So I posted an Instagram this week from my whale watching experience in Akureyri last year and people really, really liked it. I guess maybe sometimes I take things for granted, seeing as how I often see humpback whales in my own backyard (or front yard, really, if I’m counting the view from my bedroom window).

In Iceland, I had the fortune of Couchsurfing with a man named Vidir who cooked dinner for me and treated me like I was his daughter. He’s legendary on Couchsurfing, apparently, because he has like 3829389232 positive reviews. He’s not afraid to offer his home to anyone, and he’s often had hordes of people staying with him. Even cooler: he lived and worked in Newfoundland for awhile, and brought our methods of mussel farming back to Iceland with him. How cool is that?!

But now he’s a captain and tour leader at Ambassador Akureyri Whale Watching, and so he invited me onboard with him one day in Akureyri.

Akureyri, by the way, is da bomb.

Will you LOOK AT THIS? I mean besides the crooked waterline.It’s Iceland’s second largest town, and I’m not sure why more people don’t stop and spend time here. I have vague memories of going to an after party at some Icelandic folks’ house and then being invited to a threesome with a girl who was concerned her relationship was falling apart. What?!

ANYWAY. The humpbacks were crazy active in Akureyri. They weren’t shy at ALL. I’ll let the photos do the talking, because that’s really all you can do when it comes to whales and whale things.

I’m not used to seeing them that way in Newfoundland. Sure, they get active, but not THIS active. And they generally migrate to Newfoundland when the Atlantic Ocean warms up a bit, from May to August…it was strange to see them frolicking around in October.

Thanks to Vidir for being such an awesome host! Ambassador was awesomely accommodating. If you’re ever in Akureyri, look ’em up. They do sunset cruises and northern light trips as well.