The National Geographic Orion arrived this morning in the protected port city of Djúpivogur, just south of the eastern fjords of Iceland. After an early breakfast, we boarded buses for today’s glacial destinations: the Vatnajökull Ice Cap and Jökulsárlón Lagoon. Along the way, we witnessed outwash plains, bird life, farmland, grazing sheep, glaciers, and great coastal geology.
Part of our group went up the steep zig-zag dirt road to Skalafellsjökull Glacier to go snowmobiling or driving in snow-track vehicles on the glacier. Once on the glacier, we needed to follow the existing tracks. We stopped to walk around on the glacier and it was a fabulous experience to be surrounded by ice, as if we were transported back in time to an ice age.
Meanwhile, others in our group visited Jökulsárlón Lagoon, where we boarded amphibious vehicles that drove into the water and function as boats so that we could get close to floating glacial ice. In the distance across the lagoon, we could see the source of the ice: it had calved off Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, one of the 20 valley glaciers that spill down from the Vatnajökull Ice Cap. It was amazing to hear that the ice had only recently retreated from the lagoon. In fact, the lagoon didn’t exist only 80 years ago, but is now 5 miles long and nearly 1000 feet deep.
We were all fascinated by the shapes and colors of the icebergs, some of which were as old as 1000 years. The odd shapes of the ice looked as if they had been carved by an expert ice carver. Other pieces contained layers of dark volcanic ash or other dark sediment. Still others had very little entrapped air, so they were deep blue in color. After we were back on shore, we had time to explore on our own. Some of us observed pieces of ice break apart and raft down the short but swift river into the sea, soon to be stranded as icebergs on the black sand beach.
Then we switched locations after a fine meal of authentic Icelandic food for lunch. Once we had completed both activities, we returned to the ship with the lasting memories of another fantastic day in Iceland’s wondrous and ever-changing landscape.
