Sunday, July 12, 2009
MY SPECIAL TRIP TO FLATEY

Recently, I was asked to guide a special trip to Flatey, a small island situated in the Northwest of Húsavík. This was something new for me as well, so I was quite excited and happy at the same time to do this.

My group was rather small – mother and daughter Johnson from Toronto, Canada, and the Kuantins, a newly married couple from France on their honeymoon in Iceland. So it was just the five of as and the captain, Hilmar, who went out on our beautiful boat Athena in the late afternoon. The weather was just perfect - clear skies, warm temperatures, calm winds – and so was the sea as well, just flat.

After going out for a while we could finally find some humpback whales. There were around 6 or even more, some of them just a few metres next to the boat. We could almost touch one. After these definitely goose bump causing encounters, we headed further on towards Flatey Island.

There, we directly went to the cliffs to spot some puffins. The way to the cliffs was a little adventure as well, as there were dozens of aggressive arctic terns, which were about to attack us. On the other hand, we also got some really nice views of the island itself, of the houses, the church and the lighthouse and its surroundings as well, e.g. the snow covered Kinn Mountains.

Once at the cliffs, we soon spotted the first puffins. Now the hunt on them started - of course the hunt with our cameras, not with nets … This was worth a picture on its own. Imagine five people creeping on their knees looking through their cameras. But the efforts paid, we got some really really nice pictures of those cute little puffins.

After two hours on Flatey, we started or journey back to Húsavík. But as if there weren’t already enough highlights, we could even spot some more humpbacks. Humpbacks just in front of the low standing, orange glowing sun. Could it be more romantic?

Finally, after six hours we came back to the harbour at 11 pm. I think everyone was really more than just happy and satisfied, and so was I as well!

I hope everyone keeps this very special tour in mind; this was really not an everyday’s experience. I am glad that we could fulfil some dreams on this day.

I also want to wish Mrs. and Mr. Kuantin the very best for their common future.

Peter Waltl, guide

Here are some photos taken on the tour:

flatey1

flatey2
Puffins are very common on Flatey Island during the summer and easy to watch up close.