Saturday, July 9. A hectic day. Miscommunications caused us to not have bus transport available to the airport. Fortunately, another OAT Trip Leader volunteered his bus for the short ride. The airport’s waiting area was only slightly larger than the plane we were to board, making it a little cramped. Others were Germans, who seemed unable to perceive the need to get out of the way.

Flight was nice and short. Clouds most of the way. Some views of the ice fields while landing. Anna warned us that the terminal at Kulusuk was normally a confusing mess, and we were not disappointed. Put the bags in the bus. No, don’t. Ticket agent apparently didn’t know English, nor Icelandic, nor even Danish. A German tour guide (“Everyone hates”, says Anna) demanded that her group be handled first, which took the poor agent right off the deep end. Eventually we got tickets for the helicopter flight to Tasiiliq. Putting the bags in the bus, we departed for the nearby hotel for lunch and to wait for our flights. But just after lunch, plans changed and we rushed back to the airport for earlier flights. Seems the German’s Tour was cancelled due to fog, altering schedules. Half of us boarded the chopper, where I discovered my neighbor was the German. She was still bitching. The pilot was grumpy, likely due to the German.

The helicopter seemed to have a nick in a blade, but otherwise it was a straight flight. The hotel host picked up us and we checked. Its hillside location is terrific. Waited for the rest of the group. I watched an apparently never-ending soccer game.

In the afternoon we went on a short hike up one of the valleys, past their (howling) dog pound/yard and then the town’s cemetary. A sad explanation of why it was so large. Suicide is a real problem, which both Greenland’s and Denmark’s governments are anxious to ignore. The rest of the walk was more enjoyable. Small flowers were common. The dogs are working dogs and sadly chained up to stakes. Anna swears that they are happy dogs and well cared for, but the chains are a hard thing to see. In the winter they are essential for hunting.

After dinner we watched longish 1930s movie showing the typical life of the Inuit people. Not in English, but it largely didn’t matter. Very interesting.