An Island That's Living Up to Its Name

"We have the opportunity to show the rest of the world that what they are saying about global warming has something to it," said Anthon Frederiksen, the mayor of Ilulissat, 600 miles up the coast from southern Greenland's sheep country and 170 miles north of the Arctic Circle. "Tourists can come here to see it. Maybe it will cause some people to put on the brakes, to realize that global warming is real."

Ilulissat is a town of 4,600 who live in a pleasant scattering of colorful matchbox buildings perched on a majestic fiord. It is a fishing town. It still has muddy streets and the fishy proof in the air of its working nature. The town also has whole neighborhoods devoted to doghouses. There are more dogs in Ilulissat than people. No cuddling, thank you, these are scruffy working dogs used mainly for sled trips. They persistently give the town a howling serenade.

The town sits at the exit of the Jakobshavn Glacier, the world's fastest and most prolific producer of icebergs. That has made Frederiksen hopeful that the tourist trade will grow, even as fishing may falter as warmer seas drive away the shrimp that are the prime prey of the fleet.

"We are right next to nature here. The ice fiord can be a very dramatic experience for tourists," he said.

For the Daring, a Tent

The nature is surreal. In the summer, the sun finds a parking space above the horizon and seems not to move. The day lingers, and lingers. Your body is fooled: The bright light must mean there is more to do, until you realize it is almost midnight and you have not yet had dinner. You force yourself to bed, but sleeping in such bright light seems somehow wrong.

In the extended day, you can simply walk to the edge of the ice field to watch the bergs go by, or take a boat to weave in and out of the cold giants. The glaciers are crystalline blue sculptures on the flat surface of the sea.

There is a remote element of danger to add to the thrill. Icebergs melt from the bottom and may flip over when they become top-heavy. Some years ago, a family of tourists was rescued by fishermen when the group was dragged from shore by the tsunami-like wave created by a flipping iceberg, Frederiksen said.

Tour agencies in town offer other variations of the icy exotic: barbecues of whale and seal meat on the ice, igloo tours, kayaking, skimobiling, whale watching, and camping trips with dog teams pulling sleds.

The attractions have made Ilulissat the prime stop for tourists and a port of call for dozens of cruise ships. It has better-than-Greenland-average facilities. The Hotel Arctic is perched on a rocky promontory across from town and offers fresh new rooms and excellent dining. The Hotel Hvide Falk in town just remodeled its upper floor with lots of glass and outdoor decking.

Those facilities are the exception for Greenland travelers, however. Greenland is expensive to navigate on your own. It offers backpacker's amenities at business executive's prices. Hotel rooms typically start at $200 a night, and they're likely to be worn and smoky. There are hostels and shared-bathroom accommodations, but even these don't come cheap.

Camping is a good bet for the adventurous few willing to lather themselves with bug spray to repel the voracious mosquitoes that roar out of the tundra in the summer.

If you can meet its occasional schedule, the ferry that slowly plies the towns and hamlets along the western coastline offers a relaxing way to see the scenery and to witness small-town life in the Arctic. Because the ferry is the only affordable transit between towns, each stop offers scenes of tearful farewells, happy reunions and the bustle of cargo carried on and off.

Air Greenland offers puddle-jump service on Dash-7 and Twin Otter planes and Sikorsky helicopters to 17 towns in Greenland. But the schedule is bewildering, and the price of even a short leg is hundreds of dollars -- if you can get them to surrender a ticket. Despite a promising Web site, Air Greenland's paper-based ticketing system makes some Third World airlines look efficient. You know you're in trouble when the airline's ticketing counter is baffled by a credit card.

Arranged tours cut down on the exasperation. There are a great variety tailored for many tastes: camping trips for one night or one week, sailboats on the shores, helicopter overflights and boat rides among the icebergs. Winter tours offer the chance to camp out in gripping cold to watch the ethereal dance of the Northern Lights in the sky.

In every direction, any season, Greenland serves up the lure of the Arctic in glorious relief. The changing climate is slowly altering that scene, however. Before long, it may be a far different journey.

Doug Struck is The Post's Canada correspondent.