In the true spirit of expedition, National Geographic Explorer ventured to the Langanes Peninsula in northeast Iceland, where the morning greeted us with gray but dry skies and only a slight swell—as good as it gets in this part of the world!
The adventurous travelers took a long Zodiac cruise to Rauðanes Point—a true pearl of Icelandic nature—where we saw columnar basalt and volcanic arches, sea stack rock formations, and pillow basalt (which forms when lava erupts underwater and there is too much pressure for it to explode). Some Zodiacs explored the archways and sea stacks, others dared to drive into sea caves. We spotted Atlantic puffins adroitly nesting within rock crevices and northern fulmars nestled in with their chicks on the impressive basalt ledges.
This afternoon, back on board the ship, naturalist Karen Velas gave a presentation on puffins as Explorer sailed toward the quaint, artistic town of Seyðisfjörður. Next, we heard from guest speaker Thóra Arnórsdóttir, who spoke about the economic crash in Iceland. We then heard tales from the field from National Geographic photographer Mark Theissen. For the final presentation, One Day University lecturer Ed O’Donnell spoke about the Gilded Age. Explorer came alongside Seyðisfjörður just in time for everyone to have an after-dinner stroll through the sweet town.
