Patreksfjordur, Iceland and the bird cliff

By Glen Bruels
This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022
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Well, our destination has changed again.  We were originally scheduled to go to Vigur, Iceland to look at the extensive bird colonies there.  Given the lateness of the season, it turned out that most of the birds had already left.  Instead we went to Patreksfjordur, a village of around 700 people in the south part of the Westfjords.  The town got its name from the first settler in the area, Orlygur Hrappsson, for his spiritual guide, St. Patrick.  While trade began in 1570, it remained small until the trawling industry started in the early 20th century.  Today, they have shifted to more eco-friendly long line fishing and their salt cod, haddock, and Atlantic catfish are processed and exported to key markets in Europe and the US.  But the main reason for visiting is the nearby Latrabjarg, the site of Europe’s largest bird cliff and the largest seabird colony in the northern Atlantic.  In particular, this is supposed to be the best place in the world to photograph puffins.  Once again, the execution was a bit different than the plan.  On our way out to Latrabjarg, we stopped at a privately operated aeronautical and folk museum that represents the gatherings of artifacts and memorabilia from a deceased farmer that lived in the area.  A lot of the collection was ephemera that described life in the area over the years.  But two things stuck out — a memorial commemorating the rescue of a trawler where local men had to rope down a steep cliff in the midst of a raging storm to save the crew, and an eclectic collection of aircraft remains including from old US Navy and Russian planes.  From there, we went to the over 8 mile sheer cliff that juts out from Iceland’s second largest bay and is the westernmost point of Iceland (and Europe for that matter!).  We hoped to see puffins there, but actually seeing any birds was a challenge given the 60+ mph winds that were blowing there.  It was hard to stand, making the desire to venture too close to he cliff edges a little more daunting.  Anyway, no puffins, but a number of other shore birds.

Beautiful downtown Patreksfjordur. This is the largest fishing village in Iceland. They also get hammered by frequent landslides…
Across the fjord and heading inland. The winds were pretty strong.
A stop at the museum. The owner/curator must have stopped at every garage sale in the area — his collection was huge.
The museum did have excellent coverage of the rescue carried out by the villagers in 1947…
… including all the news coverage, awards, etc. Definitely a lot of local pride about this accomplishment.
The owner died before he could get his airplane collection really going. Sadly, they are weathering away.
He even had parts of Russian aircraft!
Working our way down to the bird cliffs.
Ruins of an old Viking settlement along the way.
A super windy day along the cliffs.
We had to lean into the wind in order to get to the top!
The poor birds were getting pummeled. They must have been hanging on by their claws.

This was the last stop on what has been a very eventful cruise.  Tomorrow we will arrive in Reykjavik and disembark.  We have seen and done so much on this segment of our sojourn, but it’s now time to start on our “land cruise” around Iceland.  Most of the friends we have met on the cruise will stay for the first week of our Iceland adventure, so let the games begin!

This entry was posted in Cruising, Iceland, Travel
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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