Svarti foss, basalt column beach and the 🌋 volcano
The days flew by, ready or not we had to start our 500km journey from Hofn to the BB hotel near KEF airport. Thankfully, road trips in Iceland are anything but dull and tiring with a continuous and changing scenery to admire. Speed limits are no more than 90km (55 miles) per hour on a single lane road. Apart from safety, this allows drivers and passengers to go slow and soak it all in.
Our S2 loop hike to the Svarti foss, a part of the larger Vatnajokulspjodgardur national park was a 3 mile round trip. With a majestic backdrop of shaded brown, black and grey basalt columns the Svarti foss were nothing like any of the umpteen other waterfalls in Iceland. That being said, each one was unique and characteristic and it would be unfair to pick any one as the prettiest. The basalt columns are a result of the lava or magma cooling and the resulting contraction causes the new rock to form six sided columns.
Chinmay did the longer 5 miles hike which also takes you closer to the glaciers at the cost of missing out on family photos by the falls! 😕The weather was so perfect that our layers needed to be peeled off one after the other during the hike.
The visitor center cafe menu and the later afternoon hour of the day lured us to have lunch there. The piping hot vegetable soup and the vegan lasagna were quite appetizing. The kids enjoyed their vegan chorizo panini. It was tricky to pick just 1 dessert from the attractive display; fortunately the vegan strawberry cake did not disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of vegetarian options in a cafe like that, something that’s unthinkable in the states. The alfresco setting of this meal overlooking the mountains and the glaciers was like a cherry on the pie.
Lunch break
Driving through Vik brought back happy memories from a couple of days ago and made me want to stay in this sleepy little town for a few more days. The Remisfjara beach has a small restaurant which serves great food with lots of vegetarian options, we would have explored some if only we could double our appetite and stomach capacity! Kids and adults had fun climbing up on the basalt columns for photo-ops. The waves came crashing on the black sand beach and there were warning signs of their brutality with examples of how unsuspecting tourists have died in the innocuous looking ocean waves. The fierce nature of this country’s landscape as spectacular and beautiful as it is, is unforgiving and ruthless at the same time.
Chinmay had been monitoring the activity of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Keflavik all day on YouTube live with the hope that the dormant one would decide to wake up at some point in our remaining few hours by the airport. The seismic activity indicator showed hope while we were eating our pasta at Fernando’s in Keflavik followed by a few initial sparks. The first sight in the distance from the window of our hotel upon check in around 10.30pm was the erupting volcano. After all it had decided to put up a special show for us so we could bid a proper farewell to this country of fire and ice. We drove over half an hour to the parking lot not fully prepared for the hike. Sticking together as a group we ventured up the mountain on a frigid windy hike in the dark keeping our eyes on orange glowing fumes that adorned the night sky. With only a 675 ft elevation gain, it wasn’t a steep hike but not having any head lamps did make it tricky.
We were rewarded with the first sight of the eruption as we crossed the ridge and we couldn’t contain our screeches out of awe. The sight left us gawking and dumbstruck at what lay in front of us. We continued going further cautiously avoiding slipping on a very rocky steep ground. With the caldera spitting out flames of glowing and gurgling lava, the peculiar sulphur smell in the atmosphere, the gusty winds blowing around us and a river of lava flowing out on the edge of the mountain stimulated all our senses transporting us to an other worldly experience. As difficult as it was to not keep looking back at this unprecedented sight, we had to concentrate on the hike down hill as it was slightly scary with limited visibility and slippery rocks.
A trip that started with a relaxing soak in the Blue Lagoon close to the airport came full circle, literally and figuratively ending with a hike up to see an active volcanic eruption at 1.30am 9 days later. With sheer gratitude to the universe for this climactic grand finale, hearts so full, brains sharper with memorable lessons from nature in this unique topography and minds filled with a life time of memories made with family and friends we depart with a mental note to return sooner rather than later.
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