The day after our most excellent sea kayaking adventure in Disko Bay, we headed out and about in Qeqertarsuaq, a small town on Disko Island (July 21, 2024). We opted to join the “Medium Fast” group for the hike to Qolortorsuaq waterfall on the Kuussuaq River – the fastest option offered. Our group disembarked first, at about 08:30.

There wasn’t much to see before landing. Thick fog blocked any view of the harbour.

Note that as with the other town visits on this expedition cruise, we had the privilege of wearing our own footwear ashore, rather than muck boots.

We were well into the harbor before we first glimpsed the small town of Qeqertarsuaq. One of the oldest settlements in Greenland, Qeqertarsuaq was settled by whalers in 1773. However, archaeological evidence suggests people lived in the area as much as 6,000 years ago. Present day population is something around 850-1,000 people.

We landed at the ferry harbor, walked up the wooden platform and through the whalebone welcoming arch to the yard of the museum.

Although we’d have a chance to visit the museum later in the day, it wasn’t yet open. Instead, we crossed the street and gathered in a gravel lot to wait for our local guide. I’m ashamed to say that all these months later, I don’t remember his name. I should have made a note at the time.

After introducing himself, our friendly local guide lead us through town, to the outskirts, and onwards to Qolortorsuaq waterfall.

Walk Through Town

We walked generally northeast through town, first on PH Rosendahlip Aqquserna, then veering slightly left onto MP Porsildip Aqquserna, continuing for a short stretch on Hje Tstrupip Aqquserna, and finally to the end of Kuusuup Aqquserna where it transitions into a hiking trail. Along the way we passed Hotel Disko Island, the town’s power-generating plant, emergency services, the cemetery, Arctic Station and the heliport. We also glimpsed the church up a cross street. And – of course – many colorful homes and other buildings.

Our “Medium Fast” group got a little spread out as we made our way through town. Our guide waited at the windsock near the heliport so we could regroup.

Football Pitch

Here, we learned about Qeqertarsuaq’s artificial turf football (soccer) pitch. It has wonderful views across a black sand beach to a cove dotted with icebergs.

Jens Salling, born in Qeqertarsuaq (1949), donated the funding for the football pitch. Salling made his fortune in fishing. He purchased his first large fishing boat in 1977, and in 1985 became a co-owner of Polar Seafood, which was founded the previous year by Anders Jonas Brøns and Hans Pavia Egede. In 1994, Salling and Brøns took over Egede’s share. On Brøns’ death in 2018, Salling became the richest Greenlander, and one of the top 100 richest Danes. On August 15, 2012, he received the Nersormaat in silver – Greenland’s medal for meritorious service. In 2023, he bequeathed his share of the company to his two children, after which his son and Anders Jonas Brøns’ son became the new directors.

Polar Seafood Greenland is the largest private company in Green. It harvests and processes Greenland halibut, redfish, cod, haddock, coalfish, Atlantic herring, mackerel, lumpfish, Arctic prawn and snow crab for worldwide export.

Greenlandic Championship

Qeqertarsuaq hosted the 2024 Greenlandic Championship. The tournament was organized by team G-44 from Qeqertarsuaq, founded more than 80 years ago and run by the same chairman for more than 50 years! The B-67 team from Nuuk placed first, with the local team G-44 placing 4th. Many Greelandic municipalities have invested in FIFA sized artificial grass pitches. Jens Salling-ip Arsaattarfia (Jens Salling Football Stadium) is the only one that’s solely privately-funded.

We took a few photos of the football pitch as we headed out for our hike, and even more on the way back. Expedition staff played a blue vs black pick-up match. I don’t know which team won! But I know that Stefano injured one knee during the match. He hobbled about for the rest of our trip. 🙁

Qolortorsuaq Waterfall Hike

Past the football pitch, our route took us past a camping area, then a blue house with colorful outbuildings, to the end of Kuusuup Aqquserna where it transitioned into a hiking trail.

Just beyond was the most “challenging” part of the hike – a steep descent of a gravel hill to a bridge across the Kuusuup River.

I most remember three things about this hike: 1) the abundance of wildflowers; 2) the waterfall; and 3) the geology.

Wildflowers

According to legend, two strong kayakers paddled Disko Island north, tied to a single strand of hair from a newborn baby. As the kayakers reached Disko Bay, a witch from Ilulissat spotted them, put a curse on them, and stopped them from going further north.

As often happens, there’s a bit of truth in the legend! Disko Island did come from somewhere else! It’s a volcanic island, much younger than the rest of Greenland. And it rose out of the continental split where you now find Iceland. The volcanic soil is rich in nutrients and therefore far greener than the mainland on the same longitude. More than half of Greenland’s plant species can be found here, and we saw quite a variety during our hike.

Qolortorsuaq Waterfall

The waterfall itself has several steps. Most people stopped at an overlook above the bottom step, where the Kuusuup River has carved a round canyon in the basalt rock. Expedition staff kept us back from the best viewpoint, due to the obvious risks of getting there and back safely. But they let us wander upstream a bit until they judged we’d gone too far and started shouting for us to return. 😉

Geology

The volcanic origin of Disko Island means that the rocks and mountains also differ greatly from anywhere else in Greenland. For instance, for almost 50 years, residents of Qullissat mined coal on the northeast coast of Disko Island. As another example, native iron can be found on the northwest part of Disko Island, including a 22-ton (44,000 lbs, 20 tonnes) lump mixture of iron and iron carbide. Disko Island is one of only a few places on earth where native iron is found that is not of meteoric origin.

We observed a couple of things about the geology, including the flat-topped mountain to the northeast of the waterfall, and the jagged outcrops of rock.

Return to Town

From the waterfall, with members of the “Medium Slow” group now mixed in with our “Medium Fast” group, we got the green light to return to the ferry harbour on our own, so long as we were back in a zodiac before noon.

We walked in fog part of the way.

Black Beach

Just past the football pitch, we spotted a beautiful black sand beach, similar to some of the beaches in Iceland. So rather than retrace our steps, we made a detour to explore.

The curved beach stretched all the way to town, partially encircling a cove where multiple icebergs floated. This turned out to be one of the most unique and photogenic spots we visited in Greenland.

Colorful Buildings

As is characteristic in many northern towns, colorful buildings help keep things cheerful during long polar nights. We spotted a couple of people busy refreshing the paint on their red home.

The Lord’s Ink Pot

I learned when writing this post that the big red church in Qeqertarsuaq is uniquely octagonal. Designed by Danish architect Bojsen-Moller in 1915, its called “The Lord’s Ink Pot” on account of its shape. Had I known, I would have at least tried the door. Instead, we came away with only exterior photos. Two photos we took show the octogonal shape – if you look closely!

Early Worms Do NOT Get the Best Cookie Cutters!

I wrote earlier that we had a chance to visit the musem at the end of our visit to town. It’s right near the ferry harbor, and located in the former doctor’s residence and the home of the North Greenland Governor, as it was called in a bygone era.

Unfortunately, we had only a few minutes here. And after seeing some of the creative cookie cutters purchased by members of the “Late Riser” group, I was keen to add them to my collection. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the museum, they were all sold out of polar bear and reindeer (caribou) cookie cutters. I bought a few note cards instead. Then we were on our way, headed back to Ultramarine.

Qeqertarsuaq Fun Facts

• Qeqertarsuaq is on Disko Island, so named because of its round (disk) shape – not because this is where the popular Vaigat dance music from Greenland originates! Vaigat dance music consists, to a large extent, of versions of American country and western music with Greenlandic lyrics. As a style this music has been given the name ‘Vaigat music’, since it was mainly practiced in the mining town of Qullissat by the Vaigat Straight.
• The island’s Greenlandic name, Qeqertarsuaq, means “The Large Island.” With an area of 8,578 km² (3,312 sq mi), it’s the second largest island of Greenland (after the main island) and one of the 100 largest islands in the world.
• The town of Qeqetarsuaq was founded as a whaling station in 1773 (Godhavn), making it one of the Greenland’s oldest townships.
• The town is home to a campus of the University of Copenhagen, known as Arctic Station.
• Rasmus Lerdorf, creator of the computer programming language PHP (a widely-used, open-source, service-side scripting language, primarily used for web development), was born in Qeqertarsuaq.
• More than half of Greenland’s plant species can be found in the backcountry of Qeqertarsuaq.

SUMMARY

We walked 7.7 km, with 150 meters of elevation change during our 3.5 hours out and about in Qeqetarsuaq and its immediate vicinity. In addition to a short waterfall hike along a trail bordered by abundant wildflowers, we enjoyed the story behind Qeqetarsuaq’s bright green football pitch. And the black sand beach with icebergs floating offshore was a photographic highlight of the trip.

For Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap, which includes even more photos, click here.