A New Kind of Safari

One of the things that Norway is most famous for is its fjords. For those who don’t know, fjords are long, narrow, deep inlets of sea between sheer mountains and cliff faces. They were formed by moving glaciers long ago, and the movement of the glaciers shaped the land into a picture of majestic beauty. We went to Flam, a city on the Sognafjord, one of the most famous fjords in Norway, renowned for its beauty.

On the day of our fjordsafari, we woke up to the peaks above Flam, Norway being covered in snow and to a beautiful clear blue sky. By the time that we had gotten breakfast and arrived at the Fjordsafari Tours hut, it had begun to turn grey. We were warned that it would be cold on the water and we were given cold weather gear to put on. Since it was the offseason, it was only myself, the two people I was travelling with, and one other person on the boat (which could hold up to 12 people).

The boats were almost like the airboats you’d find in the Everglades in Florida- small and built for speed. Our captain took us out of the dock and began to speed up. It was cold and wet, but I love being on the water so I was having a blast. He turned the boat sharply and began to head straight for the cliff face of the fjord- straight towards a waterfall!

He stopped just shy of the waterfall and paused for a few moments so we could take pictures, but soon continued on. We went through the entire fjord like that, occasionally stopping for pictures or getting almost dangerously close to waterfalls. We saw Urndal; in Disney’s Frozen, this is the town that Arendelle is based off of. In reality, it is famous for its brown cheese- in fact, the town’s population is 100 people, 600 sheep! We stopped at Gudvangen, a town at the end of the Naeroyfjord and we paused for a few minutes to take it all in. It was a truly perfect scene, and we sat there for about 15 minutes before it started to rain.

Once it began to rain, the water in the fjord changed completely; it became choppy and rough, making the little boat we were on bounce on the waves. Thankfully, everyone on our boat enjoyed being on the water enough that it was fun rather than terrifying (and nobody got seasick). Our captain told us to put our hands up if we wanted to stop the boat, but we were all laughing and having so much fun that nobody did. Usually, my generation (especially when on vacation) sees the world through our phone screens. For the entire hour long ride back, we did nothing besides take in the beauty of the scenery around us and laugh as we were tossed around by the waves. The captain, upon our return, said “I don’t know which you guys liked more- seeing the fjord or getting caught in the storm on the ride back”. Being on the fjordsafari, on the water, with two of my favorite people has to be one of the best experiences I have ever had.