After a most relaxing day at the Blue Lagoon, it was time for our second guided tour. This time, we were journeying to the south coast of Iceland.
As stated, this tour drove us along the southern coast of the country towards a town called Vík. The name Vik itself should actually ring a bell – ReykjaVIK, HusaVIK. Vik translates to “bay”, and a large portion of the cities in Iceland are along the coastlines of the country. Reykjavik means “bay of smoke”, given the steam from the nearby natural springs. However, as Vik itself is a much smaller town, I was unclear how it was deemed important enough to just be “the bay”.
The tour website states enthusiastically that we were to come across “some of the all time most beautiful sights and natural wonders that Iceland has to offer, such as Seljalandsfoss waterfall which you can walk behind, the powerful Skogafoss waterfall, Svinafellsjokull glacier and the Black Sand Beach!”
I couldn’t wait to see it all!
The drive on this day was much longer than our first tour. It’s about 2.5 hours to drive to Vik from Reykjavik. We cozied up for a snooze while we headed to the first stop on the tour. One of the waterfalls was up first. Now a problem I find with trying to document all of my travels is that the photos and my descriptions never do justice. We were able to get so near to this waterfall that we could actually touch it. I of course did not get that close as my idea of hiking gear includes designer combat boots and a Versace coat. But just the power of the water tumbling down the side of these gorgeous, jagged rocks was breathtaking.
We were able to take a very long staircase up top to see the water’s power from a different angle as well. I did not like being sweaty so soon into the tour, though, so huffed and puffed once finished.
My glasses fogged up too. I don’t why I was trying to be cute on the designated “outdoors” day.
Back in the van, we were off to the black sand beach and lunch. The black sand comes from the volcanic lava. The lava itself is very porous and when wet, absorbs water. Couple that with the fact that Iceland is COLD (ICEland, get it?) when it freezes, it expands, breaking the rock into smaller and smaller bits. And eventually, black sand.
Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the waves look much more harmless than they actually are. Get too close to the shoreline for a selfie, and you could easily be swept away. This has actually happened multiple times. A sign outside the beach features a photo taken of a woman who get caught up in the waves. It ended up being the last photo of her alive.
But onto more joyous things, the sun was once again kind enough to shine down on this day. Glaring off the sea and the lava rock gave the impression of thousands of diamonds waiting to be captured.
Behind us, the cliffs rose up high and the puffins flew about. While we weren’t close enough to see their cuteness, we could identify them by how quickly they flapped their wings. Puffins are allegedly clumsy pilots, and appeared almost drunk in the sky.
The cliffs themselves offered up some fun photo ops too. As I was dressed incorrectly for such an adventure, I couldn’t go very high. Amy made it much further up than I could!
I tried to make it into a photo shoot, and was honored when some Italian photographers snapped a few shots. Perhaps I am now on the cover of Italian Vogue (as an example of what NOT to do in Iceland)! “Strange American with blue hair climbing cliffs in wrong shoes….”
After the beach was the Vik stop, where we parked near a church on top of a hill. Black Crust Pizza offers pizza that looks like it comes directly from the lava!
And that was really the only thing we did in Vik….
Oh, and also this:
I knew I was dressing cute for a reason.
Back in the van, it was glacier time.
It was about a 15 minute walk from the drop off point to the glacier itself, and there wasn’t much to see leading up to it. But as we got closer and closer, we became more aware of its magnitude. And just then, a huge chunk of ice fell off and into the water! The sound of cracking ice and the ground vibration felt like the world was splitting in two! I barely captured it on film, but was able to capture the aftermath quite closely.
That was when I knew that this was to be a massively humbling experience. The only other thing I can compare it to is our African safari. In seeing the animals in their natural habit and being so close to them made me realize how unimportant humans are. And yet at the same time, how important humans are in that, it is because of us their planet is suffering.
This glacier gave me that same feeling. How small and insignificant we are in comparison, and yet its melting at a more rapid rate because of the acts of humans. I literally saw a massive chunk fall off in front of my face. How much more real is that?
We got as close to the glacier as we could without climbing on top of it. It looks black because of the volcanic ash that has blown over the top of it. But underneath, it glows blue.
I ran my hands slowly along the cool surface just to know I was lucky enough to do so.
The final stop of the tour was another waterfall. This one is much more “interactive” than the first we visited.
You can see all the people walking behind this one, which is what I mean by “interactive”. I opted out (again, Versace) but was still able to enjoy the views from the front. By this point I was quite tired as well. We experienced a lot on this tour and still had another 2.5 hour drive ahead of us.
I slept most of the way back to Reykjavik and remain so thankful for what I got to see and experience. The south coast of this country is even more beautiful and breathtaking than I expected. It is just one more plus to this fantastic country and trip.
As this was also our last night in Iceland, we made sure to go out with a bang! More to come soon…
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