Wednesday, August 10th, Southern tip of Iceland

Greetings!

There is no name for the location of the hotel we're staying at tonight.  The hotel looks like an upscale colony of connected cargo containers, and it's a few miles from the southern-most tip of Iceland.  That would put it about a hundred miles north of Anchorage, Alaska.  Pat and I are having the buffet dinner, and she went for the pork soup, several salads, and the lamb entre. I wasn't as hungry, and skipped the soup and entre.  The homemade bread (with sesame seeds) and three salads (cucumber, corn, and salmon pasta) filled me up.

Iceland south contains the most active volcanos, which are usually covered with glaciers.  That combination resulted in a dramatic plume of ash which halted planes throughout Europe in April of 2010.  As the lava headed through the glacier, it also hit an older layer of ash deposited centuries ago, and took it as far away as upper Mongolia.  Locally, the glacier melted and sent a river of mud down into the field in the photo above.  The farm has recovered, and the documentary filmed of their ordeal can be viewed in their visitor center on the edge of the farm.  To learn a bit more about it,  read "Iceland Erupts; A visit to Thorvaldseyri Visitor Center".

But the highlight of the day had to be standing near the southern tip, and seeing puffins climbing up the cliff to our feet.  Amidst gale force winds, their little heads popped up surprisingly as we viewed their nesting habits on an adjacent cliff a few hundred yards away.  We saw one photographer race back to his car for a closeup lens he'd left behind.

To see all of the photos we took today, click on Wednesday, August 10th.