Today we started exploring of one of Norway’s most iconic landscapes: the Lofoten Islands. Our first stop was the small island of Skrova, home to one of our Norwegian pilots. Led by a local guide we walked through the small town surrounded by thousands and thousands of cod fish left to dry on wooden racks, just as the inhabitants of the islands have been doing for centuries. Our guide explained that nothing goes to waste on this island, not even fish: as most of the meat is sold to Italy, the heads are shipped to Nigeria and the guts are used to feed farmed salmon.
Our morning walk ended with a splendid coffee break at a small family-owned café called Hilde and Terje, which opened especially for us and prepared fantastic waffles and cakes! We used the rest of our time before lunch to cruise around Skrova on Zodiacs, listening to staff recount their stories of the island.
After a great lunch we found ourselves at the very end of Lonkanfjorden. Captain Martin brought us into the heart of Lofoten where only ships can go as there is no road access. We explored the wilderness of the fjord in the afternoon and we found our muck boots sinking into over 30cm of untouched snow!
The biggest surprise of the day came right after dinner when we made the discovery of quite a familiar ship right at the entrance of the narrow Trollfjorden… It was National Geographic Explorer!
Legend says that one day a sailor and his daughter sailed into this fjord to seek shelter from strong winds but what they did not know was that the fjord was owned by a troll. Seeing his property being trespassed the troll decided the only way he would let the two free would be for the father to give his daughter’s hand in marriage to him. Needless to say the daughter was not keen on marrying an ugly troll! A nearly impossible challenge was then given by the troll: “If you maneuver your ship close enough to the cliffs so that your daughter can pick a leaf from a tree, then I will let you free.
And just like the sailor and his daughter, Captain Martin and Assistant Expedition Leader Johanna accepted the challenge to try and pick a leaf from a tree. Take a look at the pictures to see how our story ends.
