Glacier safari, Iceland

I’ve officially nicknamed the glacier safari as “One of the Best Experiences of My Life”. Seriously. It would have been impossible for me to have enjoyed this day any more than I did. We took a 4×4 Mercedes Super Truck from the ship back to Thingvellir National Park, but this time took a different route so that we could see another part of the park. Our guide and driver Bjorgvin drove us through some spectacular landscapes, showed us a geothermal power plant, then stopped at a number of lookouts and waterfalls for us to snap photos to our hearts’ content. Then it was time for the highlight of the day: the ice cave inside Langjökull (‘The Long Glacier”) which is the same size as Singapore.

Dressed in five layers of clothing, our local glacier guide Ole led us through the tunnels, the ice bar and the ice chapel, stopping to sing us a traditional Icelandic song in the chapel. I filmed the first half of the song, but had to stop because I was getting emotional and so I just closed my eyes and listened. It was incredible to hear his voice together with the sounds of flowing water and cracking ice. Ole was quite typical of the other Icelandic people I had met, in that he is very patriotic and he said that he feels compelled to return to Iceland every year. He actually lives in Berlin and works as an artist and a drummer, but comes back to Iceland every summer to work at the glacier. It was quite a magical experience and if I hadn’t been worried about my fingers getting frostbite, I would have loved to stay for hours. Sadly, if nothing is done to stop climate change, Langjökull won’t exist past 2165. This will also result in the destruction of yesterday’s Gullfoss waterfall and the Geysir area, as both are fed by the waters from the melting ice of Langjökull .

When we returned to the 4X4 Bjorgvin asked if we’d like to do something not on the agenda and of course, we all said yes. He drove us to another waterfall and took the opportunity to have a bit of four wheel driving fun by driving us straight through the river and up a steep incline where we had a fantastic view of the waterfall.

It was then time for lunch and we stopped at the Husafell Hotel for our meal and a glass of wine, over which we recapped our amazing day up to that point. The highlight for me was the song in the chapel. Lunch was cured lamb for the first dish, Icelandic Ling for main and skyr yoghurt and sorbet for dessert. The hotel looked sensational and I’d love to come back again and base myself there for a hiking holiday. I’ll start saving as soon as I get home.

Last stop for the day was to see Hraunfoss (“Lava Falls”) and Barnafoss (“The Children’s Falls”).