During the port talk aboard Caribbean Princess for Reykjavik, passengers received an overview of places we could visit on our own.
Reykjavik is the capital and largest city in Iceland, so you'll find plenty to do, including museums, public art, restaurants and the eye-catching HARPA Concert Hall within walking distance of Skarfabakki Cruise Terminal.
Taking public transportation from Reykjavik opens more distant possibilities, like the Blue Lagoon, waterfalls and black-sand beaches for a DIY experience.
Julie and I pre-booked a Viator Excursion to South Iceland. Upon departing Caribbean Princess in Reykjavik, we were directed toward a parking lot for independent tours.
With many excursions having similar names and a plethora of tour companies, it seemed a bit chaotic. A very popular excursion from Reykjavik is the Golden Circle, but several sounded a lot like ours. We eventually zeroed in on someone from the local tour company handling our trip for Viator. We were informed that our coach had not arrived yet.
A few minutes after the scheduled departure time, our bus finally arrived. We found a pair of seats for the ride.
This was not specifically designated to be a shore excursion, so other tourists were aboard by the time we climbed the steps, and we still made a couple of other stops to pick up more guests.
Driving from Reykjavik, we observed steam venting up out of the ground from geologic hotspots, though we failed to snap a good photo of that while driving. In Iceland, cities are intentionally built in proximity of these hotspots to take advantage of geothermal energy.
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| Vent below a more dramatic waterfall. |
The natural steam turns turbines that generate electricity, and hot water is piped into the cities to heat homes and provide hot water to the taps.
The hot water is not for drinking, but of course there is a cold water tap for that. Fresh water cascades down mountainsides, presumably a combination of melting snow and rain.
Our first stop brought us to Skógáfoss Waterfall.
With a height of about 200 feet and width about 82 feet, Skógáfoss is one of the largest in Iceland.
We took our guide's advice and began by walking up about 500 steps to the top. That felt like an accomplishment in its own right.
It's an incredible vantage point of the Skógá River cascading down the mountainside and also the chance to view vast expanses of the Icelandic countryside, including domesticated farm fields.
Going down steps is always easier than walking up, but with lots of new climbers approaching and some rushing down, it requires some caution.
Back at the base of the falls, we appreciated the views and that feeling of raw power that waterfalls imbue, plus the mist.
Linked here is a short video Julie made at Skogafoss.
This spectacular site has been used in movies and TV, including Thor: The Dark World, the second episode of Vikings and as a backdrop for a kiss of Daenarys and Jon Snow in the final season of the globe-trotting Game of Thrones.
Yes, Iceland is a strange and beautiful place, a good choice for visually impressive settings.
I imagine much of the world has evolved from this stage of what Iceland is now.
Earthquakes are not unusual in Iceland. It's like Mother Nature is giving birth daily.
Large volcanic eruptions in recent years have created enough soot in the air to stop all flights to and from Europe.
A volcano's large scale lava lamp show subsided not long before we began our trip, so I know some travelers were disappointed while others were relieved. Just as in Hawaii, many locals check it out for themselves.
Our guide, who was actually Hungarian, came to Iceland originally to study environmental biology. He said he went with friends to view the volcano from a relatively safe distance when it began erupting.
We could see ash still prominent on Sólheimajökull Glacier, which was the second big stop on our excursion. It was an entire blanket of ash, but it certainly made it look a mottled dark gray.
This glacier has receded dramatically over the last thirty years due to rising temperatures in Iceland due to climate change. With all of the steam venting up through the earth's surface and volcanos erupting, my guess is that temperatures deep in the earth must have some impact on that, but many experts blame manmade global warming.
In any case, it is a fact that the glacier has been receding rapidly since 1995, with expert estimates at 50 meters per year.
Between 1970 and 1995, the glacier actually expanded by 400 meters, but from the 1930 until 1970, it receded 1,000 meters. The video linked here describes what has been happening. I recommend starting at 14 minutes in.
We drove to another even more dramatic black-sand beach not far away.
I have to say that it was not more beautiful than the views we saw from the first beach that so many had only seen from a distance walking out of the shopping center to the bus. But it was also clear why this black-sand beach was featured prominently.
At Reynisfjara Beach, we walked over to a cliffside with a quartz-like jagged side.
Atop that cliff, Puffins had their nests.
Julie did a pretty good job catching the little birds in flight, but they're not nearly as large or friendly as penguins, so it was hard to see the colors.
I could never differentiate on any Puffin the identifying colorful beak that set really them apart, but I liked the effort.
Still, it was fun watching them take off, land in the water and then sometimes fly back to their clifftop home.
Easier to see were the slower moving Oystercatchers, which are also mostly black and white, with easily identifiable orange bill and feet. More sociable, one seemed to almost pose with our guide in the parking lot of our next stop.
Our final big stop for the day was the one Julie had high on her bucket list, Seljalandsfoss waterfall.
What made this so unique was that we could walk under it.
Yes, we saw the other side of water.
It was beautiful and powerful.
Walking behind the falls felt magical.
We had enough time to walk around and get other photos of the area.
As we drove through the green Iceland countryside between stops, we saw lots of beautiful little horses.
Not as tall and a little stockier than what we would consider normal horses, they're able to withstand the cold winters and were used for many years as farm animals and for transportation.
Here's a link with interesting information about the animals of Iceland, if like me you're an animal lover. As you'll see, there aren't too many native animals in "the land of ice and snow where the midnight sun and the hot springs flow."
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| These are actually horses at Vik's beach, not along the drive. |
Near the end of the day, our guide mentioned that restaurants in Reykjavik have excellent steaks, whether lamb, beef or horse. At first a bit shocking to our American sensibilities, it does seem to make sense for Iceland, with its cold winters, and it provides a rationalization to continue raising horses in the modern, mechanized age when their utility has waned.
As we re-entered Reykjavik, our guide also mentioned some good places to watch the sunset.
At 10:49 PM, Julie got a nice photo of the sunset from out balcony aboard the ship, another terrific place for sunsets that we're blessed to experience frequently.
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