7
Location: Húsavík
What up fans? Day 6 was the biggest day of our trip by far – action-packed from 7 A.M. until 10 P.M. Upon waking up, we had some Skyr and Honey Nut Cheerios and began our adventure. Our first stop was Hljodeklettar, a hike in which we followed a series of big basalt columns formed by lava along a beautiful river, Jokulsa a Fjolla. Highlights of this stop included rock stacking, climbing, and viewing. Lots and lots of rocks.
After a short bus ride we hiked towards the most powerful waterfall in Europe, DETTIFOSS! The spray soaked us as we viewed the awe-inspiring feat of nature. Our next stop was Sellfoss, where we all laughed in the face of death while hanging our legs off the edge of a huge cliff (with appropriate safety measures of course). From there we ventured to Hafragilfoss, another amazing waterfall along the river Jökulsá a Fjöllum. The best part of Hafragilfoss wasn’t the waterfall though, it was the beautiful blue cay that had been left untouched by the surging river going by it. With a pair of polarized sunglasses the cay looked just like blue jello!
After our waterfall stops, we visited Hverir, a mud pot and steam vent hotspot. While our bus driver told us that breathing in the sulfurous air would make us smarter, half the group couldn’t stomach the smell and quickly made their way back to the bus. The other half stood in the steam vents in order to replenish their skin and took many pictures of the landscape, which was reminiscent of Mars. While in the area, we also visited a geothermal power plant where we learned about the renewable energy used to power Iceland.
After the power plant came many of the group’s favorite stop of the day… gas station hot dogs covered in as many different sauces as we could get our hands on! After the ravenous group had devoured the delicious dogs, we made our way to the big ticket event, a whale and puffin watching tour in the fjord (aka an inlet) of Husavik. We were in for a show as we had one of the most successful whale watching days in recent memory. We saw four different kinds of whales, a school of porpoises, and visited Lundi, also known locally as Puffin Island. Plus, we got to wear the most fashionable onesie jackets in all of Iceland. Following a bus ride back to the farm consisting of some loud bonding over movie references, the group quickly collapsed after our most tiring and fun day yet.
Jack Bloomfield