Scaling adventures: Northern lights

Season to taste

TEXT: Sarah Dearne If you’re visiting the North this autumn or winter, you might have planned on catching culture or enjoying the outdoors. To give you some inspiration, we pick a theme and sort activities by adventure level, from keen beginner to expert explorer. This issue, we tilt our gaze to the skies in search of northern lights.

So, which appeals to you most?

Calm, curious or exhilarating?

Photo: Buubble Tours / buubble.com Photo: Shutterstock Photo: Nikolaus Brinkmann / Visit Greenland

Calm Curious Exhilarating

Iceland takes glamping to its logical conclusion with Buubble accommodation – inflated transparent “igloos” set amidst Icelandic nature. The orbs are transparent, revealing views of the surrounding pine forest, the starry night sky, and – if you’re fortunate – the northern lights swirling overhead. The bubbles are located near the Golden Circle route in South Iceland and are available exclusively as part of a tour of the coast or the Golden Circle route. While the Faroe Islands aren’t quite as well situated for aurora spotting as their northerly neighbours, getting away from light pollution will up your chances. The village of Gjogv (pop. 50) is ideal, located at the northernmost tip of Eysturoy island and far from the lights of larger towns (yet only an hour’s drive from Torshavn). Arm yourself with some cocoa, take a hike on a clear evening, and you may be in luck. If you’re travelling in September, a multi-day hike from Ilulissat or Nuuk will boost both the adventure factor and your odds of seeing the aurora, while an evening snowshoe tour of the Ilulissat Icefjord is splendid if you’re shorter on time. Later in the season, remote yet accessible Kulusuk is ideal, with direct Air Iceland Connect flights running yearround. A hike up Mt. Isikajia makes for a dazzling vantage point.

Ready. Offset. Go!

All Orkan operations are carbon offset

Orkan and the Wetland Fund have signed a threeyear agreement on the carbon offsetting of all of Orkan’s operations. In this way, we shoulder our social responsibility and systematically reduce our carbon footprint.

Last year, Orkan opened two hydrogen service stations, at Vesturlandsvegur and in Reykjanesbær. This year, a new multi-fuel-station was added on Miklubraut that has methane gas, electricity and hydrogen available.

Through carbon offsetting and an increased supply of renewable energy sources, we are contributing to an improved environmental culture in line with our updated priority: to be an energy

company of the future.

Customers can now also carbon offset their fuel purchases:

Key and card holders register at the pump or on orkan.is 7 ISK discount per litre goes towards carbon offsets The Wetland Fund equals your carbon offsetting contribution