r/nunavut

I about visiting Iqaluit this July in order to hike and take some photos around town. I got mixed responses with some people giving useful advice and others recommending against visiting. So I thought I'd post a little trip report from my time in Nunavut! I'm American and this was my first time visiting Canada. I visited Montreal, Ottawa and Iqaluit over a 2 week period.

Day 1: Arrival

I got into Iqaluit around 11am and walked into town from the airport. I probably should have taken a taxi to my hotel but I couldn’t check-in until 1pm and I wanted to see some of the town while I waited. It was cold when I arrived, in the single digits Celsius. The first thing I noticed aside from the cold was how much litter there was everywhere. It seemed like there was zero effort being made to keep the town clean and there was trash absolutely everywhere. There are a lot of artists who will approach you and try to sell you trinkets they have carved from bone or soapstone. I took some photos and checked into the hotel at 1pm. I was planning to see the visitor’s center and Inuit art museum before they closed, but I ended up crashing for several hours because I had been going for like 30 hours without sleep. That evening I went out to check out some of the shops around town and I was invited to Royal Canadian Legion by someone with a membership, so I didn’t have to pay $50 for entry. There wasn’t much to choose from as far as vegetarian options so I got a Caesar salad and onion rings. I was surprised by the large portions, I couldn’t finish everything. We talked about life in Iqaluit and what he was doing for work and such. Then I went to talk with another group who invited me over and they ended up showing me around town and introducing me to some people. Overall I had a great first evening and was really impressed by how friendly and inviting everyone was! I got a bunch of offers from people to go out hunting, fishing, ect that weekend.

Day 2: Inuit Art & Sylvia Grinnell Park

The next morning I went to the visitor’s center and got a summer hiking map along with some advice from them. Then I headed to the Inuit art museum. I was surprised to see so many buildings had security guards in a small town. I visited the Sylvia Grinnell park on the western end of town and walked some of the road to nowhere. The scenery can be a bit repetitive, but it looks very ‘arctic’ and if you are someone interested in the tundra it will be really interesting to hike through. I was really impressed by the variety of the terrain around Iqaluit, there were sandy beaches, rocky areas, fields of flowers and even crunchy dried seaweed fields. There were also a lot of really pretty wildflowers growing in the grasses. I helped a drunk guy get down a rocky hill after he tripped and smashed his face into a rock. I recommend getting low with a wide angle lens and trying to emphasize some of the beautiful details on the ground if you are taking photos here. It got pretty warm in the afternoon and the mosquitos came out in droves. They made it pretty unpleasant to linger in one place to rest or take pictures. Later in the day I got some food and went on a Tinder date which was interesting. There were like 5 profiles in the entire town. It was a fun day and I got some nice shots. I thought about going out on the town again but I was tired and decided to head to bed so I could get up early to go out boating the next morning.

Day 3: Boating Around Iqaluit

Some of the offers to get out on the water fell through, but thankfully I was able to find someone to take me out on the bay for my third day. They were hunting for harp seals and I was able to photograph some of them with my telephoto lens. I flew my drone from the boat and got some awesome footage of the tundra and ice. We landed for a bit on Qaummaarviit Territorial Park and I got to hike and photograph the island, which was cool. I have never seen so many mosquitos in my life! They followed up back to the boat and it took them a while to disperse. We went by an iceberg and I almost lost my drone in the water nearby but thankfully I got it back to the boat. And then they spotted a pod of harp seals which they decided was good for hunting, so I filmed them shooting at some seals and hauling them into the boat which was really cool. We headed back and I went with them to hang up the seals. They told me these ones would be turned into dog food for sled dogs. I got to see the dog yards which was a bit depressing, a whole lot of doghouses out in the tundra with chained up sled dogs waiting for winter.

Day 4: Apex & Tar Innlet

On this day I followed the Apex trail down to Apex and saw the town and small park there. I got to meet some friendly locals who I was familiar with from my first day and it was cool to learn more about the town. I hiked out to Tar Innlet and took some cool photos. It was really cool to hike out onto the beach at low tide among all the seaweed and look at how the waves make patterns in the sand. In some areas you get to hike on crunchy dried seaweed which is fun. The mosquitos were really bad and I was getting a lot of bites. The Apex River was really beautiful and I got some nice photos and videos around it. I bargained with some locals who were trying to sell me stuff and got a relatively good deal on a cute Inukshuk and a Beluga whale carving. A woman tried to sell me polar bear teeth for $60 and I declined because I thought the price was too high. Apparently that was a relatively low price for the teeth but they are illegal to export from Canada so just as well I didn’t buy. They were huge! I got some food and headed to The Chartroom for my final evening before I left. I got to meet a ton of really friendly folks including some Canadian Rangers who told me about working in the arctic which was cool. A random drunk guy smacked me in the back of the head and said “fuck you, man!” to me. I said something like “you seem like a fun guy” and proceeded to ignore him. A while later he tapped me on the shoulder and then sucker punched me in the face when I turned to him. I was a bit taken aback and he got thrown out of the bar. The bartender was really sweet and apologized to me and shook my hand haha. And then I headed to the airport and flew back to Ottawa!

Final Thoughts:

So would I recommend visiting Iqaluit? Not really! Did I have fun visiting Iqaluit? Yep! I think if you want to see life in the Canadian arctic and do some tundra hiking like I did it can be a really cool place to visit, especially if you pair it up with other cities like Ottawa/Montreal as I did. My roundtrip flight from Ottawa was about $700 USD and the hotel was about $800 USD so I was able to do this for $1500 not including drinks, food, and souvenirs. I did not see much wildlife aside from some hawks and harp seals. I did get some cool photos of the sled dogs and locals. Not the cheapest place to visit, but a far cry from the estimations of thousands for a single-way flight some people warned me about.

Hey friends. As a person who lives MUCH further south, I was looking to write something based around Baker Lake. While writing, I came across something I thought it would be best to ask for clarification around.

1. Does Baker Lake freeze over entirely in the Winter?

2. Could someone conceivably take a snowmobile across the width of the lake in the late December? Is this ever possible at any point of the year?

Thank you all so much!

Hello!

My family is moving to Iqaluit very soon and I am just wondering what school days look like for elementary school children? When does school start and when does it end for the year? When can you register? Do children eat at school or go home for lunch? Any other information is appreciated!

Good afternoon,

I'm visiting Iqaluit in the beginning of August to camp for several days.

I'd appreciate some tips:

1. Where to buy some propane/butane/any other fuel for cooking.

2. Is there a place in town to store my stuff for the day not to haul it around trails?

3. Having quite a baggage allowance I wonder if someone may need smth from Alberta? I'd hate to waste kgs I won't use and may simply bring stuff free of charge.

4. Any fishing tips (from shore)? What lures to take?

5. Any other tips, useful info is highly appreciated.

Thank you very much!

Hey! So I work as a marketing associate and I’ve been tasked with coming up with marketing ideas for an offering we’re releasing soon for each Canadian province/ territory. (I can’t tell you what it is, unfortunately)

The idea I have involves using typical songs or shanties that are well known in each province. For example, I’m from Nova Scotia. Here, everyone knows the sea shanty, “The Night Pat Murphy Died” is there an equivalent for Nunavut? A song that everyone would easily recognize and want to dance/sing along to?

Any suggestions would help me greatly! Thank you, and I appreciate your guys’ time!

Hi everyone,

My parents have recently flown to Iqaluit (not Inuvik as I posted earlier) for ten days without any specific plans. They’re both really into the outdoors and are looking to make the most of their trip.

Are there any tour operators in the area that they should connect with for outdoor activities? They’re open to anything from hiking and wildlife tours to cultural experiences and more.

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Hello!

I have a couple of questions about living and working in Nunavut one day! I’m currently a student in Industrial engineering at a English university in Montreal, Quebec. I’m trying to plan my options ahead of time and I was always interested in either working in the Yukon, Northwest Territories or Nunavut someday. I was wondering if there are any engineers working there (or previously) who could tell me about the opportunities there and their experiences.

Thanks!

Can yall go outside and find a colony living in a constructed mound or under rocks/other natural terrain? I know there are invasive species in the larger settlements but I cant find any records for native species.

I’m going to work in Nunavut. I checked the internet plans provided by Northwestel and QINIQ, and I noticed that the download and upload speeds are very slow, and they even have usage caps. I don’t think these are good options for me. Is Starlink the only option available in this case? I called Starlink to understand their speeds, and the representative said the upload speed is 16-29 Mbps while the download speed is 68-172 Mbps. Can you use Starlink to stream videos and do video chats with these speeds in Nunavut?

I’m planning on moving to Nunavut for a job. I’m wondering about cost of living there. I will have subsidized housing just curious about groceries price and everything else. 🤔

Hello all!

I am curious, is there any way for me to purchase a raw sealskin (dried or frozen), and have it shipped to Ontario?

I tan fur and have always wanted to have a sealskin.

Thanks!

I'm trying to kickstart a kind of dictionary to document language usage in different Canadian regions, subcultures, ages etc.

The survey has around 25 prompts where you would input what you would say for a particular situation. Responses to not have to be in english and should represent whatever you would naturally say in your friendgroup, household, workplace or whatever you would like to represent.

You can submit multiple times if you think it's worthwhile!

Let me know if you have any issues with the survey, or any other ideas/thoughts on the project.

Share with your friends!

I am looking to purchase a locally made women’s parka in Iqaluit! I’m looking for a warm winter parka with a fur hood — something stylish but also functional to wear around the city from November-March. I am also open to recommendations of any other parka makers in the territory who are willing to ship to Iqaluit. The parka can be one that is already constructed or someone who makes them to your specifications. If they have a Facebook page please comment their name below! Thanks!

We just found out our landlord will not allow Starlink.

Is Northwestel our best option? I know they have extremely low data limits.

Also, are there any cable providers in Iqaluit?

I will be going to Nunavut for job, and I have been told that “Starlinks” is the preferred wifi services in that region. I would like to have it ordered before my move. How do I order starlinks from the south to be shipped to my address in Nunavut?

so I understand that flying in and out is considered the only way in and out and that there isn't really any roads connecting settlements but I've heard legend of a man who drove up there in a damn mini van and we have q pickup truck so I'm wondering if there is actually like any unkempt dirt roads that may be used from either NWT or manitoba? my bucket list is to visit every provence and territory in Canada and I've been to all the provences and now my partner anf I will be overlanding from Edmonton to Yukon and NWT next year for about a month and Nunavut will be the last territory on my list.

thank you so much

Hey, I am planning to move to Nunavut and I'm so excited for it. Here are a few questions that need some answers to 1)What are things that I should bring with me? 2)What are the best place to get winter clothes?