Iceland review - 2013, Page 41

ICELAND REVIEW 39
changed everything. I decided that I didn’t
want a stressful job anymore.”
And it isn’t just the hotel staff who are
seeking a break from city life. According
to Ingibjörg, it’s increasingly appealing to
visitors. “Some people come here to just get
away from it all, to relax and reenergize,”
she says. “It was really trendy for Icelanders
to come here on a day trip. They took the
morning ferry, had lunch and then left in
the evening. Now they prefer to stay two
to three days and just relax,” she continues.
“We recently had a German man stay for
one week. After arriving on the island he
canceled his plans to travel around Iceland
and just stayed here!”
Ingibjörg has spent part of the last 30
summers on Flatey and says she always looks
forward to her time on the island. But it’s
not like there isn’t anything to do. The hotel
makes up for the lack of traditional enter-
tainment with concerts, a ball and knitting
nights. “Everyone joins in—the locals and
even some of the guys come and learn how
to knit.”
SEABIrDS AND SOLITuDE
It isn’t just the peace and quiet people come
for, though. Breiðafjörður’s natural beauty is
complemented by its rich bird and marine
life. Puffins, eider ducks, shags, kittiwakes,
fulmars and the occasional white-tailed eagle
are among the bird species found in the area
while the bay also boasts blue, fin, humpback,
minke and killer whales.
“A lot of people come here to see the birds.
Breiðafjörður is a bird paradise,” Ingibjörg
says. Bird habitats are constantly shrinking
and less food for certain species of birds has
meant a rapid decline in numbers, Ingibjörg
points out. “But the situation in Flatey is still
fairly good,” she adds.
At roughly two km long and half a km
wide (1.2x0.3 miles), Flatey is the largest and
last year-round inhabited island of the many
islands, islets and skerries in Breiðafjörður;
there are an estimated 3,000 making up more
than 50 percent of the country’s coastline.
Separating Snæfellsnes peninsula and the
southern West Fjords, the bay runs 50 km
(30 miles) wide and 125 km (78 miles) long
and apart from the countless islands is char-
acterized by unique basalt rock formations
and the aforementioned colorful bird and
marine life.
After peaking at 400 in 1900, the human
population on Flatey now consists of just
two farming families during the winter but
during the summer the island is an increas-
ingly popular tourist destination. In former
times, the island was important both as a
fishing center and as the hub of the com-
mercial life of Breiðafjörður, with merchants