This morning, we woke up around 7:45 to have a normal breakfast before heading out to Latrabjarg. Latrabjarg is a 14 kilometer long cliff that has the largest habitat of birds in all of Iceland! It the western-most part of Europe and shows cross sections of lava layers that were built up 13-14 million years ago. Even though on a human timescale, 14 million years seems like an extremely long time, the cliffs are actually very young when compared to the Earth itself on a geological timescale. What also interested me about the cliffs is the fact that a winter storm caused 15 crew members on a boat to be stranded at sea. Only 12 of the 15 survived this rescue mission, but it took the entire town several days to get these men to safety. After we learned some basic knowledge of the cliffs including some history, it was time to go exploring! Since the cliffs are the westernmost part of Europe, the sea was right below us. The water was gorgeous! It had several different shades of blue depending on where I looked and I felt like on was on a Carribbean cruise... Except for the much, much colder weather and strong wind. As we continued to walk along the cliffs, we all had to be extremely careful not to get too close to the edge because Puffins like to make their nests in the very top layer, causing the ground to be quite unstable. After some time had passed, I only really noticed 2 different bird species: some kind of seagull that I'm still unsure about the specific type, and a beautiful, black bird that I believe is called, a Razorbill. But, before too long, I was walking along the cliff and Dr. Suresh motioned for me to quietly go to where he was standing. As I slowly peered over the edge, I could see one, adorable Puffin looking straight back at me! It did not seem afraid nor did it show any signs of aggression towards me for being so close to its nest. I took as many pictures of this Puffin as I could because I was afraid I wouldn't see anymore during my trip and I wanted to show my family how close I got to one! As more and more people began discovering the location of this Puffin, I decided to move on in hopes of seeing another one where there would be more room to take pictures. My hopes came true as time went on and I was actually able to see multiple more Puffins, some that were right next to each other so I could get them in the same picture! I sat down in the grass and began sketching the 3 main birds I had seen today and I must say, I am quite proud of my drawings. They really do look just like the birds! When it was time to head back, I couldn't believe that we had been staring at birds for 2 entire hours. It felt like only 30 minutes!
By the time we got back to civilization, it was around 4:00 pm., and we still hadn't had lunch yet. My stomach was dying for food and the only restaurant that was open had 2 options for us to eat. We were forced to choose between lamb or Halibut, both that I typically wouldn't chose to eat if I was given the option. However, since I was starving and I have no desire to eat lamb, I chose to go with the Halibut, even though I knew nothing about it except for the fact that it is a fish. On the bright side, I did know that everything the chef was going to cook for us was either caught from the harbor this morning or taken from the local farm. About an hour after we had all ordered, our food came out of kitchen looking like something one would see on a professional cooking show. The presentation of the food was amazing! The fish was perfectly placed on a bed of roasted potatoes and some sort of leafy vegetables, with other vegetables (that I'm not sure what they were), on top and drizzled with a creamy sauce. Just having to think about it makes me hungry all over again! The fish was cooked perfectly! It was so tender and flakey as I cut my fork into it (and realized at this time that it was a white fish). I honestly have to admit, that this was the best fish I have ever eaten in my life! It was more than just being hungry and having something other than a cheeseburger... It was just so good! The owner of the restaurant also graciously gave us all free coffee! I've never been a fan of coffee before and I'm still not to this day, but anytime that's it's offered to me, I take it and I put a whole lot of milk and sugar in it. Caffeine has been needed on this trip to keep me up and alert all day and I must say that it has started to grow on me.
We arrived back at our hostel around 7:00 and we were given the rest of the day to either catch up on work, tour the city, or nap if we so desired. I spent my time eating beef jerky, blogging, and washing my dirty clothes in the sink (a wonderful combination). I will never take washing machines for granted again.
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