Daytrip to Greenland!(With Pics!!)
Hi Guys! Its been too long so I am back on the boards. I just got back from a quick trip to Iceland. I’m sure you would be bored to read about my LAX-JFK-KEF-JFK-LAX report on DL 757s in coach, so I will report on the daytrip I took from Reykjavik’s domestic airport to Kulusuk, Greenland! Hope you enjoy! I have pics I will try to upload as well.
Daytrip was on July 30th with a 10:10am departure from RKV Airport. RKV is near the city center and is mostly a GA airport but they have scheduled flights operated by Air Iceland. Air Iceland has a fleet of Fokker 50s and Dash-8s. Most are domestic flights within Iceland but they also have scheduled flights to Nuuk, Kulusuk and some other Greenland cities, plus the Faroe Islands. I took a taxi from my hotel to the terminal which is quite small. There was a domestic check-in and an international desk. I got my round trip tickets and proceeded to the international gate area where we had to pass security and they took a peek at our passports. Securitas was the contracted security people. The gate area was tiny! There was a small duty free shop where Inuits were buying lots of liquor and cigarettes. I was on Air Iceland flight 231. We boarded our Fokker 50 and I was in seat 3A, right by the port engine. Legroom was pretty decent! Takeoff in the F50 was powerful and pretty smooth! We were in the clouds until about 45 minutes out over the Atlantic. The flight to Kulusuk takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes. We had a small meal and beverage service. I had a Fanta and the small meal was a croissant with salami and cheese, some bacon cheese spread, crackers and a Prince Polo candy bar. Not bad for a short flight! We started our approach over the coastline of Greenland and had some spectacular scenery! Lots of ice in the water. Before we knew it we were in Greenland!
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Greenland is 2 hours back of Iceland, or 2 hours ahead of New York. Kulusuk is the 2nd largest city in east Greenland with a population of around 300. The airport is a gravel strip. Air Greenland flies there from other Greenland cities using the Dash 8 and Bell 212. The airport has a domestic and international gate area and a small coffee shop.
We met our Danish tour guides at the airport and hiked into town. The hike into Kulusuk takes about 40 minutes. Temperature was in the mid 40s and it was sunny. Reykjavik meanwhile was 50s and rainy when I was there. Nice weather! Tons of flies everywhere though!!!! Very annoying. The village itself has brightly colored houses on a hillside and has a small “harbor” area as well. We were given a demonstration of the Inuit Drum Dance as well as Kayak fishing. We also had 15 minutes to check out the village including the supermarket, post office and school. Rather than walk back to the airport when we were done, we hired some Inuits to take us by outboard boat through the ice! It was great! Saw some amazing pieces of ice.
When we got to the airport we got certificates for the trip. I headed through security and asked them to stamp my passport, which they did. It’s a glorified Denmark stamp with the Greenland name on it in Greenlandic. Flight back was fairly uneventful except for the Inuit woman behind me who was afraid to fly!! Every bump we hit she yelped (and it was a bumpy ride back!). We were served a chicken breast or fish fillet (I couldn’t tell!) with some more crackers and a muffin. Arrival in RKV was uneventful. No immigration on arrival although we were able to purchase duty free on arrival! Pretty cool!
Here are some other pics from the trip!
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