[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]My Icelandic saga began with a 2-hour delay at Orlando International Airport. A delay which caused me to miss my connecting flight in Boston to Reykjavik. After being told there were no flights departing from the east coast that could get me to Iceland in time to save the trip I’d been planning for six months I was offered a middle seat on a fully-booked flight from Seattle to Reykjavik. So the following morning I flew six hours to Seattle to sit in the terminal building all day to catch a redeye that landed in Reykjavik the next morning around 9 am. I arrived with only 3 hours of fitful sleep in two days. Luckily my checked bag, which did NOT fly with me to Seattle, met me at baggage claim. I don’t know what I would have done in Iceland for a week with only my camera gear and the clothes on my back.
My brother Mark and his wife Sharon had already arrived from Pennsylvania, spent the first night at our rental apartment and had scoped out the town. I don’t know how but something switched on inside me and I managed not only to stay awake throughout that first day, but also to accompany Mark and Sharon on our first road trip to see the sights along the Golden Circle: Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss. We stopped for my first dinner at a charming restaurant and I enjoyed pizza topped with Icelandic lobster (langoustine) and lamb. Ten minutes after leaving the restaurant, I realized I had left my cell phone there so we had to drive back and fetch it before they closed for the night. Sleep deprivation was taking its toll on my mental capacity.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2751″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2749″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_single_image image=”2748″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][vc_column_text]Of course, the sleep deprivation and all the stress of my travel woes also caused me to come down with a cold on that first day. I tried to stave it off with tea and vitamin C and immune support herbs and a throat spray I bought at a local pharmacy. I even tried a shot of Brennivin on the advice of one of our innkeepers, although had I known of it’s unofficial name, “Black Death,” I might have passed. All of this to say that my enthusiasm for the trip, for going on hikes and trekking through cold glacial streams, soaking in geothermal pools, bracing the North Atlantic winds on barren beaches and lava fields, and for capturing it all in photos and video was swiftly waning. All I wanted at this point was to sleep and for my nose to stop running like Gullfoss during the spring thaw.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2753″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2767″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2757″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Day two we hit the road and headed to the famous Icelandic highlands. The original plan was to take the unpaved F roads through Landmannalaugar, but we discovered that entailed an unknown number of water crossings so we decided not to risk the potential damage to our rental vehicle. We made it as far as Haifoss, an epic canyon with several waterfalls, then made our way back to the ring road towards our lodging on the south coast.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2759″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2760″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2762″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2764″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2783″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]When planning the trip from home I started noticing a theme… many of the places on my itinerary involved short and medium hikes to waterfalls. In the interest of variety, I looked into other things to see and do in Iceland and chanced upon several puffin tours. I opted for the one on the remote headland of Ingólfshöfði on the south coast and this proved to be one of the highlights of our tour. The setting was absolutely breathtaking, – not only did we get to see and photograph puffins nesting on the high cliffs of the cape, we were treated to a flatbed tractor ride through the salt flats and cinder beds with Vatnajokull, Iceland’s largest glacier-covered volcano, looming behind us. Learning the volcanic and human history of the region was an added treat.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2773″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2772″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2771″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]As I said, waterfalls and canyons were a repeating theme, but one that never became tedious or boring. We actually bypassed some of the more well-known waterfalls (Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss) because the parking lots were over-crowded with tour buses and cars. Instead, we made our way to Árjánurfoss, which didn’t even show on our map, and spent an hour enjoying the peaceful beauty of this primaeval spot. Another favorite was Svartifoss (Black Falls), renowned for the hexagonal basalt columns that surround it, and which required a 1-mile hike through Skaftafell Nature Reserve, one of the few forested (with birch trees) areas left on the island.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2779″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2776″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2777″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2779″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]I couldn’t go to Iceland and not visit Fjaðrárgljúfur, a serpentine canyon on the south coast that has been featured in many TV and film productions, including Game of Thrones. Images of this canyon were what inspired me to want to visit Iceland, and it definitely did not disappoint.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2781″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2785″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2786″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_single_image image=”2787″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Our last adventures in Iceland were on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. The most photographed waterfall, Kirkjufellsfoss, is located here. I was wanting to set up long-exposure shot, and scoped it out about 10 pm, intending to return for sunset (close to midnight). Unfortunately, clouds rolled in and I missed my opportunity for the shot I wanted, but learned an invaluable photographic lesson: shoot it while you can, you may not get that second chance.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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