Iceland and Greenland
August 18 - September 2, 2012
One year ago Nancy Hay
and I signed up for a trip to Iceland and Greenland. We decided to go with
Overseas Adventure Travel. We both know several people who have traveled with
OAT and they all had good experiences.
We left San Francisco on Saturday August 18 and arrived on Sunday at the
International airport in Keflavik 27 miles from Reykjavik. There we met our
guide for the trip, Bergur Alfthorsson who turned out to be one of the best
trip guides I have ever had. He is called Beggi and he had a cup of coffee in
his hand when we first met him - coffee was his constant companion which may
contribute to his abundant energy. We loaded into a medium sized bus and met
our driver, Gunnar and our travel companions for the trip. There were 16 of us:
Jan Beale, Ann Holland, Penelope, Nancy, Irene Naar, Dawn Vincent, Ingeborg
Ricker and her grandson Chase, Cecelia and Bill Fagan, Keith and Pat Pochert,
Ed and Roz Schackman, Charlie and Fran Scheil. We were a great group and I
would enjoy traveling with any of them again. We drove to our Hotel
Hilton Nordica in Reykjavik where we had to wait a while for our rooms. But
we did get a good breakfast and our rooms were lovely. We walked a bit around
the area of the hotel - there was a nice city park nearby with interesting
sculptures. We saw a lot of sculptures in Iceland - the government gives quite
a bit of support for the arts. The park used to have buildings for the Wash
House that was built during the 1940's during the British occupation of
Iceland. Many women took in washing for the armed forces. There are hot springs
all over Iceland which contribute to the livability of the country. The hot
water is piped into houses for both heating and for hot water washing and
showers. Eventually we went back to our rooms and rested up for an early
dinner. We all met together for a welcome drink and introduced ourselves. I
don't remember much else except that the food was excellent at this hotel - and
very formally served.
8/20/12 After a good buffet breakfast we left on
our journey - basically we would be driving on the Ring road for several days.
Today we were driving through the Borgarfjordur district headed to
Stykkisholmur. A note about the names - I am only including the names for
historical reference as I won't remember - let alone pronounce - any of these
names without written notes. The Icelandic language is Nordic based and has
very little in common with our language so I can't say that I learned very much
of the language. On the way we stopped at the waterfalls of Hraunfossar - one
of the many waterfalls we saw on this trip. Iceland certainly has plenty of
water - of course that means it rains a lot too! We hiked along and up to the
top of the falls for some beautiful views. We also went to the Deildartunguhver
thermal area to get some idea of the thermal activity in Iceland. This area
emits nearly 50 gallons of boiling water per second and has the highest flow of
any hot spring in Europe. This water has been used for heating since 1925. We
ate lunch in a small village, Borgarnes where they had an exhibit of the Norse
settlement of Iceland. From here we drove to Helgafell, a holy mountain and we
walked up to the top. Then we continued on to the Hotel
Stykkisholmur along the coast. It was a charming
town and hotel. Some of us went on a boat around the islands on Breidarfjordur
where we saw the scenes and some birds, including two white-tailed eagles.
During the trip they put a net into the ocean and brought up a lot of seafood
which several people enjoyed eating. I tried to eat something but I just
couldn't swallow that raw stuff. We had a nice dinner of fish soup and a salad
and enjoyed the trip back to town.
8/21/12 Today we spent our time driving and
hiking around the Snaefellsnes Peninsular. This is the area for the setting of Jules Verne's Journey to
the Center of the Earth. We stopped in Buoir where there is a "black"
church. It is one of the few churches in Iceland painted black. Most of the
churches in Iceland are built by the national church, which is Lutheran. They
are paid for and supported by the government. Everyone has to belong to a
church - if not the national one than some other one - even a pagan church!
We walked to the beach
area and then walked from this area of Arnarstapi through the Hellnar Valley,
beautiful scenes along the coast. This is the land of the hidden people so
although we didn't see any of them we did see some trolls. Icelander take their
sagas very seriously and there are lots of "trolls" to photograph in
many places. We had a very good lunch at the end of our walk at an isolated
cafe in Hellnar village. From here we continued on to Bjarnarhofn to visit a
shark fisherman at his museum and hear about the national delicacy, hakarl. It
is a processed shark - raw it is poisonous because of the urea in the flesh. So
it is buried and pressed underground for several months and then it is hung to
dry before cutting it into cubes for serving. It is such an awful and acquired
taste that I wonder why anyone bothers but the Icelanders make a big deal of
eating it during a midwinter celebration. Of course it is served with a very
strong schnapps called Brennivin so that is probably part of the taste. I tried
the shark but I couldn't swallow it. The Brennivin was fine though. I think
after this we went back to the hotel and had dinner but I can't remember!
8/22/12 Today we left Stykkisholmur heading
somewhat east along the Ring Road. First we stopped at the Eiriksstadir
Museum, once the site of the home of Eirik the Red.
He was the father of the Viking Leif Eiriksson, who "discovered"
North American about the year 1000. The family lived on this farmstead until
they were exiled to Greenland. The current owner has built a sod house similar
in style to the type that Erik and Leif would have lived in. We all sat inside
and listen to stories of how they might have lived in those days. From here we continued on to Gauksmyri
Horse Farm, where after a good lunch, we were introduced to the Icelandic
horses with a show of their gait and a visit to their living quarters. The
Icelandic horse has adapted to the local climate with a thick, heavy coat. They
are small and strong and intelligent. If a horse is brought to another country
for showing or breeding they are not allowed back to Iceland. This is how they
have kept the horses "pure" and disease free. We continued on to
Akureyri stopping for views of the Kolugljufur waterfall. They are so
beautiful. We stayed at the Icelandair
Hotel Akureyri - built in 2011. I loved the
rooms, they were small but so efficiently arranged we had plenty of room to
unpack our supplies and move around. The furnishing was very much of the Ikea
style - built ins, with lots of open shelf space.
8/23/12 We left early this morning and drove up
to Husavik - a village on the coast and from here we took a boat for a Whale
Watching tour. It was not the best whale watching boat I've been on - for one
thing it was way too crowded with too many people for its size so it was hard
to see anything. And we only saw a few humpbacks - although we did see them
well. I didn't even both trying to take a photo because of the number of
people. We saw a few birds but the boat guide didn't know the names of them.
Back in town we had a nice lunch at Gamli Baukur restaurant. Then
we spent some time walking around the small town - it was charming. They also
had a Whale Museum which was interesting. On the way back to Akureyri we
stopped at Godafoss (waterfall of the gods). These
fast moving glacial river waterfalls are really spectacular - I never get tired
of walking around them. We spent some time walking around Akureyri. It is
Iceland's second largest urban area with about 18,000 people. Its harbor is
ice-free and it was a U.S. base during WW II. The main street has a pleasant
mix of shops including a wonderful bookstore. We walked up the hill back to the
hotel and cleaned up for dinner. We were guests for dinner at the home of a
local family, a young couple with two small children. The dinner was delicious
and it was pleasant to be in a local home. Life for them looks very much like
it would look for them if they lived here. Then we walked back to our hotel.
8/24/12 Today we visited the Lake Myvatn area
stopping first at Namafjall Hverir. This is a geothermal area with boiling mud
pools and steaming fumaroles. I walked around one for a picture and could not
get at all close to the steam - it was so hot. It was somewhat like some of the
areas in Yellowstone or Lassen National Parks. Driving on we stopped at the
"bakery". Near a small village the owner of a geothermal area allows
people to dig holes in the ground and then they can put their bread in the
holes, cover it up and the bread will bake overnight. We continued on to
Dimmuborgir where we walked around among all the lava formations and found many
"trolls". We also learned about the Icelandic Yule Lads - another
saga. I eventually bought a book about their role in Christmas. They
"live" around here. We also walked around the Skutustadir area with
pseudo craters - they are formed by steam explosions when burning lava encounters
lakes or wetlands. After a nice buffet lunch at Selhotel we headed back to Akureyri. We spent some time
walking a good part of the town, the residential part as well as the shops
area. We walked through their Botanical Gardens - a large and lovely garden
that is maintained by volunteers - very impressive. We also were able to go
inside the very large and beautiful church in town. Then we went out to dinner
at an Italian restaurant, had a very good dinner and then walked back up the
hill to our hotel. We got plenty of walking today!
8/25/12 After an early breakfast we transferred
to the airport. Gunnar - our bus driver left last night to drive back to
Reykjavik. We flew there this morning. This is the domestic airport in
Reykjavik. From here we headed for Selfoss driving what is called the Golden
Circle, a ring of natural highlights. First we stopped at Thingvellir National
Park where there is a Rift Valley between the European and North American
plates. This park was the place where they announced the constitution of the
Republic of Iceland in 1944. Many national events continue to be celebrated
here. We had a lovely walk through this most beautiful park. After this we
drove to Geysir - to see the geyser from which all others take their name! We
were able to watch this and take photos of the water and steam shooting into
the air - lots of boiling water. After lunch here we continued on to the
Gullfoss - another wonderful waterfall; three tiers of rushing white water that
flows into a hundred-foot deep crevice. Beautiful walk with beautiful photos.
Made one more stop at Solheimar which is a residential community for adults
with special needs - mostly low intelligence. The community is a
self-sustaining eco village with green houses for growing vegetables and
various other workshops and activities. Having ended the Golden Circle we
headed to Selfoss, the largest (6300) city in South Iceland where we stayed at Hotel Selfoss.
We had a very elegant dinner.
8/26/12 Today we headed out for the
Solheimajokull glacier, stopping at Skogar waterfall along the way. It was fun
to be next to the glacier but I decided not to hike on the glacier - despite
the equipment I felt uncomfortable about slipping. I enjoyed walking back to
the starting place alone and then just waiting and watching the scenes. This
glacier has been advancing and retreating the last century. We ate lunch at Volcano
Hotel which is near the town of Vik. This is a charming very small family
run hotel. After a delicious lunch two of the brothers took us on a jeep ride
around the area up to a lighthouse for the view and then down to the black
beaches. We were sometimes on the land owned by this family that had been
farmed by the father and now they were expanding to include tourists. At the
beach we were delighted to find puffins sitting up on the hill - a large number
of them flying in and out. After we left here we went to the Seljalandsfoss
waterfall - 200-foot drop over the rocky cliffs. Some people walked behind it
and some of us chose to stay dry! Back to the hotel and I think we had dinner
on our own and this might have been the night we ate at a Thai Restaurant - it
was very good.
8/27/12 Today we left Selfoss heading back to
Reykjavik. Our first stop was River Rafting which I chose not to do. Some
people enjoyed it - some didn't but they all said it was very cold. Then we went to the Espiflot flower
farm and learned about the flower market from one of the family members who
runs the business. He talks about his flowers with great affection. They are
grown in green houses with geothermal energy. It was very interesting to learn
about the process. He even uses special insects to keep the flowers healthy. As
we continued on we stopped at the crater Kerio which
was formed about 6500 years ago. Some famous singer had a concert on a boat in
the crater - I can't remember who it was. We stopped at a roadside restaurant
had a good lunch and then continued to the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant.
It was interesting to see some of the works of the plant and watch a video
explaining its operation. This is what keeps Iceland running. We arrived back
in Reykjavik late and checked into our familiar Hotel Hilton Nordica. Dinner
was on our own but after our large and late lunch Nancy and I weren't too
hungry and nothing appealed to us. So we went to the bar and after a couple of
glasses of wine I decided I wanted a grilled cheese sandwich so I described
what I wanted to the bartender and he asked the chef to make it and I had what
I swear - even in memory - was the best grilled cheese sandwich I ever had.
8/28/12 Today we left early and headed for the Blue Lagoon - Iceland's
best-known hot springs. This is a man-made lake in the middle of a lava field.
It was a byproduct of a geothermal plant and eventually made into the tourist
attraction it is today. Beggi said when he was young they used to go to it when
it was just a mud hole in the field but most locals can't afford to go anymore.
It is quite an operation and very efficiently run with showers, lockers, and
everything you would need. The minerals are supposed to be healing and
rejuvenating - can't say they did more for me than a soak in a hot bath but it
was fun to go in - except for the freezing cold dash from the hot pool to the
showers at the end of the soak! After here we drove to the center of Reykjavik
seeing a bit of the city - the biggest in Iceland with close to half the
country's population. It is home to about 115,000 people. We got out in the
town center and Beggi pointed out a few places of interest. Several of us went
to a bar that had hamburgers served in the back and had a good lunch. Then we
split up and walked through the town. Nancy and I did a bit of window-shopping
but walked the distance back to the hotel rather than taking the bus or a taxi.
It was a pleasant walk and interesting to see the area. We had a very formal
and very good farewell dinner in the Hotel.
8/29/12 We checked out this morning - some of us
going to Greenland and some going back to the U.S. Since we had late departures
we first went to The Pearl
nearby and went up to the top to get 360 views of Reykjavik. This building is
84 meters high and is located on a hill where there had been hot water storage
tanks for decades. They were updated in 1991 and a hemispherical structure
placed on top. We walked around and enjoyed the views and visit their gift
shop. I should note that every rest stop, gas station, grocery store, museum, etc
had some type of souvenir section so if one were so inclined to buy a tee
shirt, trinket, or deck of playing cards it was not hard. After our stop here
we went to the National Museum of Iceland. It was very well arranged and was a
good summary of the history of Iceland as we have heard and observed this week.
They even had a room devoted to the World Chess Championship held in Iceland in
1972 and to Bobby Fischer. (After he lost his U.S. passport he lived his last
several years in Iceland as an Icelandic Citizen.) We then said goodbye to five of our group and went to the
Reykjavik airport and flew to Kulusuk, East Greenland. There we were met by two
guides with vans who drove us to our "hotel". We could have walked. Hotel
Kulusuk is the only building in the area and very
simple. It is run by owners from Denmark - Greenland is mostly
"governed" by Denmark; at least it is financially supported by
Denmark. Also Greenland is a part of the North American continent! The hotel
was clean and basic - and once we were given a new room all was well. The door
handle to the bathroom fell off which meant I was locked in the bathroom -
fortunately Nancy was in the room and could get me out. The upstairs dining
room was surprisingly elegant compared to the downstairs, and the food was
reasonably good. We were given jeep rides up to a nearby hilltop - looked like
it used to be a helicopter pad. We could see the whole area which at this time
of year was basically brown - with a few white patches of snow left over from
last year. When we walked into the village there were several patches of
flowers, some purple, some white, and some yellow that added color. Kulusuk is
a small island and the name of the village is also Kulusuk. It has about 300
residents. We walked around the village and went into the grocery store.
Everything is very expensive and during winter month very limited. They do run
out of things in the winter, once the whole town was out of toilet paper and
they had an emergency helicopter drop with supplies. We went into a charming
church that looked very well maintained but not many go to church. The souvenir
shop was opened for our benefit by the Dane who runs it. A few Danes live in
the area because of the availability of the airport. There is some tourism here
but not much else and I don't completely understand it but I think many of the
residents live on some type of subsidy from Denmark. There is a school in town
but to go to higher level they must go to West Greenland where they are at a
disadvantage because east and west dialects are almost not understandable. The
setting of the village is absolutely beautiful but it is hard to imagine living
there, especially in the ice bound, windy and cold long winters. We walked back
to the hotel and had a good dinner and a good night's sleep.
8/30/12 This morning we took an early morning
helicopter ride to Angmagssalik Island, a short ride a bit south of Kulusuk.
The views of Greenland below were incredible, not a lot of ice but enough to
add to the beauty of the whole scene. We drove a short distance to Hotel Ammassalik and
checked into our room. Our room was very much like our last room - same design
and we had a nice view of the town, Tasiilaq, East Greenland's largest city,
about 1900. I believe this hotel too is owned by Danes - maybe the same as the
last hotel. We were greeted by some young dogs, future sled dogs. They are
probably part wolf and are allowed to roam around town freely their first year.
From them on they must be chained up. Some homes have one or two dogs chained
as pets - others have a large area with many dogs chained there - with
doghouses and feeding stations. There are a couple of small islands where the
dogs are allowed to run free and the owners toss them food a couple of times a
week. We saw one place at the harbor where a large supply of dog food was kept
- a bunch of dead seals tied up and floating in the water! They use the dogs in
the winter as the main transportation around "town". We took a walk down through the Valley
of Flowers which was beautiful with fields of flowers. Because the hotel was on
top of the hill above town we were driven down and usually picked up in the
hotel van which gave us more time to walk around the town and in the valley.
Fortunately Beggi was with us as we did not always have a local guide with us.
OAT used to not send the Iceland guide over to Greenland but they found there
were problems with that. I can see why because the service people on Greenland,
both Danes and Greenlanders were much more casual in dealing with tourists -
there wasn't the interest to serve and be helpful that we found in Iceland. I
think it is partly a lack of training, partly a lack of competition for
service, and partly just a lack of interest in increasing the number of
tourists. This isn't a complaint on my part - just an observation. I thoroughly
enjoyed my time on Greenland. After walking in the Valley of Flowers we went
further into town which is a mix of homes and businesses. We went into a very
large store that was a grocery store downstairs and everything else upstairs -
clothes, appliances, furniture and so forth. Everything is very expensive and
availability depends on the weather. Once the harbor freezes up that is it
until the spring thaw. Supply ships are only able to deliver about five months
of the year. So the people living here must be very self-sufficient much of the
year. After this we were picked up by a Van from the hotel and went back for
dinner. It was a buffet dinner and was reasonably good.
8/31/12 Today we took a boat tour for the view
and to get close to the icebergs that were still in the almost circular fjord.
We did not go very far out because the captain thought it was too rough so we
just toured around the fjord and enjoyed the scenery. The view of the town with
the colorful small houses on the slopes makes for a charming toy like scene.
The only unattractive part is the garbage dump which deserves a comment. There
is a place near the water on the side of a cliff where garbage is dumped. But
it is not covered so it doesn't take much to see that the wind would blow it
around. Furthermore because it is so expensive to ship anywhere there is no
collecting of recyclables. In all the areas we visited garbage was everywhere,
along the roads, out in the fields near homes. There doesn't seem to be any
incentive to not litter. I found it a rather disturbing aspect of walking
around to view the town. I guess
for seven months when all is covered by snow this wouldn't be as apparent as it
was this time of year, so different from Iceland which was almost pristine in
regards to seeing litter anywhere. After lunch back at the hotel we had a
walking tour of the town which included a charming church, the Angmagssalik
Museum, and then a visit in the home of a local woman. She was born nearby and
was married and raised her children in town. She lives in a very comfortable
home with her grandchildren. Once inside her home you would have no idea you
were in such a "rough" place. Her kitchen was modern and her living
room was comfortable with sofas, carpets and lots of her beadwork on the walls.
I would assume she had indoor plumbing but there are houses in town that do
not. After this back to the hotel for our last dinner in Greenland.
9/1/12 We left this morning in shifts via the
helicopter to Kulusuk. Nancy and I were in the first group so after storing our
stuff at the hotel where we had stayed before we walked up the nearby hill and
took a few good looks at our few Greenland birds: Raven, Common Redpoll, Snow
Bunting, and Glaucous Gull. We had
lunch at the hotel - a buffet as before and then we hung around until it was
time for our flight to Reykjavik. We stayed one more night at the Hilton and I
think I had another grilled cheese sandwich at the bar for dinner. They had
mixed up our room assignment so Nancy and I ended up in single rooms which was
actually nice because we both were in the situation of having to dump out our
suitcases and repack for the homebound trip.
9/2/12 Six of us were picked up by taxi this
morning at some reasonable time and driven to the international airport in
Keflavik. Beggi met us to be sure we got off all right which we eventually did.
Things went pretty well even through the awful arrangement in the
Minneapolis/StPaul airport where after going through customs we had to walk
through an empty parking garage, take two different trains to get to a second
airport, all while dragging all our luggage with us. Then we had to check in
all over again. Fortunately we did not miss our flight and even had time to get
something to eat. It was good to get home and very nice of Nancy's husband,
Walt to come to the San Francisco airport at midnight to pick us up - what a
jewel!
It was a great trip -
good group, great leader, lovely people and scenery. I absolutely loved Iceland
and would go back there in a minute.
Written on 9/30/12
from memory and photos - much has been left out.
Penelope Bowen
My photos are on Picasa photos and are grouped
by dates. Using this journal while looking at the photos may help identify
where the photos were taken.