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JDTANNER@A5.COM

I apologize for the number of pictures included but after removing a few, I just couldn't force myself to eliminate any more. It isn't the quality of my photography that I'm claiming. Greenland just has so much diversity and beauty that each area deserves to be seen in its entirety. You wouldn't go to the Louvre, take a look at the Mona Lisa and leave would you?

Eastern Greenland is the most primitive inhabited part of this huge island of about 1.2 million square miles and some 60,000 population. That's precisely why Diane and I chose it as our destination when we decided to include it in our trip to Iceland.

We wanted our Greenland experience to be unique and it was. Even though they lived much like our American Indians with most of the modern amenities, there was still the overwhelming starkness of the surroundings, even in the summer, to give this part of the world the aura we were looking for. We couldn't help but wonder what it was like here during the long, dark winter.

Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. However, Home Rule was established in 1979 and Greenland is growing less dependant on Denmark and is moving closer each year to becoming a fully independant nation. Who knows when we will see them marching into an Olympic stadium, bearing their own flag and fielding their own athletes?

Only time will tell and I hope to live to see it happen.

We left home June 16, 2004, and returned to Peoria, IL, July 4. We flew from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Constable Point, Greenland. After waiting 3 hours for a fog-bound helicopter to arrive with 11 additional passengers, the airline gave up and left without them for Kulusuk. We had 4 days and 3 nights there in the two towns, flying from one to the other and back by helicopter. I considered this a bonus.

I know there will be some duplication of other articles I've seen on worldisround but hope I can add enough to make this one as interesting to you as it was to us.

I welcome any additions, corrections, etc., since we were sometimes lax in keeping notes for every picture taken. Just drop me an e-mail at the address below.

Since all our meals were included, we didn't exchange any money in Greenland. We paid for our optional tours with Visa and made a couple of purchases with US dollars.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jim & Diane Tanner, Peoria, IL, USA. jdtanner@a5.com