I'm about 2 days behind keeping up our travels due to lack of internet access at Hotel Hellnar. We're currently on our 2nd day at Hotel Latrabjarg in Iceland's remote West Fjord region. The Puffin encounter at the incredible bird cliffs of Latrabjarg was so wonderful I'll keep up that video while I try to catch up to our travels. Scroll past the video after watching to see what we did on Snaefellsnes Peninsula / Snaefellsjokull National Park on June 18, 2009.
Everything about Hotel Hellnar was exceptional, and we began the day by birding the hotel's cliffs.
We also enjoyed he tea house at the base of the cliffs. Here's mom birding at the beach of the hotel, at the base of the bird cliffs, in front of the tea house.
Our hotel also had its own European Oystercatcher, desperately seeking a mate, and it was continuously displaying in the hotel's garden.
Then it was off to the bird cliffs at ₱ufubjarg. These cliffs were about 500 feet high, with sheer drops straight down into the ocean. Of course, you simply walk up to the edge of the cliff and lean over to see all the birds!
Next we went to Ondverdarnes Cape and the beautiful bird cliffs at Svötuloft. These cliffs were even higher than at ufubjarg, and I found a comfy spot nestled right on the edge of the cliff in the warm sun (and out of the wind) while mom used her scope from the much safer distance of the base of the lighthouse (only about 75 feet from me, but without the possibility of tumbling 750 feet into the ocean). Still... my spot was like having a recliner chair right on the edge of the cliff!
We then drove around the western edge of the Peninsula, with views to the south of the Reykjanes Peninsula and to the north of West Fjords region, and encountered "drive thru bird cliffs" of Olafsvik. The road is at the base of 1,000 foot cliffs, with the ocean immediately on one side and towering walls just feet away on the other, and you hang out the car and look at all the sea birds nesting on the cliff. This was the second "auto pelagic" trip we had in Iceland. We then took a harrowing (the first of what would be many) single lane gravel road from Olafsvik (on the north side of the peninsula) over a mountain range and back to the south side of the peninsula to Budir where we encountered this waterfall.
Then back to Hotel Hellnar for a delicious dinner. Below is a video from Hotel Hellnar taken at midnight.
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