Iceberg Spotting | Sailing in Ilulissat Greenland

From the moment we boarded Esle, I knew why Greenland had called to me. She is a rusty, run down with a couple of holes, no frills kind of sightseeing boat. After daily sightings of Amsterdam tourist canal boats, she was a sight for my over touristed eyes.

That’s the thing about Greenland. You know Ilulissat is one of the most touristy cities in the country, yet there is still an untouched charm. There is no Hard Rock, not a Marriott in sight, and that’s the way I like it. Granted, the summer may be different, there may be a couple more people wandering about. Only the crazy people go in the late winter to early spring time.

So as myself and my fellow crazy Arctic fanatics attempted to not slip into the frozen Arctic water as we embarked, we knew we were about to soon see why we came to Greenland, to gaze at the famous icebergs.

As Esle set sail the only sound to be heard was the eerie slushy silence of the bow cracking past small ice chunks giving way to our forward advances. The excitement of sailing nearly distracted me from the frosty winds picking up whipping at my exposed cheeks.

Off we sailed into the silence and crisp Arctic air. Soon we neared our first icebergs. I think I made some Titanic joke that was only funny to myself. Once we neared our first iceberg I was stunned and captivated by their presence. The sleeping giants floating amongst us, just allowing us to glimpse a three-story tip and use our imagination as to what secrets they are hiding below the surface. My mind quickly recalled charts about the conscious and subconscious mind from some Psych textbooks and their frequent reference of icebergs. Then here they were in front of my eyes and I could not even fathom how big they were below.

“Just remember the textbooks, Just remember those sketches!”

I kept reminding myself in my head to try to comprehend the sheer size of what was in front of me.

It became a surreal dance floating amongst them. Knowing their age, their history, and possibly their doomed future. Their beauty is mesmerizing, distracting enough to forget how frozen you are. As I said this was a no frills boat, you just stand outside in awe blissfully distracted from the cold.

The only sound was the clicking of shutters. Eventually we found an arch that resembled an ice fairy home from a computer game. We photographed and bonded over our first few hours in Greenland on the water.

Once sunset came I was properly chilly but the colors were like a unicorn. Orange sherbet, cotton candy pinks, the prettiest muted blue turquoise, and unicorn purples. The colors were that of my 5 year old dreams. I had never seen such soft pastels paint the sky as we sailed back towards the harbor.