Iceland

I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Iceland & Greenland from August 17 though Sept 3rd.  The first stop was Heimaey Island, the only one of the Westman Islands that's inhabited.   Fields of grazing horses and sheep, sea-side cliffs and two volcanoes, all grace this lovely island.   At first look you would never know that a 1973 eruption led to the evacuation of the entire population of 5 thousand people and destroyed around 400 homes.  Rough seas the evening of the eruption, kept the fishing fleet in port. This turned out to be the key factor in saving everyone by having enough transport vessels.  It was fascinating talking to locals about their experiences that night and then salvaging the city in the aftermath.

 

The volcanoes Eldfell and and Helgafell, forming a backdrop to the town, look deceptively innocuous.  I hiked to the top of Eldfell, the one on the left, and you could clearly see the side that blew out during the eruption.



 

Hiking over the lava flow where signs have been posted to remind locals where streets were once located.

Posts placed around the town are stark reminders of how deep the ash was that fell on the town.  A museum of remembrance has a barrel of the ash with a small shovel to help visitors understand how coarse and heavy this ash was.  What an enormous task it must have been to clean up the town.      

 

 

You can see from the photo below how narrow the harbor entrance is now - the end of the lava flow is on the right.   A never before tried technique was used to cool the advancing lava flow by pumping sea water onto it and successfully preventing the loss of the harbor.



 

I took a cruise around the island, then the next day hiked along this stretch of the island and to the green building seen in the photo below - a viewing platform to watch puffins from.  It was a good spot, although some of the cliffs before this spot were best for viewing these cute birds. 

I loved the hike along the coast.  Just beautiful. And so many puffins!

Around 8 million puffins migrate to Heimaey every summer.  Although the puffin population has been decreasing in recent years due to warmer waters and invading fish species impacting their food supply, the numbers did rebound this year.

 

 

Grazing sheep can be found just about anywhere - including the most seemingly impossible vertical cliffs.   I love the way they follow established paths.   

 

Next up, mainland Iceland...