Prometheus and Cetaceans

I must start off today's entry by commenting on how gloriously dark our room was last night.  Oh, about that.  I have come up with a better word than that non-applicable darkness-referring one.  In light of our current political climate, I have dubbed it #alt-night.  Anyhoo, our room had great curtains, as well as a very-effective shade, so I actually noticed the cornucopia of electronic devices that I am in charge of charging.  I guess that makes me "charging-wench."  Oh, that's right, we've all decided to discontinue the "w" word for the rest of the trip.Les cooked yet another great breakfast, and we were on our way.  First up was to head north from Husavik, and go around the fingertip of land to Vatnajökull National Park.  It houses several unique attractions.  The Park consists of a wide swath of land created and deconstructed by volcanic activity.  A river cuts its way through the park, and creates several great waterfalls.  Our first stop was a view of a smaller fall, with a distant view downstream of Dettifoss.  This is a magnificent waterfall that, true to Icelandic tradition, has almost no safeguards.  I guess they trust in natural selection, and if you're so stupid you get too close and fall in, you have done a service to the gene pool by removing yourself from it.We hiked down to the fall.  Being on the less-traveled side, we didn't have to deal with buses full of tourists, but rather, several hardy individuals ready to climb some rocks.  Dettifoss is a great location as well, and was the location of the initial scene of Ridley Scott's Prometheus.  I had to stand where the Engineer gave his all to create life on earth (before they decided to destroy us).  I think I gave Carrie a minor aneurysm because I was literally 1 foot away from the massive drop.  I guess I was that stupid person yet again.There is a challenging trail to another fall about a kilometer away.  Les and Pat are troopers, but I think it would have been foolish to tempt fate in such a remote location.  We gave it a bit of a go, but realized that, in Iceland, challenging means challenging.  So, we turned around and hiked back to the car.  We drove back to the front of the park to go to a different site.  This one is called Hljóðaklettar, or clattering stones.  It is another other-worldly site.  We hiked down to the formations.  They consist of many columnar shapes, all in different orientations.  It is amazing - the destructive and creative power of volcanoes.After a great hike, it was back in the car to drive back to our apartment.  We rested for a bit, then went for a bite of dinner.  Since we were going on a whale-watching boat ride in the Atlantic, we figured we should eat first then let it settle a bit before boarding.  After dinner, we bundled up and walked down to the pier for our tour.  Now, if I haven't already said, today's weather has been amazing.  We were wondering what riding on a boat would be like in cold, driving rain and wind.  Today, however, the sun has been mostly blazing all day.  This evening was no different.  The water was smooth, and the sun was shining. The crew did say, that even though the sun would be shining, it would definitely get much cooler during the cruise.  They issued us coveralls to wear over our bundled up clothes.  I didn't partake, as I was bundled up pretty good.  Carrie, Les, and Pat wisely did, and looked like deck-hands on an Arctic trawler.  But, they were fairly warm (well, warmer than they would have been otherwise).  I ended up ok, with frozen hands and feet, oh and nose.  Otherwise I was ok.  Les said, however, this was the coldest he's been on this trip.The cruise was great.  We saw 2 humpback whales.  Though, fighting the other cruisers for photo taking space, was sometimes challenging.  Our guide was really funny, and very French.  He seemed to communicate well with the Icelandic crew, so he must have been here a while.  We also cruised by a sea-bird colony and saw many many more puffins than our puffin tour.  After that, the crew brought up hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls.  Holding the cup of hot liquid was glorious.  We finished the cruise and disembarked at about 11:05pm.  The sun was still shining, and we had a great walk back to the apartment.  Being much later than our normal custom, we got pictures imported, then straight to bed.  I am catching up the next day.  Good #alt-night!