Whale safari

See more of our whale safari photos!:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103620108216329120374/albums/5909475696110964913

We concluded our stay in Norway with a whale watching tour from Sto. Throughout the day, we saw countless birds, including puffins, guillemots, and gulls. The highlights, though, were our two whale sightings. First, we were extremely lucky to run into a large pod of orcas (killer whales). Our boat got really close to them and followed them around for at least 20 minutes. We also found a sperm whale (the boat has a sonar system that tracks the whale’s sounds) and observed a complete dive. The sperm whale dives for about 30 minutes at a time to feed,  then resurfaces for air for 15 minutes or so, before it dives again. Just as it dives, you can see its characteristic tale above the water for around ten seconds.

Dave was super excited to use his new zoom lens, and got some really good pictures!

Orca whales! We were told that this is a rare citing.

Puffin munching on fish

Sperm whale

End of it's dive

This wrapped up our three weeks in Norway. We took a quick detour to Northern Sweden the next day, before flying out to Helsinki, Finland. A few concluding thoughts on Norway: 

Generally, everything works in Norway. Buses and trains run on time; stores are open when they are supposed to be (I was shocked that there were grocery stores everywhere, with better hours than those in France); and everything is modern. There are old buildings here and there, but most occupied buildings are kept very up to date, and everywhere you go, the facilities are good. 

Traveling to Norway does require a few sacrifices. We feel like we have been deprived of good food for the last three weeks. (We caught a small break in Northern Sweden yesterday, where twenty minutes across the border from Norway, we found much better variety and value in food.) Most grocery stores only stocked the basics, especially in the fresh meats and produce departments. Fresh seafood was almost non-existent, even though Norway has a huge fishing industry. Restaurants (outside of Oslo and Bergen) almost exclusively served burgers and pizza. Thus our diet consistent of many self-catered meals and lots of chocolates, bread, and peanut butter. We found a few places with fish markets, where we were able to buy amazing fresh salmon. 

We also had to cope with the exorbitant prices for almost everything. A few things are just a bit more than what they would cost in the US (car rentals and campsites), but most things are at least double, if not more, than what you would expect them to cost. The most outrageous prices that we had to pay: $6 for a bottle of water, $100 a day for bike rental, and $11+ for a beer at a restaurant (or $6 for a bottle at the supermarket). 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the natural beauties of Norway, and found the journey to be extremely worthwhile. For anyone considering a trip to the area, I would suggest leaving yourself with a few extra days and being flexible with your itinerary, as the weather is very unpredictable.