It's amazing how seeing the sun can instantly lift my mood. And gosh darn there was much sun today! I am elated! I love the black beach at Vik. I realize I may be biased because this is the first time I've seen the sun in days.
Saw some puffins near the cliffs though from afar, and I mean AFAR. Luckily I've mastered the art of puffin spotting from our trip to Boothbay Harbor in Maine where we cruised around searching for them. All 2 of them :P they are endangered in Maine.
We befriended a Spanish family along the way, let's call them the Carlos. 2 kids in tow. One is 5 the other 9. They seem to have the same itinerary. Being the competitive b#@*# we are, we tried to beat them but barely. Apparently we are slower than 5 year olds. But hah they didn't make it to Jokulsarlon before the rain. Take that tortoises!
Dramatic landscape on the way to Skaftafell National Park. Old lava (* nods knowingly*) because there is lots of moss on it. Saw the various glaciers along the way, there are many, though don't ask me to identify any of them.
The biggest of them all! Vatnajokull icecap.
We had time to do a couple short hikes around Skaftafell. Svartifoss with the infamous basalt columns. We also took a hike up to the glacier.
Foot of the glacier. The temperature dropped all too quickly ... then I got chased by 2 renegade black sheep. SERIOUS. They wanted to impale me with their horns. I'm pretty sure they were incarnations of the devil.
The glacier lagoon (Jokulsarlon) but then the rain came ...
Places covered: Vik (Black beach with troll rocks), Skaftafell National Park (Glacier, Svartifoss + Unknown foss), Jokulsarlon (Glacier Lake)
Accomodation: Holmur Farmhouse (Set infront of a glacier. Not sure what these people are thinking). Farmhouse itself was aight. It's 33km from Hofn. The rooms were clean and cosy though the kitchen was rather nasty with flies. GROSS!
Picturesque setting of Holmur Farmhouse:
What I wish I'd known:
You don't have to hike up the mountain *cough hill* to Svartifoss. You can drive!
You can schedule an extra half day for a guided tour onto the glacier. Plan ahead. Don't be lazy like me. I was all exhausted after booking hotels and car rental. Here's a link to Glacier Jeeps that runs the tours to Vatnajokull glacier.
>> Take me to Day 4!
My Iceland Travel Blog Index
Day 1: Hello Reykjavik!
Day 2: Battling Nature? Not for the Faint Hearted
Day 3: It's a Beautiful Day (channel: U2)
Day 4: The road to Myvatn
Day 5: Iphone Malfunction
Day 5: All Fossed Out
Day 5: Jarbodin - Spa Myvatn
Day 6: The Barren Interior and Askja
Day 7: Off the Beaten Path
Day 8: Hellish Driving Day!
Day 9: Revenge of the Puffins
Day 9: Food and Botched Reservations
Day 9: Nuni? No Nüni ....
Day 10: Time to Say Goodbye
1 comment:
Hi, the old lava in your picture is most probably from the Laki fissure eruption of 1783-1784.
Post a Comment