Iceland

About the trip

This was my first adventure cruise and it was sailing on the M/S Explorer, the first adventure cruise ship built for Lars Lindblad, known as the "Little Red Ship." The trip began in Edinburgh, Scotland and ended in Reykjavik, Iceland, and was operated by Zegrahm (now Exodus). After an introduction to Edinburgh with a choice of sightseeing activities we drove to Dundee a seaport north of Edingurgh and embarked on the ship. In comparison to other adventure cruise ships it was rather primitive. How could it be anything else when it was the first and only expedition ship when it was launched in 1969, and sank in the Arctic Ocean on November 23, 2007 when it struck an underground iceberg. All passengers and crew were rescued and uninjured. The ship was 239 feet long with a crew of 54, and could carry a maximum of 104 passengers. The cabins were so narrow with single beds on each cabin wall with a space between them that only one person could stand in the space. There was a toilet (hand pump type), wash basin, and shower and a small closet. When I first saw the corridor and its row of doors (all outside cabins) I thought how can a cabin have two doors? How stupid can one be? Well, I'd never been on an ocean going small expedition ship before. We sailed north of Scotland to the Orkney and Shetland Islands where in addition to local historical sights and small villages we saw many Atlantic puffins. We continued on to the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory of Denmark, making several landings to see historical sites and the city Torsvn. The crossing to Iceland was extremely rough. Very few passengers appeared in the dining room. I just barely managed to keep everything down. My friend and traveling companion sat on the bathroom floor with his hands around the toilet bowl. Dishes of Meclizine HCL were on the reception counter. No they were not after dinner mints! We finally arrived at Seydisfjorour on the east coast of Iceland. more to come soon Notes on photos: Cover: Leifur Eiriksson monument and Hallgrimskirkja. The statue was a gift from the US on the 1000th anniversary of the Icelandic Parliament and to honor the discoverer of North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus. It was sculpted by the American Alexander Stirling Calder, whose son Alexander Calder invented the art form of mobiles. The church is the Lutheran church for the Reykjavik district. It has an observation level in the top of the tower. Photos left to right: Skogafoss, Svartifoss ("foss" means waterfall in Icelandic) and columnar basalt, walking on a glacier, M/S Explorer All photos except last one © by Burr Preston

Questions?

Reach Burr Preston at burrpreston@hotmail.com

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