National Geographic Endurance docked in the quaint village of Husavik, which is known as the whale-watching capital of Iceland. The trip to Lake Mytvan offered views of bubbling mudpots, interesting volcanic structures from an eruption long ago, and Godafoss, a famous and beautiful waterfall. Some guests chose a hike, others a trip to the Asbyrgi Canyon, and many took advantage of the geothermal activity at the GeoSpa. The naturalist team recommended a visit to the Husavik Whale Museum, which is small but mighty. A full skeleton of a blue whale is one of many displays. A myriad of exhibition rooms shares stories of whaling, the underwater world, and illustrations by the pioneer naturalist of Iceland, Jon the Learned.
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.
