if you wish to visit a Greenlandic home, in many towns and settlements you can attend a "kaffemik". Kaffemik is a Danish word for a coffee gathering. In fact, it's not coffee which is the main attraction, but rather the concept of being together. The hosts serve homemade cake, coffee and tea, and there's plenty of chance to talk. You can exchange experience and good stories and you'll get an automatic insight into the sorrows and joys, anxieties and challenges of everyday life in Greenland - an insight you can't read about in books or tourist guides. "Kaffemik" can be booked at tour operators.

Apprenticeship as a dogsled driver

On a trip on a dogsled you can experience the close contact between the dogsled driver and his dogs. Perhaps you can have a chat about how he looks after his dogs, what they eat and how they otherwise live. Perhaps he's a hunter-gatherer and has some particularly good stories to tell. In East Greenland you can also serve an "apprenticeship" as a dogsled driver and end up with your very own dogsled driving licence.

A talk with the skipper

You can also experience this close contact on a sailing trip. The tourist boats aren't that big, and the skipper is often happy to have a chat and answer any questions if there isn't a guide onboard. In general, towns and settlements are small in international terms. If you're open and positive, there are good chances of experiencing great friendliness and kindness.

Private accommodation

Many towns offer private accommodation, which gives you a good chance to see what a Greenlandic home looks like. If you're lucky, you may also get good advice about the day's excursions. At hotels and seamen's hostels you might not enjoy such close personal contact, although the staff are well aware of the importance of good service and their role as hosts.

A day - or a week - as a sheep farmer

During recent years several sheep farmers in South Greenland have converted old houses into a cross between a hostel and mountain huts. Here you can get very close to the life of a farmer and the daily life of a shepherd. These sheep farms often have a remote location on lush peninsulas in fantastically beautiful surroundings. Let yourself be tempted by a ride on a horse in the green landscape, home-cooked roast lamb from animals you've helped to slaughter or a fishing trip on the fjord.