Indagare Tours: Puffins Tour

Cape Ingolfshofdi is a beautiful isolated headland on Iceland’s southwest coast between Skaftafell (in the Vatnajokull National Par) and the Jökulsárlón ice lagoon.  The land is part of a protected nature reserve that is home to thousands of sea birds who come to nest, including puffins and great skuas. A local guide will take you on a wonderful birding tour via her tricked out tracker that has been adapted with a large wooden flatbed that can carry up to forty passengers across the marshy sands and tide pools to the base of the bluff (about a 25 minute drive each way.)  After hiking up a dramatic black sand dune, the flat walk around the nature preserve lasts about 1 ½ hours, during which time you will learn to watch where you step to avoid crushing eggs laid by the puffins, who make their nests in small holes along the edge of the bluff.

Note: You will want to have good all-weather gear for this trip, as it can be windy and or rainy on the cape.  In addition to good hiking boots, wind/rain proof pants and a jacket are recommended.