Elite Traveler Fall 2023

east and north of Iceland, where raw and rugged landscapes of snow-dappled mountains and cascading waterfalls overwhelm the senses: Shetland on steroids. A visit to Iceland’s former herring boom town, Siglufjörður, the ‘Klondike of the Atlantic,’ proved in fi nitely more fascinating than it sounds, but heading o ff into the Arctic Circle, it’s not herring, but probably the best piece of monk fi sh I’ve ever eaten (from Orkney), that’s monopolizing my attention. At which point, the sedate atmosphere of the Restaurant is suddenly shattered. A pod of whales, their blowholes blasting away as they rhythmically rise and fall, is visible right outside the window against the distant Seasoned Seabourners now form a select secret society of the high seas

array of Instagram feeds. Though it’s at the nature reserve on the Shetland island of Noss where cli ff s rise vertically out of the ocean for 500 ft, that bird watching moves center stage. Manoeuvring around in our Zodiacs, we’ve front-row seats at one of Europe’s premier birdlife locations. The cli ff s and the skies overhead are consumed by the incredible con fl agration of thousands of nesting seabirds. Later, at her highly informative talk, ornithologist Dr Danaë Sheehan, recalls how, on a 2015 fi eld study to the neighboring island of Mousa, she’d counted 11,000 of one breed alone, the storm petrel. That moody melancholic departure from Shetland presages two rocky nights at sea as guests suddenly scramble for their sea legs. Eventually, the calm after the storm unveils a sun-strafed, steep-sided fjord of mesmerizing, majestic proportions that we appear to be sliding down in a Zen-like state of tranquility. This wasour fi rst of several fjords in the sparsely populated

backdrop of Iceland’s northern coastline. Fine dining doesn’t get much fi ner. In a land replete with spectacular waterfalls, Dynjandi, in the remote Westfjords region, still retains the power to trans fi x — especially when approached from the sea, as with our Zodiac landing. Like an enormous watery wedding cake or one of those tumbling towers of champagne glasses, Dynjandi is truly spectacular, and on the morning of our visit, there were hardly any other visitors. On the last leg into Reykjavik, there’s an animated announcement from Seb, oura ff able expedition leader. He’s fi nally spotted what we all wanted to see — orcas, cavorting and breaching o ff the port side, where everyone rushes. What’s been a fabulous and fascinating sojourn across the North Atlantic even manages killer whales for a killer fi nale! By Andrew Harris Wintergarden Suite from $31,499 for 11-day Iceland cruise. Contact +1 800 442 4448, seabourn.com