Nudging the Arctic Circle, yet washed by the temperate waters of the Gulf Stream, Iceland is a land of contrasts. Called the Land of Fire and Ice, there are 130 volcanoes, 30 of which are active, 269 glaciers, hot mud pools and steaming lava fields.
Iceland is also stunningly beautiful with long fingerlike glacier-scoured fjords, tumbling mossy waterfalls and dramatic basalt sea cliffs clustered with nesting birds.
Iceland Circumnavigation
I have just returned from this diminutive land which is about the size of Colorado. The population is small, about 350,000, a third of whom live in the capital Reykjavik. Others live in small towns, fishing villages or remote rural hamlets.
I traveled by ship. The National Geographic Explorer, with Lindblad Expeditions, made a circumnavigation of Iceland. We sailed as far north as Grimsey Island in the Arctic Circle, went deep into fjords, and took small zodiac boats onto deserted beaches or past soaring cliffs teaming with nesting birds.
On several occasions we were accompanied by whales. A group of three humpback whales, diving and blowing entranced us on the port side one morning. Eight Orcas and hundreds of Arctic Terns were attracted by fish on another.
Volcanoes, Glaciers and Waterfall Discovery
I saw the volcanoes, Fagradalsfjall erupting, trudged through long wet corridors under Langjokull Glacier and was entranced by the hundreds of waterfalls splashing down volcanic mossy hillsides.
August was a good time to visit. The days were long. I photographed some sunsets, but the sun was always up before I could catch a sunrise.
There is much to say and write about this Iceland exploration. I shall begin here by giving a mostly photographic overview.
Enjoy, Iceland is a Land of Contrasts.
