Visitors create their own heat at a thermal zone at the Krafla caldera in northern Iceland. Lava flow from the 1980s (upper left) still mars the landscape.Read more about Iceland in “Life Atop a Cauldron” in the April 2011 issue ofNational Geographic Traveler
The north coast port town of Húsavík, reputedly Europe’s whale-watching capital, attracts visitors interested in whale-watching, birding, and sailing adventures in Skjálfandi Bay.
Read more about Iceland in “Life Atop a Cauldron” in the April 2011 issue ofNational Geographic Traveler.
Iceland is home to close to two-dozen waterfalls including Skógafoss, which flows from the watershed between the Eyjafjalla and Mýrdals glaciers. Its spray is so voluminous that on sunny days single or double rainbows appear near the falls
The glacial lagoon of Gígjökull, an outlet glacier just north of Eyjafjallajökull, was filled with ash by last spring’s eruption.
.Signs stuck in the cinders indicate family homes engulfed by the January 1973 fissure eruption at the fishing port town of Vestmannaeyjar, known fittingly as the “Pompeii of the North,” on the Westman island of Heimaey. Though the eruption destroyed some 300 homes, all island residents were evacuated to the mainland and the harbor was saved.
Cousin to the famous Blue Lagoon near Reykjavík in the southwest corner of Iceland, the Mývatn Nature Baths spa opened in 2004. It has the same soothing temperatures and cobalt color, an effect of suspended minerals in the water.
The multi-colored highlands in Landmannalaugar near the Hekla volcano beckon hikers June through September. Despite the area’s growing season of just two months, some 150 species of flowering plants and ferns inhabit the area
Cyclists tackle the Sprengisandur track across the island’s highland interior. The jeep road, open in summer, follows the main volcanic rift zone.
.Crowberries, the edible fruit of a dwarf evergreen shrub, grow throughout Iceland and are plucked and eaten, made into a juice, or served as a natural food dye.Read more
Formations of basalt columns amaze visitors at Jökulsárgljúfur gorge, a “Louvre of lava” in Iceland’s Vatnajökull National Park.
A hiker heads down the Víti explosion crater in Iceland’s central highlands, an area accessible only in summer. Víti’s water is warm and mineral-rich, inviting some folks to take a dip despite warnings to the contrary. In the background to the left sits Iceland’s deepest lake, Öskjuvatn.,,,,,,,,,
No comments:
Post a Comment