The three and a half hour flight left nearly an hour late and we had a ferry to catch over an hour and a half from the airport. Oh yeah. We had to do a little shopping before we caught the ferry to the island with the largest population of Atlantic puffins in the world!
Leaving the airport in our rental car we were glad that we had gotten wifi for the car. It allowed us to use the device as a hotspot and get directions and information everywhere we went. On our way out of town Dusty spotted a Costco and Ikea in a shopping center off the main road. I made a quick exit and we hurried in to shop knowing that the price of food in Iceland was outrageous. Burgers for $20 and beers for $5 as well as gasoline at $11/gallon once you did the conversion.
Of course I had removed my Costco and Sams cards from my wallet before leaving the United States because I didn’t want to have too much stuff with me. Unfortunately they could not look up our account number even when I pulled up my Costco bill online. Fortunately Dusty had an old card in her purse and they welcomed us in to spend our Krona in their Costco. A mandatory Costco Chicken, a half kilo of massive blueberries, a tray of breakfast danish and fruit later we were on our way to the ferry.
The countryside was kind of a cross between Hawaii and Alaska. Volcanic tundra. On a few occasions we questioned the directions from the iPhone, but carried on as we didn’t have any better options. We found ourselves heading towards the shore and soon saw the ferry pulling into the dock with cars starting to line up. The tickets were ready on my phone and my battery was not dead, so they let us drive onto the ship for the 45-minute commute to Vestmannaeyjar.
Clouds were lifting and we began to see more of the snowcapped mountains of Iceland in the distance. We still could not see the island that we knew we were approaching and trusted that the captain knew the way. I stepped out onto the deck a few times hoping to get a few good shots of either Iceland behind us or the Westmann Islands in front of us. It was cold and the wind was blowing, but I was still very much in the moment. Still feeling a little more chill in my bones than the weather could explain, but I was living the moment.
Out of the mist and clouds the islands took shape. Much taller and imposing than what I had seen in videos about the place. Just a reminder that reality is more real than any online experience.
As we left the ferry I plugged in the address that booking.com had for the New Post Office self serve hotel. Following the directions got us the seven or eight blocks from the port into town and in front of an unmarked building. I started to sweat the fact that Dusty may not be too happy with my getting lost on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic. I called the number in the reservation and after a little back and forth and reentering the description into Google Earth I found that I was one block away from the almost equally unmarked building that was the New Post Office Self Service Hotel.
We entered the code in our instructions and the door to the building opened. The code for the lockbox for our room key also worked and we were on our way to our room on the second floor. A nice room with a well stocked kitchen and no elevator in the building. Dusty got settled in and I made the run down and back to the car to get our bags and groceries. Exhausted and still feeling the effects of whatever cooties we picked up on the boat in the Netherlands we ate our Costco dinner and got to sleep as soon as we could.
The day started with aches and pains. Coughing and stuffy noses. We had come a long way and dreamed about this day for years, so we were going to buck up and do our best to make the most of it.
Figuring out a European water heater and French press was a bit of a challenge, but it made sense. Boiling water in about a minute and scavenged k-cups from previous stays resulted in a passable brew. The baked goods from Costco were superior to our fare from the river cruise once we crisped them up in the convection oven. A half kilo of fresh blueberries was not disappointing either. Raising the blackout blinds was disappointing though.
Outside it was grey and dreary with a sea fog that cut visibility to maybe 20-meters. The forecast did not show significant risk of rain, so there was hope.
My research told me that best viewing was mornings and evenings as the puffins went out to sea to get fish during the day. We managed to get ourselves out to the car by 8 AM. As we left the small village of Vestmannaeyjar heading south my gps said it should take nine minutes to get from the north end of the island, with the harbor and city, to the south end where I hoped to see the largest breeding colony of puffins in the Atlantic.
The visibility went from bad to worse. Dusty was both physically and emotionally drained.
We waited in the car at the parking area near a building at the south end of the island. Finally I decided I would take a walk out on the trail that led down to the cliffs where I knew that the puffins should be found. Dusty joined me going out about 100 meters from the car and the visibility did not improve. We could see a few sheep in the mist, but we opted to go back to the car and wait a bit in hopes that the sea fog would lift.
I do not sit still well. While Dusty waited in the car I went out again into the cold misty morning. I passed the sheep and headed toward the roar of the surf that I could hear ahead. Trails crisscrossed the grassy mounds that made up the sloping ridge that steepened as it approached the 200 foot cliffs dropping into the rough seas below. I followed some that had small burrows into the grassy mounds with feathers and fluff near the openings. I was convinced that these were occupied by birds, but not at the moment. The view to the sea below cleared long enough to be impressive and a bit frightening.
I went back to Dusty and since there was really nothing to see we decided we would pick up a few things and head back to the room to rest and wait for better visibility and/or for the puffins to come back to shore for the evening.
After resting and having a bit to eat the clouds cleared and it was a completely different looking island. Bright green plants wakening to spring and blue skies and sunlight shining down on the red earth from recent volcanic eruptions. We got in the car again and went back to look at the area we had seen socked in with fog just a few hours before.
Dusty went out with me to the area I had seen before and again thee was no luck on puffin viewing and the clouds were coming and going as she would warn me not to get too close to the cliffs. Back at the car we met a couple from Maryland and they said they had similar results. Just then a couple of locals said that they had seen a number of puffins just a little while earlier. The directions that they gave indicated that we just needed to go left when we got to the cliffs instead of the right.
We followed their directions and were able to see two or three puffins in the distance on the cliffs. Not exactly National Geographic quality shots, but you could tell that they were puffins. Success?
On our way back to the room we passed a trail to another outlook that we were told may provide a better chance of seeing puffins. Down the trail there was a small structure with information and research equipment supported by the local Lions Club. The platform on the other side looked down the slopes toward the sea and you could see dozens of seagulls on a rocky outcropping near the surf and closer in there were about five or six puffins that occasionally were clear enough to get a decent picture of. I felt better about our investment in time and energy. They really were cute.
Exhausted and still not feeling well we went back to the room and I broke down the Costco chicken and stewed the bones to make us some chicken soup for our unwellness that I now suspected was Covid since our tablemates from the river cruise messaged that one of them had tested positive.
By 8:00 that evening we were pretty well beat and willing to just lay down and go to sleep. Knowing this was our best chance to see the puffins and with the sun coming out in earnest we did our best “Buck up Buttercup” and gathered our camera, binoculars, windbreakers, scarfs, hats, and marched our butts back south.
When we got back to our starting point we could see for miles. Across the blue water we could see distant islands with bright grass and earthy cliffs. I retraced my steps from that morning and Dusty warned me to stay back from the cliffs. From where I am I can see one of the prized puffins clearly. I coaxed Dusty forward a few feet and she could now see the little bugger in brilliant contrasting black and white with a bright orange beak against the fresh spring grass and blue Atlantic surf. A few steps to the right or left and more warnings from Dusty brought more puffins into sight. Five became ten, then dozens and probably well over a hundred along the grassy mounds leading toward the shore with more flying in and out all the time.
After about ten minutes and probably over a hundred pictures a guide approaches with a couple of tourists and he tells us this is one of the monitors and protected breading sites on the island with the larger one being the Lions Club site we had visited earlier.
I moved out to a point above the puffins to more warnings from Dusty to stay away from the cliff and soon a sheep with it’s lamb approached with the wind blowing their wool sideways. They passed just a few feet away from me as I tried to catch the light and the wind and the scenery all together at the same time to help me remember the feeling and to share with everyone else who couldn’t be there at the same time.
Knowing that the other site is so close and understanding that the light there should be near perfect as the sun is setting and shining onto the colony we move on to compare the sites. We park and start walking in. As we approach we can see hundreds of small black birds spiraling into the slopes we had observed earlier in the day.
In position on the platform the scene is surreal. Hundreds of the cute little clown faced birds are all over the place. Some very near. Some in couples. After a few sure thing pictures I try to catch a few of them in flight. Easier said than done. Dusty points out that there are even more floating on the water below. Amazing how many are here.
The guide we met earlier confirms that you almost never see this many puffins at the same time in one location. We are some of the lucky ones. This is one of the “giggle happy” experiences in travel that makes me love doing this. I remember these intensely and they are some of the moments that I literally live for.
I am loving it and freezing cold. I stop taking pictures and just hug Dusty as we watch the sun set and the puffins swirl around us. These are moments to share with someone you love.
Eventually we returned to our room and had another bowl of hot chicken soup before posting for my first time since getting sick. I wanted to let my friends and family know that we were still kicking in spite of catching the crud.
The next morning we would take the ferry back to Iceland and continue our tour of the waterfalls and geysers that the place is famous for.
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