Iceland - Day 8
Akureyri.
09/08/2022 - 09/08/2022
50 °F
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Iceland
on kjbruno's travel map.
Description
Robin drove.
Grocery shopped at Neto.
Drive to Husavik.
Visit Whale Museum.
Whale watching tour with North Sailing on the ship Gardar. Thanks Mom for the tickets!
Relaxed at the GeoSea thermal salt baths. Thanks Mom!
Dinner of fish and rice with Skyr yogurt dessert.
Washed clothes.
Lodging
K16Apartments
Kaupvangsstræti 16, 600 Akureyri, Iceland
Phone: +354 615 0051
Details
We had two nights in Akureyri so we decided to make a side trip (out and back) to Húsavík, an old whaling center. The town was very scenic and the weather was great. We visited the whale museum first which was very educational. They had many whale skeletons of all kinds (60 or so) and each exhibit included the story of how the museum came to acquire the whale. One thing we learned was that Húsavík was the oldest settlement in Iceland. They started offering whale watching in Húsavík in 1995. After that orientation we went on a whale watching excursion on a restored oak fishing boat, the Gardar. They provided big fat warm suits which were quite welcome once we got our on the water. It was cold! We saw a couple of humpback whales on the trip, one quite close. We heard that the rivers from the mountains carry minerals into the bay. This feeds the plankton, which feeds the krill, which eventually attracts a lot of whales of all kinds. Some of the whales go to warmer waters to bear their young and then return to this area to feed once the babies are big enough, with sufficient body fat, to tolerate the cold water. It was a really wonderful experience! After whale watching we went to Geosea, a very luxurious salt water thermal pool/spa. The water was sublime and the view overlooking the fjord was incredible! Somehow we drove back to Akureyri after all that relaxation!