Blogs from South, Iceland, Europe - page 8

From Skaftafell to Vik Day 6 We are in Southern Iceland. After a night at the national park campsite we headed down to Vik. It is hard to believe we have almost made a full loop around this wondrous country. Vik is stunning. Home to the black sand beach, this town is beautiful. I have been in awe at the sights this beach gives. We climbed this large rock divide to gain a better look. Sitting on those large boulders, I felt so at peace. I can try to paint you a picture. Birds were flying, the sun was shining down it's warm rays onto the water; waves were viciously crashing onto the rocks, while the wind picked up speed. The beach itself is black sand and rocks. ... read more

Skaftafella is the country's favorite wilderness according to Lonley Planet. The history of Skaftafella was a farm at the foot of the hills. Shifting glacial sands slowly buried the fields and forced the farm to relocate. The farms were wiped out after the 1362 eruptions and the land became known as "land under the sands"! The area is home to several beautiful hiking trails and waterfalls. Svartifoss is known as the Black Falls. It is a gloomy waterfall surrounded by black basalt columns. Sjonarnipa is another hike overlooking the Skaftafellsjokull glacier. There is an interesting and quite tragic story that took place here in the national park. I read about it in the information center. The story is about two undergraduate students from the University of Nottingham in 1953 who set out exploring and gathering information ... read more

As our Icelandic friend told us the night before, a wind storm was coming. We still made our way north towards the Golden Circle from Reykjavik the next morning before being turned around about 10km onto the route. There were many stopped cars and ahead of them we could see massive wind gusts and snow blowing across the road, which didn't look to be letting up any time soon; I was bummed as I was looking forward to imparting my geologic knowledge onto some unsuspecting teenagers. So, we turned around to head back on Highway 1 south towards Vik. After getting a little lost in Reykjavik, we made our way to our destination. I knew we were going up the mountain pass, but I was amazed at how scared I was driving here; I grew up ... read more

We woke up early Wednesday morning to start our two day road trip along southern Iceland. There was a beautiful sunrise as we kept just ahead of the rush hour "traffic" in Reykjavik. It was getting light, but still just dark enough that it was hard to make out the features of the beautiful landscape initially. Jamie informed us a lot along the car ride about Iceland - traditions, language, etc. Among the things I enjoyed is that just about anywhere you go in Iceland, you can just dip your cup or water bottle into the water and drink directly from it. Buying bottled water in Iceland is purely for tourists. Of further interest is the energy generation; most of the energy is hydroelectric and the rest is geothermal. All clean! The water in faucets is ... read more

We visited Iceland in September of 2015. A beautiful country, as any visitor will confirm, with the wonderful benefit of being virtually insect free. The only time I saw anything were some flies at a guesthouse that had horses in the yard right outside. Time of year & season: September, early fall. I imagine that as it gets colder there will be less insect activity. Locations: South-west coast, stays at Keflavik, Reykjavik, Vatnsholt Selfoss, Hof I in Öræfi, Árnanes V, Sólheimahjáleiga Occurence: just some flies at Vatnsholt. Arachnophobe score: 10/10... read more