ORYX Polar

Greenland

NOT SO GREEN, BUT OH SO COLOURFUL.

Erik the Red is often credited with one of history's first false marketing campaigns. Banished from Iceland in AD 982, the Viking explorer set out to establish a new colony on this immense Arctic island, naming it Greenland in the hope that prospective settlers would imagine grassy pastures and frolicking sheep.

They were misled.

Around 80% of the island is buried beneath a permanent ice sheet, and the green bits are only green for a few months in summer. Yet the name Greenland is perhaps not entirely deceptive. It depends on one's perspective.

For the native Inuit, Greenland has never been a barren wilderness to endure, but a place of extraordinary abundance. Ice is not an obstacle, but an opportunity to hunt and fish. Winter does not bring life to a halt; it brings people closer together around warm kitchen tables on long Arctic nights.

For visitors willing to embrace this perspective, Greenland reveals a wilderness of incomparable beauty. Travel through deep glacial fjords, your ship zigzagging between floating islands of sapphire-blue ice. Cross endless tundra on a traditional dogsled. Search for musk oxen through snow-covered landscapes, or end the day with freshly caught Arctic char in a tiny coastal hamlet.

Polar bears and polar spas. Ice-filled bays and seabird soup. Beluga whales and glaciers. Quaint little villages, here and there.

This is Greenland: perhaps not so green as its name implies, but something altogether more remarkable—an island of icy blues, brilliant whites, and nights alive with the riotous colors of the great Northern Lights.

Birdlife is also abundant, especially during the summer months when migratory birds arrive to breed. Species such as Atlantic puffins, snowy owls, white-tailed eagles, and rock ptarmigans nest along cliffs and coastal areas.

Overall, Greenland’s wildlife reflects remarkable adaptations to extreme cold, limited vegetation, and long seasonal cycles. These animals are an essential part of the Arctic ecosystem and have long been closely connected to the culture and traditions of Greenland’s Indigenous Inuit communities.

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ORYX Polar Experiences

Tracing Greenland’s Earliest Stories: Saqqaq Culture Site

Visit the archaeological remains of the Saqqaq culture while staying with Nomad Greenland, where some of Greenland’s earliest known inhabitants once lived and left their mark on this vast, remote landscape.

This ancient society predates the modern Kalaallit and represents one of the longest recorded periods of habitation in Greenland’s history. Though not direct ancestors of today’s Greenlandic people, their presence forms a vital chapter in understanding the deep migrations that shaped the Arctic.

Exploring the site offers a rare connection to this distant past, where fragments of tools, settlement traces, and the surrounding silence together reveal a story of resilience, adaptation, and survival in one of the world’s most extreme environments.

Traditional Fishing at Camp Kangiusaq

Experience fishing the Greenlandic way at Camp Kangiusaq, where time on the water reflects a long-standing tradition shaped by the rhythm of the Arctic coast.

Join a guided excursion aboard a small motorboat, using traditional handlines to catch cod straight from the cold northern waters. The day is completed in true camp style, with freshly caught fish prepared into a simple, warming soup shared together back on shore.

Guests are also guided through the traditional process of cleaning and filleting their catch, gaining hands-on insight into the practical skills that have supported life in this environment for generations.

For those who wish to explore further, fishing rods are available at camp for shoreline fishing, where cod — and occasionally Arctic char — can be caught in the quiet waters around Kangiusaq.

Dog Sledding Through Greenland’s Arctic Legacy

Few experiences connect you to Greenland quite like travelling by dog sled — a tradition woven into the fabric of Arctic life for more than 4,000 years.

Long before roads or snowmobiles, Greenlanders relied on dog teams to survive the unforgiving polar landscape, crossing frozen fjords and sea ice to hunt seals, fish remote waters, and travel inland in pursuit of musk oxen. For centuries, dog sledding was not simply transport — it was essential to life in the Arctic.

Today, while snowmobiles have replaced many traditional journeys and sled dog numbers have declined significantly, dog sledding remains one of Greenland’s most enduring cultural traditions. On this experience, guests have the rare opportunity to travel as generations of Greenlanders once did, gliding across snow-covered landscapes behind a team of powerful Arctic dogs.

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