Jan Mayen: Puppebu

Jan Mayne is uninhabited except for a weather station and very limited military presence, perhaps 9-12 people total. There are about 9 baxic huts spread around the island and one of them is at Puppebu, a large caldera-like area surrounded by towering green and black mountains, rising almost vertically. This was also the location of the whaling station in the 17th century – the Dutch had a whaling outpost on Jan Mayen from 1615 to 1638 when nearly 200 whalers were hunting. The whales (mostly belugas) were quickly hunted to extinction and the island was abandoned. At Puppebu, you can see some old whale bones, but its the natural beauty of the place that just blows you away.