Ok it was a fine day. Had to make a couple of pivots, but true to form, those (adult) Flatt kids handled everything with grace, good humor, and an open eye for adventure. Plus, I think yesterday was just such an awesome day, the immediate follow up was always going to be a challenge to make equally awesome.
Our first stop was Fjadrargljufur, an ancient canyon believed to have been formed during the last Ice Age. We opted to just stop for a quick peek since we wanted to have more time at our next stop…
The Skaftafell Nature Reserve.
A little geography courtesy of our trip advisor. “Southeast Iceland is dominated by Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier, and dotted with some of the highest mountain peaks, catastrophic volcanoes, impressive outlet glaciers and breathtaking glacial lagoons. Nestled between the southernmost tongues of the Vatnajokull glacier and beneath the island's tallest mountain peak, Hvannadalshnukur, is Skaftafell, one of Iceland's most scenic places.” Fun comparison—Katla has about 500 meters of ice; the Vatnajokull glacier covers an area of just over 8000 square kilometers and is about 1000 meters at its thickest point.
Since it was raining, we started at the visitor center to get some advice on how long the various hikes were, and to check out the food truck on site. We ended up
hiking to the Svartifoss waterfall—started with rain at the bottom, ended up at the top hot and sunny. Tiny bit of pink cheeks for all of us, as we needed to shed those layers as we hiked.
We made sure to leave plenty of time to get to Jokulsarlon & Diamond Beach.
Jokulsarlon (translated as "glacial river lagoon") is a glacier lagoon by the Breidamerkurjokull glacier. Icebergs break off from the glacier and float in the lagoon. In turn, these icebergs then continue to float down to the ocean at Breidamerkursandur beach. This black sand beach is strewn with glittering iceberg pieces, hence its nickname, “Diamond Beach”.
We had scheduled a zodiac boat tour on the lagoon so we could get a close look at the icebergs, however, all the afternoon zodiac tours were cancelled due to high winds. With no option to rebook, we took the amphibious boat tour onto the lagoon instead. These boats are heavier, so can go out in stronger winds. They are also packed with many more neighbors. And of course they can’t get as close to the icebergs. With only 10% of an iceberg visible above water, that leaves 90% hidden below the water. Still, it did get us out on the water, and not in the water. The lagoon is over 814’ deep with a water temperature of about 3 degrees Celsius (in Summer). With those strong winds, it was really cold on the boat (and the beach). We did see two more animals from our Iceland check list—a seal, and two Skuas (predatory birds). Oh—we had Icelandic horses outside our rooms last night and tonight!
Dinner and overnight in Hofn. Gillian and Audrey had reindeer burgers. They tasted like Christmas magic. KIDDING! We also learned that while it is true, Iceland has no mosquitoes, they have their own blood sucking insects—sandflies, or midges. These are particularly fun because at only about 2mm, you can not see them as they vampire you. The recommended solution is to keep the windows and doors closed. Surprisingly, we’ve found the room temperatures to be on the too warm side since we haven’t found any fans in the rooms. If you can crack the windows, it’s comfortable overnight, but the midges won this round and we closed everything up.
So, a little hot on the mountain, a little cold on the lagoon. Biting insects. But “diamonds”, seals, horses, and time together made it still a good day!
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