Another stunning morning awaited us on our travel down the Norwegian coast. The morning was spent on the main island of the Vega Archipelago, which is a group of islands in Nordland County, just south of the Arctic Circle. Under the blue skies of a surprisingly warm spring day, we explored the island on different hikes.

We were all invited to visit the Vega World Heritage Centre on the small island of Gardsøya, just off the main island of Vega. We learned about the natural history of the archipelago as well as the century old tradition of eider down collection. We also enjoyed delicious Norwegian waffles with jam, sour cream, and the famous Norwegian brown cheese.

During the afternoon and evening, we continued our sail down the Norwegian coast. In between a wine tasting and a fantastic dinner, Executive Chef Eslam Elmarakby invited us to visit two of the ship’s three galleys. Later, hotel director Sebastian Guijarro Ruiz explained to us the workings behind the scenes of the hotel department.

After our daily recap and another amazing dinner, Naturalist Kerstin Langenberger gave us an inside view of the interesting relationship between wild eider ducks and eider down farmers.