We spent our final day of our voyage at Breiðafjörður, which is the largest fjord in the Wild Westfjords and is the perfect place to conclude this marvelous expedition. This morning we anchored off the small island of Flatey, a once thriving fishing community that is now a time capsule and a vestigial reminder of life not long passed. The afternoon concluded with a stunning pass of the impressive cliffs of Látrabjarg where millions of seabirds nest along its 14- km extent, making it the largest bird cliff in Europe. The captain’s farewell cocktails and dinner party were punctuated with a late night sighting of killer whales.
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.
