May 19th, 2016: The Birds

May 19th, 2016: The Birds

Today we are finally going to see the famous (or infamous) puffins. The first day we stayed in the hostel in Reykjavik I read an English newspaper about how the "puffin shops" were outcompeting the locally owned artisan shops. The article discussed e Icelanders should tolerate the annoying business because it is good for the economy. This made me surprisingly self conscious about my excessive excitement to see these absolutely adorable avians. 

Nevertheless, we arrived at Latrabjarg after a tedious two hour bus ride. We stepped out onto the cold wind bluffs and we were bombarded with the smell of bird poop. Looking around I noticed people laying on the edge of the cliffs. I laughed at their stupidity. Who in their right mind would damage themselves off of a cliff to get a picture of a bird? The answer: Me. 

In order to not get blown off of a cliff, or step in a puffin hole, you have to lay down to see the puffins. 

Looking at all those birds made me think of my mom. I know that she would have been beside herself looking at all the different types of birds living in those cliffs. I have to admit that I wish I knew what birds I was looking at. Maybe I should brush up on my Icelandic bird knowledge.