The first thing you should know about Iceland is that it is nowhere near as cold as its name implies. During our trip in august 2008 we didn't feel colder than 10 degrees Celsius but time by time very windy.
The idea going to this unusual holiday target came from Sylvia, our daughter. She was choosing for a not crowded tourist place in Europe during the high season.
Now after our return from this island I was forced from many of my friends to post the photos I captured. It gives an small impression and its a taster for some bodies next adventure tour.
Our trip on Iceland was just a small part on the big island, from Reykjavik to Höfn, passing the foothills of impressive glaciers, along black beaches and never-ending fields of lava. A journey for about 1,700 km - and we just visited the southern part of Iceland by going the highway no. 1. The electric green landscape is full of wide open spaces and geological wonders: intricately carved mountains, belching mud pools, steaming hot springs, blinding glaciers, heavenly waterfalls and hellish volcanoes.
Why the old Norsemen who first came here gave such an icy name to a such a green country is a mystery, but there is an old legend: the first Viking to discover the island wanted to keep it all to himself, so he named the green country “Iceland” and the icy country “Greenland,” hoping that future settlers would head further north.
You are welcome to browse through my photo stream from this amazing part of the world.
It takes time to work on the photos and their descriptions, so please have patience. I'll post all my selected photos during the next two or three weeks.
The first thing you should know about Iceland is that it is nowhere near as cold as its name implies. During our trip in august 2008 we didn't feel colder than 10 degrees Celsius but time by time very windy.
The idea going to this unusual holiday target came from Sylvia, our daughter. She was choosing for a not crowded tourist place in Europe during the high season.
Now after our return from this …
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The landscape is very similar to some of the Alps, but it has been formed in thousands of years by different influences of fire (volcanic eruptions of Öræfajökull) and water (the glaciers Skeiðarájökull and Skaftafellsjökull), the rivers Skeiðará, Morsá und Skaftafellsá. Volcanic eruptions under the ice-cap can give rise to glacier runs (Icelandic:jökulhlaup) which swell the Skeiðará river massively. The sandy wasteland between the glacier and the sea caused by jökulhlaups is called the Sandur. The last jökulhlaup occurred in 1996.
Most visitors concede that even by Icelandic standards it is unique. Nowhere in the country is the natural variety and contrast as abundant and evident as in Skaftafell.
A sad obit displayed into a rock along the track. Its also a serious warning to every body not to be risky and not to do the tour without an experienced tour guide.
Weather conditions change quickly without any anticipated signs. We returned under dark clouds from the Svinafellsjökull glacier.
Svínafellsjökull competes with Sólheimajökull for the country’s most popular glacier for hiking but listen the weather forecast, heavy weather often can get an obstacle.
Jökulsárlón is separated from the sea by only a short distance, and the combined action of the glacier, the river that empties from the lake, and the ocean may eventually transform it into an inlet of the sea. There are plans to prevent this from happening, since the only road in the area passes over the narrow isthmus.
It's the best known and the largest of a number of glacial lakes in Iceland. It is situated at the south end of the glacier Vatnajökull between Skaftafell National Park and Höfn. Appearing first only in 1934-1935, the lake grew from 7.9 km² in 1975 to at least 18 km² today because of heavy melting of the Icelandic glaciers. Approaching a depth of 200 m, Jökulsárlón is now probably the second deepest lake in Iceland.
Prior to 1950 the 1½ km long course of the glacial river Jokulsa was uninterrupted by any lagoon. Since then the glacier tongue has retreated and a lagoon, gradually increasing in area, was created. The average flow of the river is 250-300 m³/sec. and the edge of the glacier snout floats on the water. It calves into the lagoon and icebergs of different sizes can be seen aground and melting rather quickly.
The colours and shapes of the Jökulsárlón are astounding its one of the greatest natural wonders in Iceland, travelling in this dreamlike world, dwarfed by the calving icebergs, man marvels at the majestic magnitude of nature. An August sight we could never get enough of.
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