When one imagines circumnavigating the wild and rugged coastline of the volcanic island of Iceland, two contrasting images abound: fire and ice. Until today the fire has been at the forefront of our voyage. Journeys through lava fields, visits to volcanoes, scuba divers headed to the underwater hydrothermal vents and of course stories of numerous volcanic eruptions recounted by our local guides. Today, however, it was time for the ice. From morning to evening our day was filled with ice as we visited Vatnajökull, one of the largest glaciers on Earth, as well as Jökulsárlón – Iceland’s famous glacial river lagoon.
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.
