It was a cold & windy day. We had planned to do a RIB safari tour, but given the weather, we opted for the Eyjatour minibus tour. Was that ever a good call! Ebbi was fabulous. Despite all the hype that puffins would be gone, they leave later in Heimaey Island than the rest of Iceland. In fact, it was fledgling departure time and the babies were coming out at moonlight to fly the coop - only it wasn't always moonlight, it was streetlight for those nesting near the town of Vestmannaeyjar. The locals scoop them up from the streets, feed them shrimp to give them a good start, then release them the next day. Ebbi brought one of those along on our tour to release! Seeing a baby puffin up close and personal was amazing. Then he showed us the sights - he did the rock climb/swing to demonstrate how kids learn to climb the rocks to collect bird eggs. He took us to some famous-ish Viking sights including the Viking museum, and shared stories/lore about the early Viking settlers. He took us to the main area where the remaining puffins were congregated - where one of our group got to release the baby out to sea. It was heartwarming to see the little guy fly off for his 2 years at sea before returning. Ebbi explained all things puffin and their journey is amazing. Then we moved on to the volcano; his story is personal as his mother was a young woman when Eldfell erupted and was evacuated with his grandparents. He shared stories of his family's return to the island after the evacuation order was lifted. And he showed us the town sights. It was a great 2 hours and well worth our time - we learned so much. And he dropped us off near a new brewery - Brothers Brewery & Taphouse - another great find!
