August 1, 2016 - August 2, 2016
We couldn't visit Iceland without seeing puffins. Iceland is known to be home to 60% of Atlantic Puffins during the breeding season. Did you know that these puffins spend most of their time at sea and only return to land during the spring and summer to breed? We made our way to Látrabjarg Cliffs to see if we catch a glimpse of these cute animals.
At first, we saw a handful of birds but no puffins...but then we started to notice people laying down close to the edge of a cliff pointing there camera in a specific direction...and lo and behold, there they were! You would never see them in more than a group of three, but it was pretty fun to all of a sudden spot their colorful beak, then lay at the edge and hope to snap a photo. As you'll see below, we definitely got in some puffin time at the cliffs.
With a good 2-3 hours with the puffins, we made our way to Rauðisandur Beach or Red Sand Beach. We stopped by the one cafe on the beach and enjoyed some hot mushroom soup and a delicious waffle with fresh made jam.
Since it was low tide, we were able to walk out onto the beach and take some really awesome reflective photos. We might have gone a little overboard with posting...but they're all just so great! :)
We stopped through Öndverðarnes hoping for some good whale watching but had no luck...instead we found a lighthouse that matched Jonathan's sweater exactly, called Öndverðarnes Lighthouse.
Before making our way back to Rekjavik, we visited Hellnar, a small coastal village on the Snæfellsnes peninsula for more sweeping ocean views and amazing rock formations at the cliff's edge.
This trip was a great taste of all the beauty that Iceland has to offer -- glaciers, waterfalls, craters, hot springs, basalt formations, more waterfalls! Now, we just need to come back and hope for a glimpse of the Northern Lights.