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Location: Sólheimajökull
Today I woke everyone up at 7:45 am. We had a delicious breakfast along with cups of tea. After that, we joined the residents of Solheimar for their daily morning meeting and prayers. This was our last morning with them, and we enjoyed singing along. Then Gummi took us to the greenhouse we had worked on previously to see our final product. Everyone felt so satisfied with the work they had done and felt accomplished with what they had done. Solheimar was a beautiful community with really kind people, and we enjoyed every last moment there until our bus picked us up for the glacier hike. The bus ride was about one hour and 45 minutes, but we lost track of time because the scenic view was amazing. Getting ready for the hike was a little difficult because we had to find the right size helmet and crampons and we had to get climbing harnesses. Soon after we got all of our gear, we began our hike onto the glacier-covered in layers of ash from various volcanic eruptions. As we reached the summit, our guide offered to take us to an ice cave to which we happily agreed. Arriving at the cave was a difficult journey because we had to be careful of loose ice and slipping. However, the ice cave was magnificent, and the danger was worth what we saw. After we hiked off the glacier, we took off our gear and hopped from waterfall to waterfall and even visited the famous black sand beach, Reynisfjara, for the rest of the day. The waterfalls were amazing, but the best one was the last one, Seljalandsfoss, that had a pathway behind it, and we got soaked. It was a really amazing day, and we enjoyed every single activity.
-Sofia Valladares