The view of QooroqGlacier after a 5-milehike from the village ofIgaliku.

Above, theview ofQooroqGlacier aftera 5-mile hikefrom thevillage ofIgalikuthroughlushmeadowsand pastmossywaterfalls.Left, acolorfulhouse with anauticaltheme inQaqortoq,SouthGreenland’slargesttown.

By Margo Pfeiff

Larseraq Broberg steers our tiny boataround bobbing blue “bergy bits,” rem-nants of once-grand icebergs that havedrifted to the head of a long fjord inSouth Greenland, where he drops me atthe sheep farm of Lars and MakkakNielsen. I follow the couple and theirfeisty border collie across a grassy field,kicking up wafts of wild thyme en routeto their red farmhouse.

“The sheep eat the thyme and it fla-vors the meat,” says Makkak, setting a

platter laden with one of their crispy-skinned, slow-roasted lambs on thedining room table alongside a pot ofreindeer stew, the prize of a local hunt.There are potatoes, turnips and carrotsfrom the garden and herbs like subarcticangelica harvested from the wild. Des-sert is tundra blueberry cheesecake. It’sa meal similar to the one Makkak re-cently created for the television series “ATaste of Greenland” that is broadcastinternationally and a hit in Europe.

The Nielsens’ daughter, Maria, just Photos by Margo Pfeiff / Special to The Chronicle

GREENLAND

An island of ice,full of warmthSparsely populated, but with welcoming folks

Greenland continues on N4

TravelSan Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com | Sunday, May 12, 2013 | Section N

Gold Country festival honors historic farm’s diverse caretakersGold Country’s history isn’t only aboutgold. The Wakamatsu Farm Festival hon-ors the Nisenan tribe, the first Japanesecolony in America, the gold seekers andthe Veerkamp family, all of whom madetheir lives on the Wakamatsu Tea andSilk Colony Farm in the foothills of Pla-cerville. Performers and exhibits includeAmerican Indian dancers and artists,Gold Rush living history, Japanese artistsand martial arts, organic farm tours, apetting zoo, live music and an interactiveart exhibit inspired by the farm’s history.

Vitals: Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. adults$20, youths $7, younger than 10 free. 941 Cold Springs Road, Placerville. (530) 621-1224, www.arconservancy.org/wakamatsu.

1 Tahoe Rim Trail Challenge:Six of Lake Tahoe’s most scenicsites beckon all comers to completethe inaugural Tahoe Rim TrailChallenge: Hike, bike, snowshoe orride a horse to each destination bythe end of the year. Registrationopens Wednesday. Participants willbe invited to special events createdjust for Trail Challenge membersand have access to the members-only website where they can accessthe six destinations’ GPS way-points, track their progress andshare pictures. June 1 challengekickoff. $55 general (includes TrailChallenge membership), $20 cur-rent members. (775) 298-0012,www.tahoerimtrail.org.

1 San Diego showcases Mis-sion Trails park: San Diego’sMission Trails Regional Park,one of the country’s largest urbanparks, puts its varied offeringson display during Explore Mis-sion Trails Day, whose themethis year is “Connecting ChildrenWith Nature.” Free guided na-ture walks and talks throughoutthe park, a special coyote pro-gram and lots of live animals willappeal to children. The visitorcenter will keep children’s craftsand activities such as free ponyrides and a climbing wall goingall day. Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.Free. (619) 668-3281, www.mtrp.org/emtday.asp.

READY, SET, GO By Christine Delsol

Wakamatsu Farm Festival 2012

Tasting Room: Barberameets bocce at Suncé N6

N4 | Sunday, May 12, 2013 | San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com

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back from university in Calga-ry, Alberta, chats excitedly inEnglish and Danish aboutplanning her wedding cos-tume, explaining that her out-fit will feature the same col-orful traditional beaded collarshe wore on her first day ofschool and at her confirma-tion, but atop white fabric.

“And, of course, I’ll be wear-ing white sealskin pants andkamiks,” or boots, she says.

Then the 27-year-old Nordicbeauty leans across the tableand speaks to her father in hernative tongue, Greenlandic, anEskimo-Aleut language. Mariamay look as if she walked off astreet in Copenhagen, but shecan trace her Inuit ancestry forgenerations.

Even after a week of touringthe remote toe of Greenland,the world’s biggest islandhasn’t eased up on deliveringunexpected cultural, culinaryand wilderness punches. I maybe at the end of a roadlessfjord trafficked by polar bearsand walrus, where the nearestsign of neighbors is a smatter-ing of 10th century Norse ru-ins, but there is nothing back-ward about this intriguingpart of the world. It is at oncerural and fiercely local, yetalso sophisticated and world-savvy: traditional, yet stylish.

Land of low densityGreenland is a unique

home-ruled Inuit nation with-in the Kingdom of Denmark.The least populated country inthe world is more than three

times the size of Texas, yetwith a scant 57,000 folks —about 90 percent of them Inuit,once known as Eskimo. As ithurtles toward independencefrom Denmark, it faces a slewof 20th century issues, like theworld’s fastest rate of climatewarming and Chinese miningconglomerates eying the rareearths and other mineralsemerging from beneath thevast ice cap that covers three-quarters of the island. Yet, inmany ways it is still wired toits hunter-gatherer past.

Most of the populationperches on the ice-free westcoast fringe. While the touristmecca is north of the capital ofNuuk at Disko Bay, whereparades of giant icebergs calvefrom the ice cap, I headedsouth to a region less traveled.South Greenland is the coun-

try’s warmest area, wheresummer temperatures reachinto the 60s, a lush landscapethat inspired Eric the Red tobring hundreds of settlers tofarm cattle, sheep and horsesaround A.D. 950.

South Greenland is still thecountry’s agricultural hub —its tender lamb is a sought-after commodity in Europe.That makes it an off-the-beat-en track foodie destination forthose who also like to hike,kayak, get to know unpreten-tious locals or just cruise spec-tacular waterways beneathglacier-topped fjords.

I land at Narsarsuaq (pop-ulation 158), South Greenland’sgateway, on one of this moun-tainous country’s few run-ways. Most were built duringWorld War II by the U.S. mil-itary as part of an aircraft

supply route to Europe. Nar-sarsuaq was Bluie West Oneair base from 1941-58. Afterprowling the well-stocked littlemilitary museum, I dined onmusk ox sliced and seared on ablisteringly hot black rock,delivered to my table in thetown’s only hotel, once themilitary barracks, where Ispend the night.

Scenic villagesIn the morning I head for

coffee to the cheery Blue Icecafe-shop-outfitter to meet theowner, Frenchman Jacky Si-moud, who operates thescheduled small boat shuttlesand charters up and down thefjords. These boats are theonly way besides commercialhelicopters to reach SouthGreenland’s handful of smalltowns, ruins, sheep farms,

glaciers and trailheads. I hoponto the little wooden boatPuttut, chugging throughwaters dotted with ice along-side hillsides dotted withsheep en route to my first stop,the village of Igaliku.

On board, two archaeol-ogists are heading to Igalikufor a dig. “It was the seat of theNorwegian bishop during therural era of the Norse — theywere not Vikings, who werewarriors,” says the DanishNational Museum’s Jette Arne-borg. “They traded back toEurope luxury items like wal-rus ivory tusks.” Then theysuddenly and mysteriouslyvanished in the 15th century.

Once ashore, it’s an hour’seasy hike up and over a slopetoward Igaliku (population 30),considered one of Greenland’smost scenic villages. It appearssuddenly over the rise, anidyllic smattering of red, tur-quoise and yellow houses onthe shore of a fjord. Laundryflaps in the breeze, chickensare herded by enthusiasticsheepdogs, and a schoolhouseaccommodates three students.Dinner at the eight-room Igali-ku Hotel is a lively crowd ofarchaeologists and their fieldworkers, as well as severalDanes on school break hikinga multiday trail.

“It’s called allemandsret,meaning we can camp free onprivate land as long as weavoid cultivated fields andgrazing sheep,” says one ofstudents.

A German couple is alsotrekking, but staying at some

Land of ice and warm heartsGreenland from page N1

Photos by Margo Pfeiff / Special to The Chronicle

The town of Qaqortoq, population 3,200, is a charming cluster of colorful houses perched on a steep hillside overlooking a harbor.

Makkak Nielsen with atundra blueberry cheesecaketo end a home-cooked meal.

Greenlandic boots and cooking supplies at the Ipiutaq guestfarm of Agathe and Kalista Devisme-Poulsen.

Greenland continues on N5

FROM THE COVER

San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com | Sunday, May 12, 2013 | N5

of the dozen hospitable sheepfarms in the area while theirluggage is transferred by boat.

I stroll through the impres-sive 12th century ruins ofNorse Greenland’s religiousheart, then hike in morningsunshine through buttercupsand lupins for 5 miles with thesmell of the sea and wild lav-ender, through lush meadowsand past mossy waterfalls to alunchtime lookout over Qoo-roq Glacier. Far below, kayaksfrom Jacky’s Blue Ice basecamp navigate around icebergsin the indigo water.

Stairmaster streetsBy late afternoon I have

been shuttled to Qaqortoq(“Ha-hor-talk”), South Green-land’s largest town (population3,200). It’s a charming clusterof colorful houses perched ona steep hillside overlooking aharbor, my base for a few daysof day tripping. I stroll thesteep Stairmaster streets, pok-ing into shops selling Danishpastries and whale blubber,then grab a kayak for a fewhours of paddling.

In the morning, I beeline forthe daily “country food” mar-ket, where fresh reindeer,caribou, musk ox, Arctic charand halibut are sold on thewaterfront. Lunch at the ho-tel’s gourmet restaurant is anopen-faced Danish sandwichburied in fresh Greenlandicshrimp and washed downwith Eric the Red Ale fromNuuk’s Godthaab Bryghusmicrobrewery.

Qaqortoq is the headquar-ters for Great Greenland Fur-house, a modern tannery andprocessing company that pro-duces chic, Danish-designedhaute couture and other prod-ucts made from Greenland fur

and sealskin. That’s where Icatch up with Kenneth Høegh,the country’s representative toVietnam, who also owns thelocal tourist outfitter. We walkto the pink house of 71-year-old Kaaleeraq “Little Karl”Ottosen, a full-time seal hunterwhose generations-old liveli-hood is threatened by the Eu-ropean Union’s sealskin ban.

“Despite the fact that Green-land meets the requirementsfor a ban exemption due to ourdocumented sustainable sealharvesting, visitors are afraidto take sealskin products backhome,” Høegh translates fromGreenlandic as we drink Lab-rador tea and munch deliciousseal carpaccio.

That, combined with oceanwarming that has sent codnorthward and out of reach, isaffecting South Greenland’seconomy, making mining inev-itable despite its environmen-tal and cultural disadvantages.

I see Ottosen later that eve-ning, a figure from centuriesago in his traditional whiteGreenlandic costume, with thetown choir assembled for aconcert in the town’s wooden1832 Lutheran church, per-forming for passengers from acruise ship anchored offshore.

International love storyA moody sky and drizzle

feel like an appropriate atmo-sphere in which to visit thestone ruins of a Norse farm-stead at Hvalsey, including afeasting hall, dairy and stables.The church is the most spec-tacular ruin, more than 50 feetlong. Mentioned in medievalwritings, the last reference tothe Norse settlement in Green-land before it vanished wasthe wedding of an Icelandiccouple at this church in Sep-tember 1408.

Afterward, I step off the

boat for afternoon tea and intothe plot of an internationallove story, that of Agathe De-visme and Kalista Poulsen —not exactly what I expected ata sheep farm. But then again,that’s not what the Frencharchitect Devisme expectedwhen she came to visit hersister studying agriculture atan experimental farm nearbyat Upernaviarsuk, where Poul-sen was also a student. Thetwo fell in love and she aban-doned her career, working asthe farm school chef for twoyears until Poulsen graduated.

Then they bought Ipiutaq in2005 and turned it into aworking guest farm. Devismeis a rural activist trying topersuade local farms to recy-cle, and she has won an entre-preneurial award for theirsolar-powered eco guest lodgeand the unique snacks andmeals she serves visitors.

“I mix Greenlandic food andFrench tradition,” she says in acharming French accent, serv-ing cookies and finger cakeslike rhubarb angelica usingblue harebells and crowberriesand pouring tea into hergrandmother’s china. “Dinnerscan include dried and smokedreindeer with wild Greenlan-dic sorrel, or traditional muk-tuk (whale skin) with my an-gelica-garlic-rosemary pick-les.”

Ancient ice and airHeading back to the airstrip

at Narsarsuaq, the boat stopsin the tiny settlement of Qas-siarsuk, where a replica hasbeen reconstructed from theruins of the tiny Christianchurch that Eric the Red builtfor his wife, who converted toChristianity. We pass the footof Qooroq glacier, which calvesabout 200,000 tons of ice daily.

We drift a while with the

current, the silence brokenonly by the sound of ice crack-ing, rolling and splashing intothe fjord.

A few chunks are hauled onboard and chipped into glass-es. Cocktails are poured andmini-explosions erupt in our

glasses as 10,000-year-old airbubbles escape from the ice —amid our civilized drinks, tinyechoes of the formation of anancient, rough-hewn land.

Margo Pfeiff is a freelance writer.E-mail: travel@sfchronicle.com

Photos by Margo Pfeiff / Special to The Chronicle

A distinctive bright blue iceberg that calved off the Greenlandic ice cap floats in a fjord. The Qooroq glacier calves about 200,000 tons of ice daily.

If you goGETTING THEREThe main travel season is mid-June through September. English iswidely spoken. Scandinavian Airlines, www.flysas.com/en/us,recently launched San Francisco-Copenhagen flights. Spend thenight in Copenhagen, then connect to Narsarsuaq (the only airport inSouth Greenland) on Air Greenland, www.airgreenland.com. Or con-nect with Icelandair, www.icelandair.com, in Seattle to Reykjavik.From there you can transfer to domestic carrier Air Iceland, www.airiceland.is, for a direct flight to Narsarsuaq.

WHERE TO STAY AND EATHotel Hans Egede: +299 32 42 22. http://engelsk.hhe.gl. Double rooms from $340. Amodern hotel in the capital of Nuuk. There isa rooftop bar with a view, as well as tworestaurants, including a steakhouse, and oneof the best Greenlandic cuisine restaurants inthe country, Sarfalik. Dinner for two: $160.

The Godthaab Bryghus: +299 34 80 60.www.bryggeriet.gl. A microbrewery in Nuukthat has a range of beers on tap and servesburgers, steaks, musk ox, reindeer and lamb.Dinner for two: $45.

Hotel Qaqortoq: +299 64 22 82. www.hotel-qaqortoq.gl. A contemporary hotel inQaqortoq. Double rooms $295. Its NanoqSteakhouse serves excellent local Green-landic cuisine. Dinner for two: $140.

Igaliku Country Hotel: A simple, comfort-able village inn with a dining room. Bookthrough Blue Ice: www.blueice.gl/Igaliku_accommodation.html. $190 double, in-cluding full breakfast.

Stay at the head of a remote fjord in rusticbut comfortable accommodations on asheep farm at Kangerluarsorujuk (+299 1992 07, e-mail: kang27@greennet.gl) andshare a home-cooked local meal with own-ers Makkak and Lars Nielsen. Per personwith a full breakfast $45. Dinner is $34 perperson. Boat shuttle is extra.

Drop in for a French-Greenlandic gourmetmeal or stay in a simple, chic cottage with aview at Ipiutaq Guest Farm with Agatheand Kalista. The farm is also the site ofsome of Greenland’s best Arctic char fish-ing. Open June 15-Sept. 30. www.ipiutaq.gl.Rate: minimum two-night stay in a guestroom $160 per person per night, all mealsincluded. A self-catered six-to-eight-personcottage starts at $290 per night for longerstays. Dinners $60 per person.

GETTINGAROUNDNo roads connectSouth Greenlandtowns and farms, sotransfers throughoutthe fjords are bysmall boats operatedby Narsarsuaq-basedBlue Ice Explorer.They also offer cus-tom tours and cruisesto Viking ruins, gla-ciers and other pointsof interest. Licensedoutdoor adventureoperators, they canarrange kayaking andhiking trips. Tel: +29949 73 71; www.blueice.gl.

Air Greenland alsooffers scheduledhelicopter servicesbetween SouthGreenland towns.www.airgreenland.com.

MOREINFORMATIONGreenland Tourismwww.greenland.com/en, or e-mailsanfrancisco@greenland.com withquestions.

For more foodieinformation, checkout A Taste of SouthGreenland: www.mamartut.gl/english/index.htm.

The fjord view from the remote guest farm of Agathe and Kalista Devisme-Poulsen. Theybought Ipiutaq in 2005 and turned it into a working guest farm.

A church at Hvalsey, Greenland’s largest, best preserved Norseruins, was originally built in the late 10th century.

Greenland from page N4