Today National Geographic Orion sailed full steam towards our afternoon destination, the Icelandic island of Heimaey. Heimaey literally translates to “home island”, and is the largest of all islands in the Vestmanna (Westman) group. In 1973 the volcano Eldfell erupted, changing both the landscape and history of this small island forever. The lava encapsulated many homes as it threatened to ooze into the sea. Once reaching the previous coastline, it pushed on, nearly closing off the port entirely. The locals took to hoses, washing the molten lava with seawater in a desperate attempt to slow and eventually halt the lava’s movement. Miraculously, it worked, and the port today is actually much safer and more protected than it ever was in the past. Today the guests were able to join a beautiful hike, a bus tour, or go for a wander through town to explore this unique location.
8/23/2024
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National Geographic Explorer
Reykjavík, Iceland
After a cracking morning out at sea with some truly impressive waves, we were called up to the lounge by Expedition Leader Leah Eaton, who briefed us on a volcanic eruption that had just started on the Reykjanes peninsula. As the briefing concluded, we could already see the volcanic plume through which we would later sail on our way around the Reykjanes peninsula. We finally reached Reykjavík in the afternoon, where we had our final lounge briefing with our guest slideshow, a presentation on our final volcano plan, and a farewell speech from Captain Peik Aalto. After an early dinner, we mounted a trio of busses that carried us out onto the Reykjanes peninsula to an abandoned airstrip. From there we could already see the spectacular eruption very clearly, but to get a better look, we made our way onto some of the old storage bunkers which lined the airstrip. This gave us a view of the eruption in all its glory, with smoke billowing into the sky from the two-kilometer-long fissure, and also a number of smaller fires. It was a truly wonderous ending to an already incredible expedition.