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With two-third of the group still on various excursions, the four of us remaining decided to do another one of the guided tours. This time we chose the South Shore tour. The only downside to this tour was that it was on a larger bus with many other parties, so we didn't have the personalized feel of the private Golden Circle tour that we had with Leif.
The first stop on the tour was Skógarfoss, a large waterfall. The morning started out cloudy, but luckily by the time we arrived to the first stop, the sky had begun to clear and we saw a rainbow form in front of the waterfall. There was a long stairway leading up the side of the waterfall and I overestimated my physical fitness by scaling this path. However, the view from the top was worth being out of breath.
The second stop on the tour was a glacier called Sólheimajökull. The size of the glacier was overwhelming and the contrast of the blues in the ice to the greenery behind it was beautiful. There was also a rainbow that continuously reappeared while we were there. I had always just pictured a glacier as an iceberg floating in the middle of the ocean, so to see the shear size and magnitude of this ice was surprising.
After the glacier we stopped in a small town called Vík for lunch. Fun fact about this town: In the picture I included below there is a small church in the town up on a hill. The town of Vík is in danger of being washed into the sea if the Katla volcano erupts. Katla is well overdue for an eruption, as it hasn't had one since 1918. Residents of the town of Vík are supposed to seek refuge in the church until they can be rescued.
The next stop on the tour was the famous black sand beach of Reynisfjara. Tourists come from all over the world to see this beach. Not so fun fact about Reynisfjara: At least one person dies every year from being swept away by the intense waves on the beach. The intensity of the waves was something I was not expecting, but was impressive. The column rock formations in and around the cave were also very cool. It was quite windy and cold on the beach so we didn't stay out there for too long.
The final official stop on the tour was at another waterfall called Seljalandsfoss. During our time here, we witnessed yet another rainbow that made for amazing photos. The short walkway to the side of the waterfall was mostly covered with ice, but many people were still choosing to brave it, including me and luckily I didn't fall and was able to capture some beautiful photos with the late day sun.
The final unofficial stop of the tour was at an ice cap called Eyjafjallajökull. This is one of the smaller ice caps in Iceland, but it covers the caldera of a volcano which was a recipe for disaster in 2010 when the volcano erupted. The picture I've included shows a comparison of two images containing the farm which is beneath the volcano during the eruption in 2010, and how it looked on the day I visited. It's crazy to see how just 8 years ago that scene looked drastically different and photojournalists were flocking to that exact spot to capture the event.
We had been trying for 2 nights to go on the Northern Lights tour, but it was cancelled both times because conditions were not favorable to see the lights. Luckily, on the last night we were there, we decided to try and book the tour one last time, and sure enough, it wasn't cancelled! We were bussed to a location away from light pollution and we waited in the cold for what felt like hours, until finally, we began to see lights dancing in the sky. I was able to capture some photos with my camera of the aurora borealis and it was beautiful to see the colors that the camera picked up. In person, the lights looked more white and gray than any other color, but were still incredible to watch. After that experience I felt like I could go home satisfied because I had seen what I truly desired to see in Iceland.
What an incredible trip.
