Summer - Expedition THULE

'Thule' has been a mystic name during history; Thule always was the northernmost known spot on earth.
In our days we associate famous names like Robert E. Peary, the first conqueror of the North Pole, Peter Freuchen, Knud Rasmussen, Fridtjof Nansen... with Thule. It has been the starting-point for many legendary expeditions and remains to be a very remote place, which only few people have seen.
We will explore the Thule-district, using small sea-going boats for transportation and shall establish several camps as a base for our day-tours. We are thus very mobile and independent from ship-schedules, ready to go whenever we like to - like the Inuit-hunters. We'll decide ourselves, what we are going to undertake. And above: you will only have to carry light-weight backpacks while on a walk!

The unforseeable weather-conditions don't allow a fixed program.

We will sleep mostly in tents, but also in simple huts.
We'll see narwhales, shall visit the breeding islands of eider-ducks, geese and swallows, we'll observe seals and shall catch salmon, which we'll be going to smoke ourselves. While climbing low mountains we'll see spectacular views of a primeval region. As one participant said: "Once the Lord created the world, it probably looked like this scenery."

Attention
This fantastic journey was no longer carried out since a couple of years, since a cumbersome access and return (four days) were introduced, also because of an exorbitant increase in ticket prices, and above the great risks of flight delays. As long as Air Greenland is not willing to change this situation, we recommend therefore a journey by ship:

1st day:
Flight to Copenhagen. Overnight in the hotel.

2nd day:
Flight from Copenhagen via Kangerlussuaq to Ilulissat.
Sightseeing of this famous village at the West-coast of Greenland.
Overnight in the hotel

3rd day:
Transfer to the airport, flight to Thule-Qaanaaq. We'll establish the first camp, check the equipment and prepare for the tour.

4th - 13th day:
We'll visit the village and continue with our preparations. The actual weather, wind- and ice-conditions will determine, whether we start the tour in easterly or westerly direction. The following itinerary could be our program, provided we have ideal conditions.

After about two hours of boating, we'll reach the McCormick Fjord. We'll build the camp at a very picturesque site, close to the ruins of Inuit-stone-igloos. A little bit higher up, you'll see the 1000-year-old relicts of a long-disappeared Eskimo-civilisation (Sarqaq).
We'll stay 2-3 days at this beautiful spot and shall undertake hikes to the surrounding mountains. The peaks offer a fantastic view across the polar sea and wide lonesome valleys. During one of these tours we'll walk on the Inland-Ice and if you are lucky, you might meet the last musk-ox in one of the valleys.

We'll visit an Inuit-summer-camp across the fjord and observe the Inuit while they are catching salmon. And we'll fish salmon ourselves, which we are going to smoke the same day.
On our way back, we'll pass a majestic glacier as close as we can, to take pictures of the 20 meter high drop-off.

Our boats will take us to the Robertson Fjord next. At the entrance we'll land in Siorapaluk. Framed by steep mountains, this is the northernmost settlement of the world. Canada is not far from here. It's only a few boats-hours to Ellesmere Island. There's a post-office, we won't forget to collect a stamp.

Next we'll dive into the world of "ice-palaces". We'll meet great icebergs, most likely we'll be encountering pack-ice too, will have to search for a passage in between the ice-masses, in order to reach our next camp-site. The place stands in sharp contrast to the experiences of that day. It's on a meadow, abundant with beautiful flowers and blackberries. Noone expects such a fertile oasis at this latitude.

We are in the midth of a spectacular glacier circus. Five glaciers fall from the inland-ice towards the sea, some in cascades, forced to flow through narrow valleys and discharging their heavy loads abruptly into the water. This is the birth-place of the icebergs; of huge ice-mountains, some as big as islands! I hardly can remember that I've seen a more spectacular place. In face of this view one participant felt reminded to the creation of the world (quoted above).
Two easy summits are inviting for a climb and the higher we get, the more fascinating the scenery....

We are setting sail finally to drive to the last base-camp in Keqertat. This is the remotest village in the district and the only one, where people still live in accordance to their tradition. Located on an island (Keqertat means "island") we'll undertake a hike across the island during a full-day's-tour and shall be rewarded for it with another great panorama towards the inland-ice and wide glaciers flowing downward to the sea.

We'll be visiting a small bird's island and again shall take pictures of immens ice-giants, which are driven by the tides and the wind, sailing like huge vessels. During our return to Qaanaaq, we'll land in Inerssussat, one of the traditional whaling places of the Inuit, with the rests of old turf-houses and a lot of bleached bones.

14th day:
This is a reserve-day. If conditions will permit, that we arrive on time, we'll spend this day in Qaanaaq.

15th day:
Transfer to the airport, flight to Ilulissat
Opportunity for shopping of souvenirs
Overnight in the hotel

16th day:
Flight to Copenhagen via Kangerlussuaq
Overnight in the hotel

17th day:
Flight to your country

Kindly take note:
In order to join this expedition, you should have some outdoor-experience and the capability to walk across open land without any trails. While climbing mountains, you'll have to hike across loose rocks and rubble safely. In short: you should be an experienced hiker. Otherwise you don't need neither special training nore a special physical condition for this trip. However, we expect you, to be healthy of course.

We'll change the camps only, if sea-conditions are safe. The boat-rides will last from one to three hours.
The routing is highly dependent on the actual ice- and weather-conditions. Nobody can guarantee an itinerary as mentioned above. Changes of the routing might occur and be necessary anytime for safety reasons. You are ready to acknowledge to this condition and willing to adapt to the pace, which is given to us by nature.

You are also ready to actively cooperate with your co-participants in all necessary activities, e.g. the establishment of the base-camps, the necessary care for the boats during the trip etc. We want the expedition to be successful, that's why we all have to contribute our share.

A valid passport is necessary.
We need your personal data upon booking (copy of passport).

What is included:
- Flights economy-class Kopenhagen - Ilulissat - Qaanaaq tur/retur
- Boats from/to Qaanaaq
- German/English/Danish - speaking guide
- Meals from / to Qaanaaq
- Dining-tent, kitchen equipment
- Radios, MayDay-transmitter, GPS
- Emergency-pharmacy
- 2 Overnights in Copenhagen (Hotel **** double/breakfast)
- 2 Overnights in Ilulissat (Hotel *** double/breakfast))
- Overnights in expedition-tents (2 Persons/tent)
- airport taxes

What is not included:
- Meals and beverages in Copenhagen and Ilulissat;
- Overnights and Meals in case of flight delays, if not accepted by Airline
- Entrance fees
- Transfers in Copenhagen
- Personal expenses
- Travel-insurances

Number of participants:
Minimum 4, maximum. 8 persons

Date:
please inquire

Price:
from Copenhagen: ca. 6.650,- Euro
pls inquire for actual rate

If interested in this journey, kindly