Map of Greenland
 
Trip Summary

Difficulty and participation:  This a winter expedition to a remote area, and thus the inherent risks of such an activity exist.  For most of the time, participants will be sitting on the sleds but there may be occasions when you must walk or help push the sled up steeper slopes.  Participants should also be willing to help and participate with the day-to-day running of the journey, including helping to pitch/strike camps, cooking, washing up, collecting water and so on.  

Fitness:  A good bill of health and reasonable basic fitness, plus an ability to cope with cold conditions and basic accommodation, including tents.

Duration:  10 Days ex Home Country

Dates:  Friday departures throughout Feb, March and May

Price:  £2,570

Deposit:  15% on booking, the balance to be paid at least 10 weeks before departure.

Price Includes:         

  • Return transfers from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik accommodation
  • 2 nights guesthouse accommodation in Iceland
  • Return flights between Iceland and Greenland, including taxes
  • Return helicopter transfers from Constable Point to Ittoqqortoormiit
  • Accommodation in Greenland
  • Food in Greenland
  • Transportation in Greenland
  • 6 days dog sledding tour with local guides

Not included:

  • Flights between your home country and Keflavik, Iceland (can be arranged for UK customers)
  • Personal travel insurance
  • Any activities during resting days or city tours other than those described in the itinerary
  • Meals in Iceland
  • Any extra costs that you may incur if your flights are delayed or cancelled

Experience Required:  The area of Greenland that this expedition shall travel though comprises a spectacular landscape of fjords, mountains glaciers and valleys.  This is likely to be covered by snow and ice, and there may also be rough/steep terrain to negotiate. A good level of health and basic fitness will help to get the most out of this expedition.

 
Liverpool Land Dog Sled Journey Itinerary

Friday  Arrive at Keflavik International Airport, Iceland and transfer to guesthouse accommodation in central Reykjavik for an overnight stop.  Time to explore the city, depending on when you arrive.

Saturday  Fly Reykjavik to Constable Point, East Greenland.  Flights are with Air Iceland.  A spectacular flight over the icebergs of the Denmark Straits in a small Fokker 50 plane, and great views of Greenland’s coast and the pack ice as we get closer. Landing on the gravel strip in amongst the mountains is quite an experience.  At the airport you will transfer to the helicopter for a thrilling flight to the village of Ittoqqortoormiit where you will be met by our in-country team and taken to your accommodation in a guesthouse.  There will be time for a look around the village, and your guide will give you some briefings about the trip and information about the area.

Sunday  Into the Wilds.   Meet your guides in the tourist office during the morning for an overview of the trip.  Suitable clothing (including seal skins!) for the dog sledding will be issued, and then the adventure begins.  The dog sled route for the first day is Scoresbysund to Kap Stewart via Kap Hope.  The guides will prepare dinner out of Greenlandic food in the evening (could include musk ox, whale, fish, seal, bear, walrus, hare ...). During the day several breaks will be made for lunch, coffee and snacks.  Spend the night in a cabin at Kap Stewart.

Monday  Up Hurry Fjord.   Sledding from Kap Stewart to the cabin at Kalkdalen, via the Fame Islands (named after the ship of English explorer William Scoresby).  The route takes a line up the frozen Hurry Fjord – a narrow inlet that separates Jameson Land to the west from Liverpool Land to the east.  The cabin at Kalkdalen is in excellent condition.  Kalkdalen is also known as ‘the goose nest’, and there are likely to be many geese can be found here in the spring.

Tuesday  To the Outer Coast.  From Kalkdalen the sledges head inland across Liverpool Land to the outer coast.   Our route through the mountains provides some of the most beautiful scenery of the trip, and offers some exciting contrasts to sledging on the sea ice. Overnight in tents on the sea ice in Store Fjord.

Wednesday  South along the coast.    Sledging southwards down the outer coast.  There is a good chance of seeing Polar Bears along this stretch, and plenty of seals on the ice are also likely.  The guides may want to hunt one of these for dinner, and for the dogs.  In spring, thousands of birds can be seen in the impressive colonies that line the cliffs along the coast.  It’s a very spectacular area, with lots of big icebergs frozen into the sea ice.  Overnight in a cabin at Kap Høegh.

Thursday  Over the Glacier.    From Kap Høegh the sledges head back inland, over a glacier named Apuseq/Hvidefjeld to Kap Swainson. The views from the glacier across the frozen Scoresby Sund are truly spectacular.  Overnight in the cabins at Kap Swainson.

Friday    Return to Ittoqqortoormiit.  From Kap Swainson back to Ittoqqortoormiit via Kap Tobin.   Just before Kap Tobin there’s the chance for a stopover at some hot springs – the warmest in Greenland!  Almost incomprehensible that such things could exist is this icy wilderness!   In the evening, dinner will be laid on at one of the houses in town.  This will be local Greenlandic food such as Musk Ox roast or smoked Arctic Char.  Accommodation back in the guesthouse.

Saturday  Return to Iceland.    Helicopter transfer back to Constable Point in time for flight to Reykjavik Domestic Airport. Transfer to guesthouse accommodation in central Reykjavik.

Sunday  Transfer by bus to Keflavik International Airport in time for flights back the UK.

Please remember that, like all our itineraries, this is subject to change depending on local snow, ice and weather conditions that we encounter at the time.  We will of course always try to follow the original programme as closely as possible.

 

East Greenland dog sledding, Photo: Derek Reay
Dog sledding in Liverpool Land, East Greenland
Tough dog - he'll pull all day
Dog sleds stopped for the day, Scoresbysund, East Greenland

Dog sled camp near Scoresbysund, Greenland

 
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