Explore Greenland from Base Camp with Natural Habitat Adventures

PHOTO: A new base camp for Natural Habitat Adventures will look out onto the Sermilik Fjord. (Photos courtesy of Natural Habitat Adventures)

The East Coast of Greenland, a raw wilderness carved by glaciers and fjords, will be explored on a nine-day journey being offered by Natural Habitat Adventures. The Natural Habitat’s Base Camp Greenland will open in 2015 and make it possible for the area to receive visitors. The camp looks out on the Greenland Ice Sheet – the worlds’ second-largest ice mass, a place that provides an intimate look at global warming, as glaciers spawn gigantic icebergs and meltwater rivers form in front of the ice cap.

The trip spends four nights at Base Camp Greenland on Sermilik Fjord, at the center of the “Arctic Riviera,” so called for its many dry and sunny summer days. Base Camp Greenland was designed by Olaf Malver, Natural Habitat’s chief exploratory officer, who has been to Greenland 26 times and pioneered many kayaking “firsts” there. The camp allows guests to explore some of Greenland’s wildest territory in a way that’s neither physically demanding like a backpacking expedition nor is it a sedentary cruise on a ship with a hundred or more passengers.

PHOTO: There’s wildlife large and small, like this Arctic Fox, in Greenland.

Participants will go whale watching, sea kayaking, hiking and visit traditional Inuit villages. The expedition will use private tent cabins that have the same sort of amenities that deluxe African-safari-style tents have such as heating, carpet, beds with duvets and pillows, en suite toilets and washbasins, and verandas with views. Private hot showers are available in a separate facility. A camp chef prepares fresh and creative meals in the common area where guests gather for dining, relaxing and interpretive presentations.

The journey begins in Reykjavik, Iceland, with a group flight to Kulusuk, Greenland, then continues by helicopter to Tasiilaq, the small administrative center of East Greenland. After a three-night stay in Tasiilaq that explores Inuit culture, with whale-watching, kayaking and hiking excursions, the adventure continues with a boat ride from Tasiilaq to Base Camp Greenland for four nights, before returning to Reykjavik for a final night.

The journey, limited to 12 travelers, will be offered four times in 2015: Aug. 1 to 9, Aug. 9 to 18, Aug. 18 to 26 and Aug. 26 to Sept. 3.