8/6/15 Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Iceland

View of scene on way to port

Prior to disembarking, we heard an hour long lecture on the birds of Iceland.  You can see some of the birds at the link to the right and find out some facts on the Facts and Figures page. Our lecturer was  who has a wealth of knowledge and degrees.

The Snaefellsnes peninsula is in the west of Iceland. It is much older than the Reykjanes peninsula, where Reykjavik is located.

We disembarked at Grundarfjordur, a fishing village. Half of the workforce is employed in the fishing industry.

We drove to Budir. There were volcanic eruptions 7000 years ago. There was lava and basalt rock all over. Piles of stones and stakes tell where the road is along the way. In the mis 1800s huge floods wiped away the coastal villages.

We arrived Budir bay which has lots of little islands. We took a 40 minute walk with a stop at the Black Church (Lutheran) to a white sand beach with lava all over.


 Our next stop was Arnarstapi where one group took a 45 minute cliff walk and we took an alternate walk on top. We saw the cliffs and then a statue of Bardur Snaefellsas, the deity of Mt. Snaefell, the introduction of which was in a 14th century saga.

The last stop of the day was Djupalonssandur. Here people took a 30 minute walk down to the black sand beach. Several of us took a walk on the boardwalk at the top. It was extremely windy and Diane had to take the arm of another woman and then another took hers. It felt like the wind would blow us over.