Greenland - 1 - Transportation

15-22 August 2025

Our Natural Habitat Adventures ("Nat Hab") tour to Greenland involved out-of-the-ordinary transportation.

It started with an afternoon Icelandair flight from Keflavík (Iceland) to Kulusuk, a mid-sized village on the east coast of Greenland.

15 August

A first look at the rugged coast of east Greenland. (Is there any place there for a plane to land? Yes - of course, but only small Kulusuk has room for a runway. Other locations in east Greenland are served by helipads and boat docks.)

At Kulusuk, we immediately boarded a large helicopter for an 8-minute flight to Tasiilaq, the largest town in east Greenland. Had the weather not cooperated, or had the helicopter been unavailable, we would have taken one-hour boat ride instead. Most of us had never been in a helicopter before.

A view of the Kulusuk area as we took off in the helicopter.

17 August

After a day in Tasiilaq, we boarded two boats to travel the other side of Ammassalik Island to Nat Hab's Greenland Base Camp.

The view along Ammassilik Fjord.

Our luggage traveled on a separate, much smaller (and faster) boat.

When we entered the narrow Ikasagtivaq Fjord, the water became glassy - a welcome change from the substantial swells of the open ocean near Tasiilaq.

21 August

For our return from Base Camp to Kulusuk, we rode in a much smaller helicopter that could only take four passengers at a time. Fortunately, it was only a 12-minute flight to Kulusuk. Again, we were fortunate to be able to avoid a 3-hour boat ride.

Lon & I were on the first shuttle to Kulusuk. Thanks to our guide, Anthony, for sharing this photo of us taking off.

The view on our way back to Kulusuk.

After a day in Kulusuk, we took the Icelandair flight back to Keflavík. (No photos.)

5 September

After another two weeks in Iceland, our return flight to Washington Dulles took us over the extreme southern tip of Greenland, and we got one last view of the coast and the interior ice cap.

Glaciers and fjords at the tip of Greenland.