Waterfalls

Todays theme is ice – in the form of glacial lagoons and diamond beaches. But since there is a beautiful waterfall right next to our campsite – Stjórnarfoss shall be first to see. It is a small waterfall just north of the town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur, the river Stjórn flows through the Stjórnarsandur canyon and after graceful tumble down a rocky ledge it joins Skaftá river.

Before we reach the glaciers there are waterfalls along the way, cascaded beside the road, waterfalls in Vatnajökull National Park – some unnamed, others famous – if only we see it from a distance (Svartifoss and  Hundafoss).

Glacial lagoons: Fjallsárlón and Jökulsárlón

Finally we set off for our Zodiac cruises on glacial lagoons starting with smaller Fjallsárlón lagoon at the foot of Fjallsjökull glacier – area made famous by being movie sets of James Bond and other movies. The scenery is just spectacular.

We stop briefly at the western side of Jökulsá – a narrow and short outlet connecting ice lagoon Jökulsárlón to the ocean to look for diamonds – as this is part of famous diamond beach – a strip of black sand where broken icebergs can be occasionally found. Unfortunately this time there are only small pieces of ice here and there so it’s time to join in another Zodiac cruise – this time over Jökulsárlón towards the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. Here there are more blue icebergs – and not only do we get to meet seels but also witness calving of a large iceberg into parts.

Since I mentioned diamond beach – we also visited the better known – eastern part. With the same result. Lovely but small pieces of ice here and there on the black sand.

Then what’s left is a really long drive in an amazing scenery of eastern fjords of Iceland taking a little detour to Vestrahorn – which at first seems uninteresting in the foggy evening light – but on the way we spot a herd of reindeer – and to a little pond with a waterfall Nykurhylsfoss – where it is believed mythical nykurs come to feed.

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