This Unusual Safari Takes You Face-To-Face With Giant Floating Icebergs

A safari does not always involve spotting wildlife or crossing a desert. Sure, that's the idea most of us are used to, but there's another kind of safari that brings you closer to other aspects of nature. In Greenland and Iceland, safari means heading out on a boat, moving closer to big chunks of floating ice. This is an iceberg safari, an unusual travel experience that lets you see these chunks of ice up close in some of the world's most striking polar landscapes.

Icebergs are often associated with danger, given how films portray them as obstacles lurking beneath the surface. On a guided safari, however, you get to appreciate their scale and beauty from the safety of a boat, while an experienced captain navigates the icy waters.

Your Chance To See An Iceberg Up Close

An iceberg safari is a guided boat excursion that takes you through waters filled with floating icebergs, usually in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Trips typically use small boats, including Zodiacs and rigid inflatable boats, to navigate fjords and frozen coastlines.

The idea is simply to head out onto the water and get a closer look at ice formations that are difficult to appreciate from land. I would think of it as a wildlife safari, with animals swapped with icebergs. Different landscape, different attraction, different setting, but the same thrill and appreciation for nature.

Depending on the destination, the trip may also include whale watching. Humpback whales, minke whales, seals, and seabirds can be spotted in some areas, although sightings are never guaranteed.

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Destinations Where You Can Swap Jungles For Glaciers

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In Greenland, Ilulissat is one of the best-known places to see icebergs on a grand scale. Its famous Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, carries enormous quantities of ice from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier towards Disko Bay.

Here, boat trips are particularly popular from May to September, when summer brings long daylight hours.

In Tasiilaq, East Greenland, an iceberg safari can turn into a whale-watching trip, too. For those who want a shorter outing on the water, Qaqortoq in South Greenland offers another way to experience Greenland's icy coastline. Local operators, including Greenland Sagalands, run boat excursions through fjords and past floating icebergs.

One listed experience costs DKK 1,250 per person and includes approximately 50 minutes on the boat, along with a short walk each way.

But you don't necessarily have to travel to Greenland for an iceberg boat trip. At Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon in Iceland, pieces of ice break away from the nearby Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and drift through the water.

For travellers who are willing to go further, iceberg viewing can be part of a much bigger polar adventure in Svalbard and Antarctica.

The Coolest Adventure, Literally

You are not looking at ice from a viewing platform or through a photograph. You are out on the water, watching enormous formations drift through the landscape. Their shapes change as they melt and break apart, so the scenery is never entirely the same.

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The highlight of these experiences is usually the size of the floating icebergs. Coming upclose to them is completely different from seeing them on screen. And when ou consider that most of their mass in underwater, it feels even more magnificent.

Getting close to an iceberg does come with risks, because uce can break away or it can even overturn as its balance changes. That is why these trips must be led by experienced captains, who can judge the conditions and keep the boat at a safe distance.