The visitor center was a disappointment. No map of the park, no description of the attractions, just movies and books for sale and a small exhibit of the things some students had left behind who went exploring the park in the fifties and disappeared. Eventually we did find the one attraction in the park, a waterfall requiring a one hour hike each way. We were tired, we were cranky, we'd seen 5 different waterfalls the previous day, so we decided to get in our car and head over to our next destination, Glacier Lagoon.
One hour later we were there, and man, were we glad we did. Imagine a lagoon, about the size of a small city, littered with icebergs of all shapes and sizes. Add to that what was described as Iceland's smallest river connecting the lagoon to the Atlantic Ocean, black sand beaches with dozens of beached icebergs and you can see why we were enchanted. It was somewhat surreal and alien, but at the same time beautiful. If only the crowds had been smaller.
We did go on an adventure there, riding among the waves in an amphibian craft along with 20 other people. We got to see some icebergs from much closer, heard an interesting explanation about their lifecycle, and were told that the reason our amphibian craft had a Zodiac boat shadowing it was because the water was a chilly 33 degrees Farenheit and if we fell overboard we would die within fifteen minutes. The Zodiac boats were there to get us out of the water fast. Wish they had explanined this before we were at the middle of the lagoon.
Back safely on shore we decided it was time to head towards our hotel for the night, close to the city of Hofn. We did make a stop along the way, for some home made ice cream at a nearby hotel. Well worth it, it was the best I've had since I was in Italy 7 years ago.
We made it to the hotel plenty early, with enough time to go and explore nearby Hofn, whose claim to fame is that it was the biggest town since we left Reykjavik, with a population of around one thousand people. Now, that might not seem much, but after three days of seeing villages with populations around the dozens, it was quite exciting! We didn't learn from previous experience and went to its visitor center, where we had a good surprise: a small exhibit about the region, a room with non-stop videos about the area, and people who actually new what there was to see around there.
We chose to walk, first along the harbor and then along a nature path that had as its gimmick the fact that it was a scale model of the solar system, one billionth the size. Walk along the path and there were markes to show where Mercury, Venus, Earth and company were. And yes, Pluto was included.
And that was it for the day, other than a small stop at a local supermarket to grab some munchies for tomorrow's long trek: we're crossing to the North side of the island, a distance of about 500 kilometers, over double of what we've been doing so far.
Impressions? Icebergs are amazing; Iceland needs to improve their visitor centers; the area is way more enjoyable when it's not raining all the time; and I lost a glove, which caused me to obsess about it all day long.
Distance covered today: 200 kilometers.
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