Fjord Safari Flam is one of the best things to do when visiting this region.
And it really was a highlight of our trip to Flam! Norway’s fjords are famous the world over and after a trip up the mountains to see the Sognefjord from the top, we had a trip from the bottom, on the Fjord Safari Flam, all booked.
To be honest, it’s one of the best ways to fully see the Fjords and appreciate them for what they are and gets a true sense of how Norwegians lived both in past and in the present day as you actually get a pretty detailed history of the region whilst going around.
First things first, though, the important matter of lunch needed to be attended too! 🤣
Lunch wasn’t a fancy affair though it was good and hit the spot (random aside though – I loved the idea of this disused trained being converted to a cafe)… plus with the stunning backdrop of snow-clad mountains, you really couldn’t complain.
First thing first though, we made a quick trip back to the hotel to get changed, relax for a bit and juice up our phones and cameras…
As you can already tell, I’m a fan of hotel lamps! 🤣
Soon enough, it was time for the Fjord Safari Flam and we rolled up to the venue and got ourselves suited and booted.
I had no idea I would need to get all ‘dressed up’ (the last time I wore one of these was whale and dolphin watching in Iceland) for the fjord safari which is probably a good thing as they have all the stuff you need there so you don’t need to worry about packing the right stuff (except your camera of course).
And we were off! Whizzing past towering mountains through the amazing landscape that defines these fjords…
You can get a closer look from here at the villages that surround the Fjord along with its many waterfalls…
That shack below isn’t some random shack I took a photo of, it used to be a farmer’s place back in the day when they used to transport cows up to the mountains to graze (though seeing as these mountains are almost vertical, I have no idea how they did that, it seems like a lotta hard work).
Our guide for the day was filled with so many tales of the fjords and its history!
A few minutes into the trip, we spotted our first animal of the day, which our guide described as the world’s smallest whale – a porpoise. It didn’t pop up for too long so it was very much a ‘blink and you’ll miss it‘ moment but I (barely) caught it on camera.
Till this point, even though it was called a fjord safari, I had no idea we would expect to see any of the wildlife here and instead thought it was an amazing way to see the fjords in more depth. The prospect of seeing wildlife here was a huge bonus for me! 🙂
We soon carried on in our exploration of the Fjords, making our way towards the Naeroyfjord (Narrow fjord) which, in addition to being a UNESCO World Heritage site is also the inspiration for Arendelle in Frozen (the Disney movie).
The next animal we saw on the trip was this seal below which was sat on a bed on moss (and made me wish I’d brought along my zoom lenses to be able to capture it properly). Just in case you were wondering which one is a seal in the picture below, it’s the white blob sat on a bed off moss in the middle of the photo below).
Finally, we arrived at the Naeroyfjord and at this point, everyone whipped their cameras our and started clicking furious, here’s why…
The Fjords are stunning and this is definitely a view you wouldn’t have seen from the top, especially without a trip on the Fjord Safari Flam.
We came across some more porpoises which I was a bit more prepared for this time and was able to capture (slightly better) on camera (I decided after this trip that it was high time to upgrade my camera to this one).
At the end of the Naeroyfjord was a bastion, of sorts, of Norwegian and Viking history – complete with a Viking boat.
We didn’t get off at this point but if we had more time in the region it would have been brilliant to be able to explore it. Plus, as reliably informed by our guide, there’s a festival each year which everyone attends here which celebrates the history and culture of the Fjords and its people.
After being shown around for a bit, we headed back on the Fjord Safar Flam to… Flam!
Oh yeah, just in case you were wondering how I managed to get photos of our boat, the boat in the pictures above and below are of the second boat that left the harbour with us and not of the one we were in.
The boats look identical so it’s useful if you’re interested in what the Fjord Safari Flam boats look like.
Even the cruise ships and ferries headed here to see the Naeroyfjord (turns out Fjord cruises are increasingly very popular to go on and I can totally understand why)…
Soon enough we were back in Flam and with enough time to spare for some quick Instagramming and a walk around the town before heading back to the Freitheim hotel for dinner
We all started off with some piping-hot soup, to warm us up…
After which Lloyd, Georgia and Chris went for the juicy beef…
…and I went for the baked fish.
Finishing off with a refreshing take on the traditional apple crumble. A proper zinger!
Seeing as the night was technically young, we decided to head out the pub and partake in some Norwegian ‘dranking’…
Struggling to decide which beers to try (turns out the pub is also a microbrewery), I decided to go for a combo of 6 different types). We all did actually and this is probably the best thing to do as some of the beers were absolutely fantastic and some, not so much.
We all have different tastes though so my prior proclamation doesn’t mean the beers are good or bad, it’s just down to personal tastes. I preferred the sweeter brews for instance while the others didn’t (it seems I’m the only one with a sweet tooth amongst this lot).
Either way, finding a beer we liked from the sampling lot (which we got one of each), led to deciding on which beers to have more of and a beer-filled night celebrating with the people of Flam (which made you wonder where everyone had come from especially considering how small the town is).
All in all, a brilliant day on the Fjord Safari Flam and an amazing night. 🍺
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