Day 3: Westman Islands

Our third day was one of my favorite days of our trip. We took our car on a 45-minute ferry ride to the Westman Islands off the South Coast of Iceland. These are a group of 15 Islands, all of which are uninhabited except for the biggest one called Heimaey. 

The Island has an interesting history: in 1973 the Volcano Eldfell erupted, covering most of the island with ash and lava, in some parts 50 feet deep. By the time the eruption was over, it had destroyed over 400 homes, but it also added another square mile of land to the island! Luckily, they had enough warning to get everyone off the island, so it doesn't have a sad feel. You can walk along the lava field and see street signs that mark the old streets and plaques that mark old buildings all of which are now 50 feet below you!  

Around town, there are these "Ash Poles" that mark how high the ash got in that particular area. We also loved seeing a new monument honoring the 50-ish ship captains who helped with the evacuation efforts, making sure every resident got off the island before the eruption. 

There are a couple of houses in town that were partially covered in lava and left as monuments to the destruction.

Another day, another volcano. This was one hike we had to cut short because of my ankle; the shifting lava rock was too hard for me to walk on. We made it about a third of the way up and then called it good.

The biggest draw for tourists to The Westman Islands is the puffins. Puffins actually live most of their lives far out at sea. We learned that these cute little birds can actually dive to depths of 200 feet to catch their prey! They come back to the same nesting place each summer to mate, nest, and care for their babies. Between 8-10 million puffins come to Iceland every year. They mate for life (though they don't usually spend time at sea with their mates) and both care for their chicks. 

Before we went to the islands, we read that often the puffin chicks get confused by the city lights at night and fly into the city. They can't fly far and so then get stuck in town, so the island children catch them, keep them at home in cardboard boxes overnight, and then release them back out to sea the next day. We originally thought, "Oh, that's a cute story, but probably isn't something that really happens that often." We hadn't been on the island long when we saw a mom and three darling blond Icelandic girls holding a box and walking to a ledge overlooking the sea. Wondering if we could possibly be so lucky to see what we'd read about, we inched closer. We didn't speak their language, but it was so clear what was being said: "Ok, pick them up like this" "Eek! I can't it's flapping too much!" "Ok, I'll show you with this one." And so on.

And then we watched the mom throw one out to sea and loved hearing the little girls squeal in delight. When I realized there were more chicks in the box I asked the mom if I could record the girls, and she gave me permission. The video I took was one of our favorites from the whole trip! We took the screenshot below, but the video is even better!

Throughout the day we saw several more groups releasing puffin chicks out to sea, but none were quite as cute or pleased with the process as those first little girls. 

After doing a walking tour of the town, we spent a lot of time just sitting and enjoying the views. It was so pretty and peaceful. It was also the first sunny day of our trip and we really enjoyed the beautiful weather.

See the tractor?!

These sheep came to see us but lost interest once they realized we weren't going to feed them.

We came back out to see the sunset, and it was worth the trip! Such stunning views.

We were so glad to have spent a day in the Westman Islands!