Iceland — Puffins, waterfalls and glaciers

Well, after what seems like an interminable delay … my computer is working correctly and I’m able to find a few moments to write this post.  These are the images from our time in Iceland.

This is an image of the iconic Blue Lagoon.

 

The Blue Lagoon is an ingenious idea.  Iceland has a geothermal plant that provides electricity for the capital city, Reykjavik.  Instead of letting that water go to waste after powering the turbines, they recoup the heated water.  It’s pumped into this lava field basin which is filled with a silica mud/sand.  The Spa Blue Lagoon is then able to charge people a decent amount of money to enjoy the refreshing/medicinal qualities of the water.  Plus, it’s gorgeous.

 

Although I didn’t bring my camera when we were actually in the water, here are a couple images of the spa.

 

The hygiene rules are very strict and EVERYONE is required to shower (sans swim suit) before getting in.

 

Here’s an image of the ring road and the biggest highway on the island.

 

Sharing the road…

 

This is the harbor of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago.  We decided to hop on a ferry and take a day trip out to the small island of Heimaey.  It has a very active fishing industry … this particular harbor is one of the largest fish producers in Iceland.

 

The island is fairly small (13.4 square kilometers) with a population of around 4,500.  The island gained world attention (or at least local) when the volcano Eldfell erupted in January 1973.  Fortunately, everyone was able to be evacuated.  After the eruption was over (7 months later), the island had lost many houses and the landmass of the island increased 20%.

 

Once on the island, we went to the south in order to try to get close to some of the 8 million puffins who call the islands home in the summer.

 

 

Success!  We caught up with some of the Atlantic Puffins on the island.  They are in the family of Auks and although they’re relative ungainly like penguins, they are not closely related.

 

These birds are very adept divers and use their wings to swim.  As a result, they have small wings are are required to flap their wings very rapidly, up to 400 times per minute.

 

In order to get this shot, I had to climb down three very rickety ladders on a vertical rock face of quite a few meters.  Needless to say, I took my time!

 

Trying to get close, but since these birds are hunted, they were very wary of me.

 

The archipelago.

 

 

Coming up off the ladders, Alexander was the first to spot me.  Although this image looks like flat ground, it was inclined at about 10%.

 

Alexander wasn’t a big fan of the black sand beach.

 

But, we liked it!

 

 

Back on the main island, we stopped by several waterfalls.

 

This is one of the most well known waterfalls in Iceland, Seljalandsfoss.  It’s famous for it’s beauty, but also because it’s conveniently right off the ring road.

 

 

There was a useful path to go behind the waterfall and enabled this unique perspective.

 

You can see the multiple falls and the trail here.

 

 

Next stop was Skógafoss.  This one was immense and very powerful.  It’s 25 meters wide and 60 meters(!) high.

 

Alex wasn’t so sure about it… Can’t really blame him.

 

Finally, after passing the two volcanoes that played havoc with Atlantic air travel the last two years, we headed out to one of the glaciers.  This is in Skaftafell National Park.

 

 

Next was over to the impressive Jökulsárlón Lagoon (or Glacier Lagoon).

 

You can see the glacier that feeds into the lagoon and is the source of the icebergs.

 

It’s amazing to think that these pieces of ice are hundreds of years old…

 

The blackness you see is ash from recent volcanic eruptions.  It’s thanks to these ash layers (among other things) that the geologic history can be determined.

 

We donned our bright orange life vests and got in a duck boat for a closer look.

 

Here is what the boats look like.

 

Alexander getting a taste of some very old water.

 

Yum.

 

Wow, that’s so cold, but so good.

 

Oh yeah, that’s cold too!

 

Beautiful blues.

 

 

 

An old lava field that is being reclaimed (slowly!) by moss and grasses.

 

Well, that covers it for this time.  Next post will have the rest of the images from Iceland.

 

Until then … and hopefully very soon!

 

–Jim