When we chose this cruise, we were excited because we would have two days in Iceland, and now, after our visit I know I could happily come back, rent a car, and explore for a week or more!
On our first day, we signed up for a mini bus tour of "The Golden Circle" which covers some of the main geographic features of southern Iceland. Both days were packed with information about the geology of the area...what an amazing place! Earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers, huge waterfalls, lava
beds, stunning coastlines, and you can even visit the place where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet.
Our first stop was in a little shopping mall to visit a bakery/tourist store which is built over a fissure in the earth's surface. The floor has plexiglass panels so you can look down into the (lighted) furrow that runs right underneath the store. Driving away from the store, we were shown a large hole in the ground...which is where a hot spring appeared right under a house...a house which was quickly moved to another location.
Our bus driver was intent on getting us to the main areas of interest before the bulk of the tour busses showed up, so we changed up the "usual" itinerary, and drove straight to Gullfoss, a huge two tiered waterfall. The tiers are at right angles to each other with the first tier dropping 11 meters, and the second 21 meters. Pretty darn impressive! The mist wafting up caused us to dry off our camera lenses several times.
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We left the waterfall and doubled back to see a field of geysers. The "Old Geyser" is pretty much spent, but the "New Geyser" puts on quite a show, erupting every five or six minutes. Our bus driver dropped us off at one end of the geyser field and we spent about 45 minutes walking through the field taking pictures and watching this marvel of nature. |
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Our final stop in the "Golden Circle" was Thingvellir National Park, a huge rift valley where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet. This is the crest of the Mid Atlantic ridge and a location which produces bursts of earthquake activity. Lake Thingvallatn is here, and the area is very fertile and rich in vegetation. As you can see, it is also very picturesque.
Throughout the day I had seen beautiful Icelandic horses grazing in the fields, and I asked our driver/guide if we could possibly make a photo stop for the horses before returning to the ship. So, on the way back to town, we stopped at a horse farm and the owner directed us to the field where he had just released the horses. Once we stopped, the horses were very curious and friendly, and we spent about 20 minutes petting and photographing them...a fun end to our day! I later learned that Icelandic horses have few diseases, and the law there prevents horses from being imported. And... once a horse leaves Iceland, it cannot return.