- The Nordic Sojourn 2022 — start of trip
- Western Norway — Fjords, mountains, and a lot of rain!
- Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and start of the cruise
- Magdalenefjorden and Gravneset
- Texas Bar and…
- Arctic pack ice and polar bears — what a day!
- Ny London, Ny Alesund, and the massive glacier!
- Poolepynten and fin whales!
- Northeast Greenland National Park and Scoresby Sound
- Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland
- Patreksfjordur, Iceland and the bird cliff
- Reykjavik and the start of our Icelandic sojourn
- The Golden Circle, Iceland
- Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland
- Westman Islands, Iceland
- The South Coast and Waterfalls, Iceland
- Vatnajökull National Park — Svartifoss, Skaftafell and Glacier Lagoon Jokulsarlon, Iceland
- The East Fjords, Iceland
- Working our way north — canyons, wastelands, fumaroles, pseudo craters and lakes!
- The Diamond Circle
- Akureyri, a breakdown, and a detour
- VR Viking battle, Glaumbær, Icelandic horses, and back to Reykjavik
- Husafell
- Into the Volcano!
Today, we ventured forth from Reykjavik to move up the coast. Our plan for the day was to visit the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar), a group of 16 islands with only the main island (Heimaey) being populated with around 4300 inhabitants. Our primary goal in going here was to see puffins — they have the largest Atlantic puffin colony in the world. We were a bit nervous, though, as we were somewhat late in the season and people warned us that they might be gone. We almost missed the ferry because our guide/driver wasn’t in the right line and during the period she went to find out where we were supposed to be, the ferry was getting ready to close its bow door. Luckily, it all got straightened out and we made the 40 minute transit, admiring the islands and the many birds (including a few puffins!) we saw flying around. We started out with a quick drive through the town, learning about some of the cultural traditions here. One of those is called cliff-hanging which involves climbing and descending some of the highest rock formations using ropes that are suspended from cliff tops. The original reason for doing this was to hunt puffins and/or collect their eggs. Today, kids practice this “sport” for fun, but also to rescue young puffins who have lost their way. We next made our way over to an old volcanic crater that is surrounded by steep cliffs. The bowl effect makes for excellent acoustics and an annual music festival is held there every year. Apparently the sound carries amazingly well.
But it was time to head out and see if we could find some puffins at one of the two puffin preserves on the island. Storhofdi (Great Cape) is a peninsula on the southernmost point on the island. It is claimed to be the windiest place in Europe but, after nearly getting blown away at Patreksfjordur, I’m calling BS…. Anyway, we hiked down to the edge of the water and there they were — puffins by the hundreds! There were both adults and babies who were learning to fly, but a lot of them roosted on the grassy cliff edge that gave us lots of opportunity to watch them. They almost looked like cartoons, both because of their looks and their flying technique.
From there, we went back into town to visit the volcano museum. That is another piece of the story of Heimaey. There are two volcanoes on the island and one of them (Eldfell) erupted in the middle of the night in 1973. There was very little time to react and the island needed to be evacuated and 417 houses were destroyed, whether by burning or being buried under the roughly 9000 cubic feet of new volcanic material that was deposited there. The museum actually has one of the houses that had been buried in the museum! One of the few benefits of the eruption was that port people were able to redirect some of the lava flow to improve the quality of their port area. After seeing the destruction in the museum, we decided to hike to the top of Eldfell. The perspective from the top really brought home how vulnerable the town was (and perhaps still is). There was one area along the rim that you could stick your arm into and actually feel the heat that still smolders there. We ended up having an early dinner at Gott Restaurant. I don’t normally plug restaurants in my posts, but the food here was excellent and my biggest remembrance with their reinterpretation of a Moscow Mule into an Odessa Mule.
Tired after a long day, we took the ferry back to the mainland and had a sound sleep in our hotel.
This entry was posted in Iceland, Travel
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.
