After Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon on July 14 we went for a very short visit to to Diamond Beach across the road late in the afternoon. By then a thick fog was rolling in.
We had to race to make it to the amphibian boat tour Jokulsarion Glacier Lagoon (enjoy the videos in this link). I didn’t get dramatic skies to photograph behind the glaciers on July 15 but I think the gray is more chilling. I briefly saw a seal’s head, Arctic Terns flying by with fish, and an Arctic Skua dashed by. These photos are true to life. The blue ice is natural.
We met our guide for Troll Expeditions in Vik who drove us and a small group up to the Glacier. Our leader is in orange on the right. He is an expert mountaineer and has led numerous scientific expeditions and rescued many people in trouble. Unfortunately, the cave had collapsed before we arrived. They are looking for a new one. It is a race against global warming.
To make up for the lack of an ice cave our guide also drove us to Hjorleifshofdihellir Cave on the shore, also called the Yoda Cave because the opening looks like Yoda. The Yoda Cave is located in between the Gýgjagjá and Rituberg. It is large with echoing. If you have watched the Star Wars movie, you can see that you will recognize the cave’s opening as soon as you arrive. Named after Hjörleifur. “According to historians, Hjörleifur, the first settler in Iceland visited Iceland around the eighth century with his foster brother Ingólfur Arnarson. Both the brothers were sailing in different ships and they drifted apart on the way to Norway. Ingólfur lived at Ingólfshöfði and Hjörleifur landed at Hjörleifshöfði. After some time, the slaves of Hjörleifur turned against him and killed him. Slaves fled with his wife to Westman Islands. As Ingólfur got to know about the killing of his brother, he decided to take revenge and killed the slaves. At the top of Hjörleifshöfði cave, Hjörleifur is believed to be buried.”
Marc (pictures signed Felix are by Marc) photographed a spider catching a fly outside the cave. The flies where enjoying the sticky sap on Angelica.
