Puffins and North Iceland — Lisa's (& Steve's) Travels

We next headed for a small town in the NE corner of Iceland, specifically to see puffins up close. The weather was somewhat foreboding as we made our way up and over a pass -

The valley and town on the other side were nice and peaceful.

There are several areas around Iceland where the Atlantic puffins are known to nest in the summer, but at Borgarfjordur Eystri, you can get up close and personal.

In one of their burrows, I witnessed “billing” which apparently strengthens the bond between a pair -

The markings on these birds are so colorful:

It was amazing how close we were. This little one wasn’t upset; he was just stretching his wings as I was snapping away -

As we left town, we saw a bright example of a sod house -

The gloomy day persisted as we continued passing by amazing walls of waterfalls -

A quick stop at another named waterfall, Rjukandafoss, along the way…

… before crossing into the more barren and dry North…

… with miles of stone cairns stretching into the distance -

There is a huge lake in the middle of this area, Myvatn, which translates as “midge lake” Midges are non-biting flies like gnats that can easily swarm you, so Steve and I had come prepared with nets that fit over our hats and down over our shoulders. (alas, no picture for you) These worked very well to keep them out of our eyes, nose and ears. This lake is rich in bird life due to the bounty of the midges as food.

At the south end of the lake are “pseudocraters” that were formed by steam explosions when hot lava flowed into a body of water -