Early on our first morning of exploration, we arrived to Flatey (which means “flat island”).
The winds were strong, providing fantastically dramatic photography. White caps and interesting looking skies contrasted with the barren volcanic landscape.
Flatey is a little island that is popular among the Icelandic people for a weekend visit. During the winter months, it is inhabited by only four people. A little Lutheran church marks the center of the island, and behind it sits a little, old house that is the smallest and one of the oldest libraries in Iceland. It was built in 1864.
In the afternoon, we visited the tall cliffs of Latrabjarg, where we could see large colonies of nesting puffins, guillemots, fulmars, and kittiwakes. Sailing past the steep walls of these cliffs, we could clearly see the many and successive lava flows that accumulated on top of each other over a long time.
As a surprise for our guests, at the end of the day we added an after-dinner outing to visit the magnificent Dynjandi, an impressive succession of high waterfalls formed by the water of melting glaciers.
