in Ittoqqortoormiit and it feels almost disappointing to see other people. There’s a vault-ribbed church that resembles an upturned Viking longship; a school and an artificial football pitch; a supermarket where guns for sale dangle above the frozen meat cabinet; and brightly coloured houses with clothes lines pegged with laundry drying in the sun. One carries a musk ox hide. Another is weighed down by a polar bear pelt next to a pair of flapping underpants. Near the village pier, I see a hunter feeding a pack
of feverish huskies, each one chained to the ground yet still committed enough to perform acrobatic flips into the air. There are almost as many dogs in Ittoqqortoormiit as snowmobiles and they help haul in animal carcasses on ragged wooden sleds to keep the community fed while waiting for their biannual food supply to arrive by ship. How much, I ask, are these dogs worth? “We wouldn’t survive without them,” the old Inuit man replies, throwing scrap meat to a dog from a bucket. An outcry descends. To add to the clamour, a raven caws from a rooftop, perhaps planning a smash-and-grab raid. To steal a final quiet moment, I climb to
Ittoqqortoormiit’s graveyard, where white crosses gather like wildflowers and seem reluctant to stand upright; the tundra has pushed so many out of the hardened soil, most lean away from the sea air. It’s a clear day, with Scoresby Sund glistening shades of pewter, and I gaze out across the bay of icebergs and distant mountains, then take a seat on the tundra to reflect — it’s the perfect grand finale. I’m alone until the call to return to the ship,
when we rejoin the sea and set course back to Iceland. By midafternoon, our vessel — the last arrival of this brief polar season — has left Scoresby Sund. By sunset, east Greenland is behind us, ablaze under a sky of fire, while wholly consumed by endless ice and deep Arctic silence.
Seek out the spirit bear in British Columbia, Canada The spirit bear (also known as the Kermode bear) can be found in the province’s Great Bear Rainforest. They can only be seen around the territories of the Gitga’at First Nation on Gribbell and Princess Royal Islands and near the First Nations community of the Kitasoo/Xai’xais peoples in Klemtu — destinations only accessible by seaplane or expedition boat from Vancouver.
mapleleafadventures.com
hellobc.com
See the whale sharks off St Helena This British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean is part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago. It’s rich with wildlife experiences — including being able to see whale sharks — and has a backstory that threads together the East India Company, Napoleon, Charles Darwin and Edmond Halley. An airport opened here in 2016, meaning flights have replaced the four- day cruise from Cape Town.
sthelenatourism.com
Venture into Oman’s Empty Quarter There’s plenty of room for tented desert camps, overland expeditions and camel safaris in Oman’s Empty Quarter desert, yet it’s still mostly devoid of visitors. To emulate famous explorers Ibn Battuta, Bertram Thomas and Wilfred Thesiger, visit an outpost like Sama Al Wasil Desert Camp or Desert Nights Camp amid the dunes.
samaresorts.com
omanhotels.com
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER – EXPERIENCES COLLECTION 21
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