Not long after abandoning the guided tour of the remote Greenlandic settlement of Oqaatsut to say hello to a trio of gorgeous husky puppies, I was discovered by my new friend Shachaf. Soon after more and more puppies arrived to say hello!
If you have been following this blog for more than a few weeks you may be all too aware of my love for huskies, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that I ended up being far more interested in meeting all these furry puppers than in seeing the scenery.
The next photograph is my favourite photo of me EVER.
So many husky pups!
There were all so excitable and so eager to give kisses…
…to steal my beanie…
…to jump all over me…
…and to pose like little models on my legs!
This little guy laying on my legs was smaller than a lot of the other pups and I don’t know why, but he was instantly my favourite. I was then encouraged to leave my new furry friends so that I could make the most of my time and explore the small settlement. With a heavy heart I said goodbye to my furry babies, but knew that I would see them again before the day was through.
I must admit, once I finally dragged myself away I was really able to appreciate the beauty of the settlement. With only 33 inhabitants at the time of visiting, the word peaceful doesn’t even begin to describe the quiet and serenity. Many of the buildings and homes don’t have running water and lack many amenities that as an Australian I have always been accustomed to having – but each local I met seemed incredibly happy. More proof that money and modern amenities cannot buy happiness!
Many of the buildings appeared to be abandoned, but this is not uncommon in Greenland. It is often cheaper to simply abandon a property than to attempt to sell it or to knock it down.
The homes were so bright and colourful. The whole area looks too beautiful to be real. I can’t imagine how wonderful it must be to wake up and open your front door to see icebergs every day!
The settlement has barely any buildings and infrastructure, but it does boast a small playground and on it were gorgeous Inuit children playing under the watchful eye of a bunch of baby huskies.
I wish I could say that I spent every single second of my free time in Oqaatsut exploring all the hidden nooks and crannies in the gorgeous settlement, but that would be a flat out lie.
What really happened was that my favourite little husky puppy found his way back to me and I spent the rest of my afternoon giving him as many cuddles as possible!
He was also a perfect little model and was all too happy to pose perfectly until I got the desired photo!
He was so small, so fluffy, so affectionate. If there was no airport security he would’ve been coming home with me! I decided to name him Archie – which I think suited him perfectly.
After at least 45 minutes of photos and cuddles, I noticed that Archie had become stiff and seemed to be watching something intently.
I looked in the direction of his gaze and there it was – the reason for a change in his demeanor – a medium sized arctic wolf was lurking about 25m away, underneath one of the houses.
I immediately became nervous, my only experience with wolves was what I had seen on Animal Planet documentaries and not a great deal of it portrayed wolves as not being vicious animals.
As soon as the wolf saw us looking at it, it began to approach us slowly.
I was pretty freaked and quickly jumped to my feet and shoved my camera in my backpack with the thought that if the wolf tried anything, my beloved DSLR was the only thing I had on me that was heavy enough to cast a decent blow. I didn’t want to run because I thought that would make things worse.
The wolf kept coming closer and closer until it stood only a few metres in front of myself, Shachaf and Archie.
My precious little Archie then moved from next to my legs to place himself right front of me and began barking (or the puppy version of barking) at the wolf. The wolf at no point appeared aggressive, it didn’t growl or bare its teeth or make any indication that it would strike; and after about thirty seconds of looking at us and Archie, it simply turned around and walked away!
I know absolutely nothing about the behaviour of arctic wolves so whether or not there was any real danger I do not know. What I do know is that a husky puppy I had met less than a few hours before put himself between me and the wolf, potentially endangering himself in order to protect a strange human. If you didn’t love huskies before reading this post I hope you do now!
T H E L O W D O W N
Getting to Ilulissat: Air Iceland has direct flights from Reykjavik to Ilulissat twice weekly in the summer months
Boat Trip to Oqaatsut: Trips to this settlement run all year and are run by World of Greenland – a day trip will set you back approximately $160 AUD
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 12-40mm lens
Remember: To make friends with a protective husky pup in the unlikely event that you see an arctic wolf
I love how the houses are scattered around without any order or scheme. And you HAD to do it again, how is it fair that you’ve got dozens of huskies for yourself? 😉
Haha I would say that I’m sorry but that would be a flat out lie! I just love huskies so much!
Puppies!!!!!!!!! <3
My thoughts exactly haha
How awful it must have been to be swarmed by those pups. Not really. You must give off good vibes to them.
The houses are perfect little patches of color on the landscape of the village. It must be a very hard life where one is on the verge of making a living, or just surviving. Did you get a chance to talk to people about their existence?
Oh yep it was a horrid experience 😉
I was able to speak to an older Unuit woman and some small children – they all seemed incredibly happy! The woman told me she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else 🙂
Those puppies are so cute!
They really are! Huskies are my favourite type of dog 🙂
This looks so lovely. The huskies are just soooo amazing and cute. Incredible! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I’m voting Archie for President! I’m glad you’re safe, and made wonderful friends, and a wonderful memory! Thank you for sharing!
Haha! I’d vote for him! Glad you enjoyed 🙂 look forward to sharing with you next time!
The puppies are so cute! And it’s sort of terrifying but also really cool that an arctic wolf approached you guys!
I was more than a smidge freaked out! Luckily he was not looking for a meal!
What a brave angel
Angel is definitely the right word! Such a brave pupper 🙂
How cool was Archie!!! I tried taking a selfie with a sled dog last year and had it trying to steal my beanie also. It is a hazard of loving huskies. Cheers
I know right!? Isn’t he just the best? Haha, yep sounds about right, they just love to pull beanies off!
great happiness around !
That’s for sure 😊
the cosmos is joy
It must have been very hard to leave Archie behind. I think I would have tried to smuggled him off into the night.
I was almost tearing up! I really really really wanted to smuggle him home!
Lovely photos. Great post! 😊
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed 😊
Such happy photos, what a great start to my day looking at these 🙂
Aww thank you 😊 so glad you enjoyed!
Cuteness kills, damn.
Haha they certainly are adorable puppers!
What a great post. So much happiness. A gorgeous environment but Archie and the huskies really stole the show.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed reading 🙂 And my feelings exactly! Gorgeous settlement but nothing beats a pack of baby huskies!
Just beautiful. Somewhere I’d love to visit one day.
What a thrilling post from start to finish. Archie is my hero! 😀 And lovely photos by the way!
He is my hero too! I miss his little face!
love husky puppies more now 🙂 would have loved to see a photo of the wolf, but I can totally understand why you put it in your bag.. that had to be a scary experience
I know! I wish I had gotten a photo too but I didn’t even think of it at the time!
That is my dream to be surrounded by a bunch of puppies! Must have been amazing 🙂
It really was! You should head to Greenland one day to make that dream come true 🙂
The husky love is beautifully captured! I fully enjoyed reading this article accompanied by all of the shots of the town. It looks cool yet cozy at the same time.
Thanks so much, glad you liked it! So much husky love on this blog ha
This place looks absolutely beautiful, but you have won me with the puppies! Your favourite photo of being swarmed by puppies looks like a dream come true!
It really was a dream come true! There isn’t much that could’ve wiped the smile from my face!
Did you get a photo of the wolf? Lovely pics by Shachaf there. Nice one!
No I was to preoccupied with trying to arm myself! It didn’t even occur to me :/ I wish I had though!
😅 Nothing like a bit of fear to change the priorities!
Amazing photos and what a cool town. The puppies couldnt be any cuter!!
Thank you 🙂 I’ll be sure to tell the pups how much everyone loves them the next time I go to Greenland ha!
You were right… I absolutely loved this post 🙂 such beautiful puppies!!! I’m gonna share this post with someone who is absolutely in love with huskies if you don’t mind 🙂 Love, Kathleen
I definitely don’t mind, please share away! 🙂 x
I’m dyingggg hahaha This is the heaven I’ve been dreaming of! ;D And the town looks very pretty like always. Ugh, huskies. So lovely!
Those puppies are so cute!! Enjoy your trips 😊
Oqaatsut seems like a beautiful place. I’ve heard many times that wolf attacks on humans are exceedingly rare. But the fact that this wolf approached you is also unusual, since wolves are supposed to be afraid of people. Perhaps this wolf had been scavenging around the village, and was hoping you had food on you? I hope not.
At any rate, thanks for sharing your photos and experiences.
Hmmm I have no idea! Wolves are definitely not my area of expertise! I hope he wasn’t a hungry animal scavenging 🙁
Love the houses of different colors spread out in such a random placement. Adds even more charm. As for Archie… What a brave Lil guy. I think you should convinced Greenland that he needs you and vice versa so you’d have been allowed to take him home! !!
Haha I wonder who I would even contact about getting Archie sent to me?
Greenland government?!?! Ha ha
Hahaha I shall begin a petition to adopt Archie at once!
Someone that commented on one of my instagrams has a post of a bunch of husky puppies. Apparently some market area in Mexico was selling them for cheap. I think she posted $20. It’s my Archie, but a fun trip complete with a Husky pup?
Ooh I am tempted! I want to go to Mexico so badly!
And with $20 huskies…..it’s definitely up your alley! 😜
Anything with huskies is right up my alley! You know me too well haha
Ohhhhh just wait!!! If you check out the blog later today….there MAY be some huskies on it from events over the weekend!!!!! 😀
Checking it out right now!
This place is so gorgeous!!! No wonder the people you met are so happy. What a perfect day! I want to play with husky pups!!!
It really is a stunning settlement! Maybe you should add Greenland to the top of your bucket list 🙂
Such adorable puppy pictures! 🙂
Great Blog and very nice Pics😀😀😀