Eric’s 2026 Iceland and Greenland Trip

That gave us more free time in Tasiilaq, so I went to the communal art studio where there was a piece I had considered buying—a small carving of a hunter in a canoe with a spear and a paddle. However, it had sold out. Tasiilaq is hopping! Back at the hotel, somebody pointed out the hotel had a similar carving in their gift shop. It is by the same artist, I expect, so I settled for buying from the hotel instead of directly from the local artist.

At 13:00, we were at the helipad, and the flight to Kulusuk took just about 15 minutes and was a lot smoother than any boat. The helicopter seated only ten passengers, so our trip leader had to go by boat and meet us later. We waited for her at Hotel Kulusuk, which is owned by the same person who owns Hotel Angmagssalik in Tasiilaq, the iceberg-viewing boats, the gift/specialty store, and maybe other things around town. From what I gather, he is a benevolent presence in the area, lobbying for eastern Greenland (the capital is in the west and Denmark is very far away), and making efforts to employ people.

From Hotel Kulusuk, we went to Kulusuk Museum. Among other things we learned, wood was precious in the area, coming largely from driftwood, so most art was made with other materials. After the museum, we walked around town, including to a church built from wood from a ship that ran aground. Some puppies playing and yipping on one side of town seemed to set off dogs howling across town.

Then we headed for the airport. The woman running the Icelandair station in Kulusuk is Turkish (if I recall correctly). So she must have some story, moving from Turkey and getting a job with Icelandair and getting assigned to a town of 200 people in Greenland. I hope it is a rotating assignment, with each person staying for a season, unless they turn out to really like it.

The airport turned out to have a decent-size departure lounge that we had not seen on the way in, with a modern luggage scanner and everything, so we went through and waited for our flight back to Iceland. That went without incident.