Akureyri University visit and Whale Watching!

Hi I'm Lukas and I'm writing today's blog. Today was our first full day in Akureyri which began with a trip to the bakery. While I was still getting my beauty sleep, many people from our group bought baked goods. Many people said the food was really good. I however, enjoyed breakfast which included cereal, croissants, and some juices. After breakfast, we took a 15 minute hike uphill to see The University of Akureyri inside, we learnt about Icelandic culture, specifically about how it involves sustainability.

Our guide told us that sustainability is done on an individual level. Its apart of their culture to reduce their impact on the environment, and it shows. In almost every store we go to, you can find around 6 garbage bins, each for a specific type of product rather than only a trash and recycling bin. We also learnt that Icelands biggest sources of income are tourism and fishing. After our trip to the University, we went back to our hostel to have lunch and immediately after headed to Húsavík to go whale watching aboard an old sail boat called Hilda.

It was whale after whale for the 3 and a half hours we were out at sea. We saw many humpback whales, and even a blue whale which is extremely rare.

On our way back, we went to Puffin Island which, as you might guess, was covered in puffins. I mean, just look at how many puffins there were! (You might need to zoom in to see them all)

Yes, all those black specs are puffins. After the whale watching, we were given an hour or so to grab dinner. Me, Shivam, Matthew, Hakuto, and Geneva went got Indian food which tasted really good.

To conclude the day, we all met in the town square, talked about what we have learned so far and, as usual, discussed our plan for tomorrow. Overall I had a really fun day today, especially seeing those whales!