The Traveling Widower

Tag: Puffins

  • The First Day In Iceland – The Good, The Bad, And The Weird

    Panoramic view of a calm ocean with distant mountains under a clear blue sky.
    Looking back at Reykjavik

    June 21st, 2026

    My apologies to Clint Eastwood.

    Life was looking pretty good where I left off on the last post. I made it to Portland after yet another ticketing mess at SMF, the plane to Reykjavik was nice and left on time, the flight was long but comfortable, with a really good dinner. And once we landed, I breezed through immigration, unlike the Panama trip. The agent was very pleasant, and I did not have to lie about being an employee of National Geographic. That was a big relief. I then headed over to pickup my luggage – this was a strange flight. Most everyone on the plane was going somewhere else in Europe, so there was not much of a crowd at the luggage carousel. Here is the very WEIRD part – as with most airports, there are large screens on the carousels which display tourist advertising – I glanced up as I was waiting and first saw one for some lava related movie, followed by an add for “Inside the Volcano” which I’m visiting and then there was … what? I stopped in my tracks, and stared up through the next cycle, and there it was again:

    A vibrant sign displaying 'The Penis Museum' with the website phallus.is, set against a pink background.

    Yes, this is real, there is an Iceland Phallological Museum. I’ll pass on that one.

    And now for the really BAD – a small bunch of luggage pieces slid on to the carousel, as I waited patiently for my brand new roller duffel bag, adorned with National Geographic tags. I was ahead of schedule, and looked forward to heading out to meet the ride that I had pre-ordered. And then the carousel shut down, and a message appeared on the screen, which stated that all luggage had been dispersed. Huh! Where’s my bag? I headed over to the luggage control windows, and calmly asked (not really) where my luggage was. A very nice lady checked on the computer and told me that the bag appeared to be in Portland! She must have been used to people breaking into tears, and/or started cursing. I was too tired for either of those, other than softly muttering a few expletives. She was well prepared to handle the situation. She had me fill in a form, and then gave me very detailed instruction on where to go to get any type of clothing or gear that I need, all paid for by the airlines. That would be a lot of stuff, given that I did not have any of my rain gear, hats, gloves, hiking poles, hiking shoes….not to mention underwear and bathroom stuff. All I had was my camera gear and medications. So much for my stress free trip. OK – I grabbed the printed instruction, and went out to the lobby where the driver was patiently waiting. At least that worked. 

    And now for the mostly GOOD. The drive to Reykjavik was really cool – lots of lava and volcanic cones. Sort of like the big island in Hawaii. It was beautiful, if you like volcanics. Which I do. The city center looked interesting – wide streets, clean with lots of shops.

    DCIM\100GOPRO\GP010032.JPG

    She showed me how to get to the gear shop, which was just a few blocks from my hotel, and opened at 8AM. Plenty of time to get what I need before my pickup time for the whale/puffin trip. The rental place was great – I got everything I needed, including socks and underwear….but not toiletries. I needed to hit a grocery store for that. 

    The bus pickup spot for all of the tourist tours was a short walk from the hotel, and it was pure chaos – mobs of tourists milling around, a line of vans and buses with drivers calling out names. But it worked – I found my bus, and was deposited by the harbor docks where the various cruise boats head out. It was an absolutely beautiful morning – perfectly clear, sunny, blue skies, flat ocean. I was hoping to do the puffins first since I was just doing the whale tour to kill time. Unfortunately, the whales came first. My expectation were pretty low, and those were met. It was great seeing the coast, and looking back at Reykjavik from out in the bay, but the whales were not very exciting. It was like a bad day in Monterrey Bay. A few spouts, lots of whale backs, but nothing else. Once we returned to the docks to switch to the smaller puffin boat, the skies clouded up, temperatures dropped, and the waves were a bit higher. The puffin boat was packed, elbow to elbow – it was a short cruise out to the puffin colony, and there were lots of puffins on the island or in large clusters on the water. The problem was the boat driver never really slowed down much, or stopped for photographers to get some decent shots. That and it was hard to find an opening through the crowds, and almost impossible to focus with a bouncing boat. I did get a couple of good ones, and it was nice to see so many of the cute, colorful birds. I’ll have another opportunity later this week, and next year as well.

    A puffin swimming on the surface of the water, with a distinctive black and white body and bright orange beak.
    Four puffins swimming in the water
    A puffin spreading its wings on a grassy area, with a fuzzy chick resting nearby.
    Two Atlantic puffins standing on lush green foliage with a cloudy sky in the background.

    As we headed back to the docks, I did get some really good news – my wayward luggage was on its way to Reykjavik, and I should have it by the evening. There are other flights to Iceland, so they just loaded it up on the next flight out. I can wear my own gear tomorrow!

    A maroon wheeled suitcase with tags standing on wooden flooring next to a gray armchair.
    Welcome back!

    I did wander around the city a bit, walking back to the hotel (and walked past THAT museum), and then later in the evening (longest daylight of the year). I was really beat due to lack of sleep, too much sitting on a plane, and too much standing on boats. But, not a bad first day now that I was reunited with my luggage.Tomorrow..Inside the Volcano!

    Peace

  • The Cavitation Cabin Blues

    The Cavitation Cabin Blues

    A serene view of a calm lake with mountains in the background, featuring snow-capped peaks and a clear blue sky.

    The first two days have been absolutely amazing in terms of the Alaskan landscape, the wildlife, and pretty much all aspects of the trip. It is strange being back on a National Geographic/Lindblad ship – this one is the sister ship for the one I was on in Baja, and there is a comfort factor in knowing where everything is. Plus, the expedition lead remembered me from the Baja trip, and the marine naturalist I know from my last whale watch trip in Moss Landing – he was the naturalist on the Blue Ocean ship. A very small world it is. 

    The first day we cruised around into the inner passage channels, headed for a spot where we would explore the coast in the Zodiacs. That worked out great, since we spotted Brown Bears – finally. I have not seen one since a horseback trip outside of Yellowstone, many years ago. And that was not a good experience. 

    A brown bear sitting by a rocky riverbank surrounded by several seagulls, with a waterfall in the background.

    After that, we headed off North towards Glacier Bay, quite a ways off. We had reports that we should be able to see the Northern Lights that night. Even though I was already tired (more on that in a bit), I headed out to viewing area on the bow  at 10:00 – it was cold and extremely windy, plus the ship was moving really fast. Looking off to the North, there was a glow of sorts over the mountains – not very exciting. For the dimmer Borealis displays, you need to take photographs to see the colors – I’m not sure why, but it worked. It was a real challenge trying to take photographs with a heavy wind and rocking boat, but I did get a few nice shots (which I’ll be working on with Photoshop).

    A night sky filled with stars and a subtle display of northern lights over silhouetted mountains.

    I played around with the camera for a while, and then suddenly, the sky lit up as huge cruise liner sailed past us – it was like having a giant Christmas tree cruise by. Hideous. Kind of ruined the experience.

    A brightly lit cruise ship at night, with colorful lights illuminating its structure against a dark sky and ocean backdrop.

    So here’s the rest of the story on being tired. My cabin is on the lowest deck, on the very rear of the ship (aft). I’ve been on this level on my first two NG expeditions, and while you do hear the engines, it is actually a very soothing sound. But as the ship picked up speed, the hum was drowned out by an extremely loud rattle and bang, sort of like a bunch of marbles in a can. This was neither soothing, or a replacement for Melatonin.  After a second night of this, I did bring this up to “hotel manager”, and spoke to the captain. Much like the Arachnid Suite in hotels, I have learned that you should never reserve the Cavitation Cabin on cruise ships. The rear-most steerage level cabins on the smaller ships happen to be right above the propellers. As the ship picks up speed, you get cavitation (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cavitation). There was not much the crew can do about the sound – the ship has to move and unlike nuclear submarines,  cavitation is common at high speed. But they did lend me a set of Bose sound cancelling headphone for the remainder of the trip. Maybe a discount on my next cruise would have been nice.  I’ll survive. I don’t sleep well at home either. 

    Interior view of a room showing two circular white covers mounted on a shelf, with patterned curtains on either side.
    100 lb (not really) porthole covers – head crushers

    Day two was amazing, even with just 3 hours of sleep due to cavitation noise. I woke up early (due to cavitation…OK I’ll stop mentioning it), and peeked out the porthole (I had to lift the cover first…very heavy, easy to crush your head) to a view of chunks of ice floating by. Hmm….must be near a glacier. Sure enough, by the time I got out to the front deck, we were already pulled up in front of the John Hopkins glacier. Wow. I’ve seen a few glaciers before, but this was incredible.

    A scenic view of a glacier reflecting in a calm body of water, surrounded by rugged mountains and a beautiful sky at sunrise.

    The plan for the day was to cruise through Glacier Bay (another National Park off the list, woo hoo!), mostly looking for wildlife or anything else of interest to view from the ship. No stops or off-ship excursions. That was fine by me. The scenery was incredible and there were all kinds of beasties to see. I was exhausted after a few hours from wandering around the decks to get different views of the surroundings, or heading back to the cabin for different lenses. I eventually moved my camera bag up to the lounge to give my knee a break from climbing stairs. Here’s a few shots (many more to come once I get home)

    A large group of sea lions resting on a rocky shore beside calm water, with greenery and trees in the background.
    A serene landscape featuring mountains and a calm body of water, with mist hovering over the water's surface and a clear blue sky.
    A serene view of calm waters reflecting the sky and surrounding mountains under a partially cloudy sky.
    Scenic view of mountains reflecting in a calm lake under a clear blue sky.
    A scenic view of a calm lake surrounded by mountains under a clear sky, with the sun shining in the background.
    Scenic view of mountains and a calm lake under a clear blue sky
    A large group of sea lions resting on rocky shore, with some lounging and others in various positions, against a backdrop of jagged cliffs and water.
    Panoramic view of rugged mountains with snow caps reflecting in calm water under a clear blue sky.

    I have never seen anything like this area – the water was like a still pond, perfectly flat, surrounded by snow covered peaks. There were otters, sea lions, and a variety of birds all over the place as we cruised by. Plus, the scenery was beyond belief. We did hit a fog bank for a while, which was a good excuse for taking a break, and offloading some photos to my SSD storage. That and getting some food into my system (lunch). 

    I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the world go by, standing around with 20 or 30 other photographers and bird/scenery watchers as we cruised Glacier Bay. Incredible scenery. Every few minutes, a sea otter or some other interesting bird (Puffins!!) would float by, and the scenery just go better and better as we cruised along. After a while, you just sort of sat there, put the camera down, and just let it all soak in, and just relax for a change. What an incredible experience.

    But traveling alone still sucks

    As I’ve said before, I may occasionally mix some of my widower related experiences and thoughts in the travel posts – I can’t help avoid leakage from the journal I created a few weeks ago. So here goes.

    I absolutely love going on the National Geographic/Lindblad expeditions – they are so incredibly well run, and they offer incredible opportunities for photography and outdoor activities. The cruises are fantastic since they are true expeditions, but with all the high-end features you’d get from the more traditional luxury cruise outfits. Great food, outstanding service, comfortable accommodations, but with a focus on adventure.

    But, the vast majority of the travelers are couples. While everyone is like-minded in terms of their interests, I am still absolutely terrified at having to socialize with 90 or so complete strangers, especially at meals where I need to ask a group if I can join with them. It is still so far out of my comfort zone. For some reason, probably because of the lingering depression from our 50th anniversary a few weeks ago, I initially gave into my introverted self for the first day or two. It is just so hard meeting couples my own age, while I’m off on my own without Jan. Sometime you just feel like a leper, even though most everyone is incredibly understanding.

    Calm water with reflections of clouds and mountains under a partly cloudy sky.

    Fortunately, I was able to pull out of my funk, and have begun to socialize with a number of couples so I’m not eating by myself. I’ll be OK for the rest of the trip. I’m guessing every trip will be like this – I’ll always feel strange traveling without Jan. 

    End of sad moment…back to enjoying the trip. Much more to come, especially once I figure out how to work with all the raw images on the iPad.