At Sea & Fugloy, Faroe Islands
We spent the morning at sea on our way from Iceland to the Faroe Islands. Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Coulson, our National Geographic Photo Team, gave a talk on their Viking Assignment for National Geographic a few years ago. They showed us a number of pictures they took in the countries the Vikings went to a thousand years ago and apparently some of the old Viking traditions still thrive in many of these places.
Later in the morning, Steve Blamires gave an introduction to the Faroe Islands and their history. The Faroes are an archipelago of 18 islands with a total population of less than fifty thousand. The islands are an autonomous part of the Danish Kingdom. The economy is largely based on fishing and the people enjoy a high standard of living. Their language and cultural roots are of Scandinavian origin.
In the early afternoon we passed the northernmost of the islands, called Viðoy (Wood Island) and saw the highest sea cliffs in Europe, which stretch more than 600 metres (1,968ft) vertically out of sea. We then continued to Fugloy (Bird Island) and made a landing in the small settlement of Kirkja (Church). There we went on different walks, some climbing high in the hills of the nearby mountain, others spending more time to look at the picturesque village, its church and its one class-room school. The village only has 15 permanent inhabitants and only four of them are pupils in the school. In the summertime though, dozens of house-owners, who otherwise live in either of the largest towns of the Faroes, Tórshavn or Klaksvík, spend a couple of weeks in the peace and tranquility of this beautiful island.
After this enjoyable stop, National Geographic Explorer sailed to the town of Vestmanna and came alongside for the night. After dinner we had a local guest speaker on board, Dorethe Block, who told us about the pilot whales of the Faroes, their hunt and uses in the island – a most interesting and informative talk.
