Travel – Page 10 – David Kotz

Iceland – Diamond Beach

Massive glaciers spill ice into a tidal lagoon – ice that washes ashore on a black-sand beach. Spectacular!

Part of a series of posts about my travel in Iceland, including visits to eleven waterfalls.

Although the trigger for this visit to Iceland was to board the National Geographic Endurance for an expedition cruise to southern Greenland, photography was the focus of my extended stay in Iceland. This post highlights photos from my first stop in Iceland: Jökulsárlón (aka Glacier Lagoon) and its adjacent Diamond Beach. While I’m at it, Fjallsárlón lagoon is just down the road and offers equally enthralling scene of an adjacent glacier calving bergs and berglets into a tidal lagoon. Read on to see photos!

diagram of Jökulsárlón and how its bergs flow out to sea and onto Diamond Beach — Sign with diagram of Jökulsárlón (aka Glacier Lagoon) and its adjacent Diamond Beach, Iceland.

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Iceland – Fjaörárgljufur

A spectacular gorge with a pretty waterfall at its head.

Part of a series of posts about my travel in Iceland, including visits to eleven waterfalls.

Although Fjaörárgljufur ravine includes several beautiful cascades, it is best known for its deep and spectacular gorge. When I visited, on the afternoon of my first day, it was teeming with other visitors who hiked the trail on the high terrain for its various views across and down into the gorge. The trail ends at a precarious viewing platform overlooking Mögárfoss, a tall waterfall at the head of the ravine. Read on…

Mögárfoss waterfall in Fjaörárgljufur gorge, southern Iceland.

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Revisiting Iceland

A few days of solo travel after Greenland allowed me to visit more of Iceland.

When I left Iceland last summer, after a wonderful family trip, I never expected to be returning so soon. But, I had the opportunity to cruise southern Greenland with Lindblad National Geographic Expeditions, this summer – and that trip began and ended in Reykjavik, capital of Iceland. I thus found myself back in Reykjavik barely a year later, at the height of the tourist season, with plans to explore the southeast coast (whereas last year we focused on the Golden Circle and the Westfjords). In a series of posts, I’ll share highlights from a brief exploration of Reykjavik prior to our Greenland cruise; a cruise stop at Kirkufellfoss in western Iceland; and my drive around the Ring Road as far as the Glacier Lagoon (380km), and back past more than a dozen incredible waterfalls. This first post is a bit of an introduction. Photography was the focus of my trip, so I’ll share many photos. Read on for more!

Scenery along the Ring Road, showing a barn, a steep cliffside, and a waterfall on the cliff. — Scenery along the Ring Road, southeastern Iceland.

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Greenland wrap-up

With link to complete photo gallery.

This ends my series of posts (beginning here) about our trip to southern Greenland. I found it to be a beautiful, fascinating place. For convenience, I’ve gathered all the photos and videos in one chronological gallery. Although I feel like we saw a lot, we just scratched the surface – only in the deep south, and only on the coastline. The northern regions, and the interior, are a dramatically different place. Maybe I’ll be able to return someday!

Map of our voyage — Map of our voyage from Reykjavik Iceland (at right),
just before we reached Kangerlussuaq Greenland (at left).

Greenland – contemporary human settlements

Visits to small villages and bustling towns… but we missed out on the capital (Nuuk).

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

In addition the expedition staff, two Greenlanders joined us for the entire cruise: an Inuk cultural ambassador, and a businesswoman born in Iceland but descended from Greenlandic grandparents and whose career includes service as an elected council member in the capital city of Nuuk. From listening to their formal presentations and from informal conversations, we had an opportunity to learn more about the indigenous traditions as well as modern Greenlandic culture and politics. We also had the opportunity to visit contemporary communities – two tiny settlements and a large town. Read on for more!

Qaqortok harbor, Greenland.

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Greenland – historic human settlements

We visited ruins and reconstructions of historic indigenous and Norse settlements dating back more than 1,000 years.

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

As we cruised the fjords on the southwest coast of Greenland, we had several opportunities to learn about the cultures of Greenland – historic and contemporary – and to visit archaeological sites, small villages, and busy towns. This post focuses on two historic settlements, each now recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. Read on for more…

Ruins of the church at Hvalsey – historic Norse village – Qaqortoq Fjord, Greenland.

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Greenland – hiking

We took several hikes in the Greenland wilderness.

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

One might imagine becoming stir crazy during ten days aboard ship. Fortunately, the expedition team offered many opportunities to go ashore! Nearly every day they would offer short, medium, and long walks. Some were billed as a ‘photo walk,’ accompanied by the ship’s photo experts; others were focused on interpretation of the ecology or history; still others were pointedly called a ‘strenuous hike’ for which exercise was the goal and there would be no time to stop for photos or natural-history lessons. We were fortunate with good weather – sometimes fantastic weather – so I had the opportunity to hike at Dronning Marie Dal (in Skjoldungensund), at the outlet of the Sermeq glacier (at the head of Tasermiut fjord), around the Hvalsey historic site, around the village of Qassiarsuk, and in the tundra above Neria fjord. The scenery was dramatic, and varied tremendously from place to place. Read on for more!

Dronning Marie Dal – a glacial stream valley at the head of Skjoldungensund fjord, Greenland.

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Greenland – glaciers & ice

Up close and personal with glaciers and their offspring.

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

It’s hard to imagine the size of Greenland, or its ice cap. Even those glaciers that flow down to the sea, like the Thryms glacier below, are truly massive. (Notice our ship, the National Geographic Endurance, at lower left!) Read on for more about our outings among the ice, including video…

The NG Endurance near Thryms glacier; Skjoldungensund fjord, Greenland.

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Greenland – fjords and scenery

We spent most of our time in Greenland in the extensive fjord systems that shape its southern tip.

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

Although our route sometimes had the Endurance sailing offshore overnight south along the eastern coast, and sailing north along the western coast, most of our time in Greenland was spent in the extensive fjord systems that shape the southern tip of Greenland. In this landscape, a visitor can understand why the early Norse settlers named this land Grœnland (green land) when the Norse, led by Erik the Red, settled here in 982. Although these fjords have steep walls and deep waters, their shores and (rare) shallow glacial plains are covered in a green, grassy tundra sprinkled with heather, dwarf willow, dwarf birch, crowberries, blueberries, and a variety of wildflowers. Although “Iceland’s landscape is the world’s youngest and most dynamic, the rocks of Greenland are the oldest yet discovered on the planet.” [NatGeo] Read on for more…

Arrival in Greenland – entering Skjoldungensund fjord.

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Greenland – whales

Exciting encounters with whales, three evenings in a row.

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

Shortly after dinner on our first night aboard, as we cruised the Iceland coast toward its western peninsulas, the ship’s naturalists – always on the lookout – announced we had come upon a group of whales. It turned out to be a pod of minke whales and a bubble-feeding humpback whale. The ship paused as passengers enjoyed watching the humpback, right next to the ship, repeatedly blew a circle of bubbles, and then surfaced in the middle to swallow a massive gulp of fish that it had ‘trapped’ in the confused circle created by the bubbles. I stood on Deck 6 forward, capturing snaps of the smaller minke whales in between sightings of the humpback. Check out the gallery of my images, and watch a video, including some from the moment below captured by National Geographic photographer Nick Cobbins. Read on for more…

Humpback whale, surfacing — Humpback whale, bubble feeding – off the coast of Iceland. Still from a Video by Nick Cobbing.

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