Camp Itivi has more visitors

Camp Itivi in Nuup Kangerlua is a popular place for both domestic tourists and tourists from outside who want to experience the unspoiled Greenlandic nature.

It lies undisturbed with only the animals as neighbors, without access to the internet or telephone.

Several local companies now use the camp for meetings and for outings for employees seeking relaxation.

It is a one-man company run by Nikolaj Jensen.

He takes care of everything himself from the weekend before Easter to October. The date of closure depends on the ice cover in the fjord.

The new airport means that there are more tourists from abroad, including 20 guests from Asia.

– I am getting positive reactions from both local companies and guests from abroad, and now have inquiries from travel agencies in England and Switzerland who are traveling next year.

The camp consists of five cabins. There are three rental cabins yellow, blue and green built as 92 mm log cabins. A staff cabin with shower for guests with its own entrance and a storage room of 75 square meters. As well as a communal cabin with kitchen and living room.

All cabins have a solar cell system with a battery bank. The large staff cabin will in the future have a 6.2 kW solar cell system with a battery bank.

He has plans to expand with more cabins and a restaurant for his own guests.

Many obstacles

Nikolaj Jensen is a trained electromechanic and electrical installer. He started his tourism business with the camp in 2019-20.

The worst possible time.

He encountered several problems and obstacles at first.

The first few years everything was at a standstill due to corona and then came the war against Ukraine, which meant that all building materials became very expensive.

But he overcame the obstacles.

Since then, he has made a profit every year, which has been used for improvements and expansion to future-proof the company. Among other things, for a solar cell system with a battery bank.

He is in charge of everything. He makes sure that the guests are sailed back and forth in a rubber boat. He is responsible for shopping, washing and cleaning, and service at the camp and on trips.

But he gets help from his good friends Otto Frank Hansen, who sails and services, and Stefan Josefsen, who is a carpenter and electrician. When he needs help during busy periods, they are always available. Nikolaj is very happy with the help.

Guests spend their time in the wilderness bath and sauna, hiking with or without a guide and enjoying the wildlife, fishing trips both in the fjord and in the river. It is also possible to purchase boat trips around the large Nuup Kangerlua and visit boats in the Isfjord, Qoornoq, Qorqut, Kapisillit, Neriunaq, Itinera and Uummannaq island and meet whales on the way. Many people enjoy this.

Need a bigger boat

He is calling for a bigger boat.

– When there are many guests going back and forth at the same time, I need to rent a bigger boat. It is expensive because there is a demand for them. And when the cruise ships come, the price of renting a boat goes up, he says.

As mentioned, he uses his profits for investments in the camp.

Still, he had saved up and had money to pay more than half for a boat for ten people and two crew members, but the bank wouldn't join, even though they advertised that they help entrepreneurs.

– But that obviously does not apply to a small Greenlandic business run by one person, he notes and adds:

– It would have been a great help to my business if I had a larger boat to sail my guests, and which would be able to sail other trips in the fjord when Camp Itivi itself did not need to use it. I don't understand why the bank couldn't see that, he says.

There are examples of several private tourist boats in Nuuk, which have been created with the growing tourism in the capital, and which make a profit. So Nikolaj Jensen has difficulty understanding why he cannot finance a boat for his business that has customers and makes a profit.

Due to the many difficulties and obstacles, he is currently considering whether to give up and sell the company to Nuuk Water Taxi or another investor.

– I can instead use the money to start my own electrical business in Nuuk and use my education, he says.