Pyroclastic Puffins

Day 7 May 18th & Day 8 May 19th & Day 9 May 20th

Hello it's me

Experience 10: interactions with the Wild Puffin 

On day 7 of our journey two monumental things happened - we left Grundarfjördur and I took over the Furman snap story. It seems I took over the snap story on the one day we were road tripping for 7 hours, which meant no surprise hiking and no glaciers. HOWEVER the entire island is one giant scenic view, so I doubt the witnesses of Furman's snap story were too displeased (hopefully... I've been waiting to gain social media control for years). I was slightly nostalgic to leave Elf Habitat, my home for a solid 3 nights, but we had to embark from Grundarfjördur to reach the Western Fjords for the next chapter in our journey. For those like me who are not as well versed in geologic terms, a fjord is a glacial valley filled with water. Next time you are frolicking in your local valley, check and see if the valley contains a U or V shape. V shape valleys are caused by river erosion, while U shape valleys are the products of glaciers. BAM YOUVE BEEN GEOLOSIZED. 

Looking at the Western Fjords from a puffin's eye view, one can notice that they are a series of indentions amongst the ancient coast where ocean water has silently seeped itself inland. Driving through the fjords is best visualized as making giant S patterns along the coast. The Golden Goose would march along the dirt road as my headphones canceled out the noise of wind threatening to carry us back to the US. In this area of the country, tiny houses speckle the landscape and most are built into the land resulting in communities that contain an essence of the Shire. During these 3 days we visited waterfalls and attempted swimming in road-side hot springs. However my favorite activity during this time period was our visit to Latrabjarg, home of The Puffin. 

The surreal cliffs of Latraberg contain Iceland's largest puffin colony. Stacked in a similar manner to Moher, the cliffs are 14 kilometers long with an area of 3.5 square kilometers and contain 10 species of seabirds resulting in a population of 1 million. A dangerous element is added as puffin burrows and erosional forces have caused the cliff edges to be highly insecure. All signs warn of strong wind blasts which can be "dangerous and unforeseen". 

We had numerous bird spottings - the small puff balls dotted the cliff edges and were content having their picture taken. I really enjoyed the personality of puffins. While other seabirds were continually squawking and zipping along the rock face, the puffin remained quietly perched in the sun, observing all the madness below. Since the edge of the cliff was so crumbly, I had to crawl and remain flat to get a picture. After a number of photos, I put my camera away and decided to bask in the sun alongside the puffin. I think this proved more enjoyable for both of us. 

After the this adventure, we traveled to a local town for an even more local dinner. In Patreksfjördur, our professors found a restaurant called Heimsendi which was willing to serve our large geologic group after they restocked on supplies. Restocking meant the owner made a quick run down to the market for purchase of fresh Halibut, caught the day before in the harbor. Most of us had the halibut. Definitely one of my favorite meals in my 21 years. 

Full of good food and good company, we made our way back to our hostel and settled in for a night of blogging, journaling, and puffin dreaming.