Believe it or not, this post is nearly 5 years late. In the fall of 2020, I started an MA program abroad through the School for International Training, and my first semester took place in Ísafjörður, Iceland. I did one brief blog about the beginning of that program here, but then swiftly was overtaken by the reality of graduate school and didn’t finish recording my travels. I then had my second semester in Zanzibar and Kenya, graduated, visited my brother in Guatemala, got a job, went to Italy, and Zimbabwe.
I am catching up, and starting with Iceland. There should be around 2-3 posts to go after this one before I am up to date! So, let’s see how good my memory is after almost 5 years have passed.
Once we were free from quarantine, finally, I remember our blueberry picking quite well!
When combing through my 2,000+ photos to pick around 150 for this post, I noticed a lot of them included my good friend, Francesca! It is no wonder we stayed in touch and I visited her in Italy last year.
Here are some photos from our first few weeks out of quarantine, during which we were collecting field data/doing research!
The field work was fun! It was usually two of three things in Iceland: cold, windy, or wet. I always joked that I could handle two of those things at once, but not all three. One of the most memorable things about my time there was probably the geothermal heat, and the heaters in each room that you drape wet clothes over to dry. I would warm my socks on them before putting them out and heading outside. It was a wonderful time for someone who liked to come inside and get cozy!
I kept an EXTENSIVE planner during my time in Iceland (wish I still did) but none of that is interesting unless you are curious about the schedule of an MA student abroad in Iceland, so I’ll stick to talking about sight seeing, after sneaking just one photo of the planner in here:
For a school trip, we visited a research facility in Bolungarvík, a neighboring town in the Westfjords, and the northernmost village in the region. I also recall it having an AWESOME indoor and outdoor pool. Icelanders believe it to be a right to have access to “hot pots” or man made or natural hot pools. Which was fine by me, I love a good soak. You would too if you lived in Iceland year round!
September in Ísafjörður:
We went on a team kayak at the end of September. I’d never been kayaking in the cold like this, it kinda heightened the risk of falling into the water. You do NOT want to fall into the Fjord in late September… or really any time of year. It is pretty damn cold.
The same day as the kayak trip (September 24th, 2020) we FINALLY got our first Northern Lights sighting. I know they always say pictures don’t do them justice but… yeah, they’re right.
A few of us took a trip to Dynjandi (meaning thundering noise), a stunning waterfall that tumbles down hard basalt layers and stands 99 meters high, 30 meters wide at the top, and 60 meters wide at the bottom.
That same afternoon, we headed into Patreksfjörður, first running into one of two stone men, the first being in Vatnsfjordur. We found very local hot pots (I recall changing in a lean-to), some good food in Bíldudalur, and got some unreal photos that I don’t have location stamps for as they were taken with good old fashioned cameras. Enjoy:
The next day, we had one of the best meals of my life at Tjöruhúsið. It was such an affair, I got dressed up for it. A beautiful multi-course meal, and a soup I still think about to this day.
The day after that (man we really packed it in, no wonder I was too tired to write!) we took a boat out to Hornstrandir Nature Reserve.
We ate lunch outside the deserted village of Hesteyri , if memory serves. The ruins are The Hesteyri Whaling Factory, a Norwegian Whaling factory from 1894, which eventually shifted to processing herring, before closing in 1940.
Cat break! There were loads of cats in town. We would buy cat food and sit and wait for them to flock to us.
On October 5th, we took a field trip to the northernmost glacier in Iceland, Drangajökull. I dressed like I was going to visit a glacier, and was surprised to find myself sweating like it was a spring day. We all ended up shedding multiple layers.
On October 9th, we started to head towards Husavik, stopping along the way at the very interesting Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft in Hólmavík, where I finally laid eyes on some replica necropants (not pictured here because I do not wish to get flagged for nudity, follow this link if you are intrigued).
On the trek to Husavik, we spent the night in Akureyri, and on the morning of October 10th we stopped at the Goðafoss waterfall and Botnstjörn in Vatnajökull National Park
In the afternoon, we went whale watching. I cried, we saw so many whales and dolphins.
We did some more sight seeing around Husavik. Including Lake Mývatn and Mývatn Nature Baths, geothermal areas, Víti (an explosion crater in the Krafla fissure area of North Iceland), Detifoss, and the lava fields of Dimmuborgir.
After Husavik and the surrounding adventures, a few of our group peeled of (myself included) for a quick ring road trip, so brace yourself for a lot more touristy photos. We spent the night in a PRECIOUS cabin in Höfn í Hornafirði, then hit the road.
Believe it or not, all of the above photos are from one day, October 13th. We stopped a lot on our tour.
The next day, we hit up a few other highlights including the famous black sand beaches and basalt columns of Reynisfjara (watch out for the sneaker waves if you go! I was mega paranoid about that and we always had someone watching the water while we took photos). We saw a TON of waterfalls on this trip, but for me Gljúfrabúi took the cake. It is a waterfall in a gorge, and was absolutely stunning. On that same day, we say Gullfoss, a geothermal park with geysers, and the stunning Þingvellir National Park. Some cool facts about this park: The Alþingi (Iceland’s parliament) was founded there around 930, and was active for 868 years or until 1798 and that makes it the oldest operating parliament in the world! Þingvellir means “Assembly Plains”, which a fitting name considering the historical significance. As if that isn’t cool enough, it is also home to the Almannagjá Gorge, or the North-American and Eurasian continental plate divide. And I got to stand on it. Heck yeah.
Looking back on my photos from my trip around Iceland, I can’t believe the timing. It was very difficult to get into the country due to COVID travel restrictions, but we had incredibly popular tourist destinations all to ourselves. A blessing and a curse. If you are lucky enough to explore Iceland on one of the ring roads, I recommend a good set of waterproof hiking boots (and rain pants and jacket depending on the season). I also recommend getting a cooler and packing food from the grocery store. You’ll save time and money, and get to see more sights if you can eat on the go.
After that trip, we were pretty wiped. Here is a collection of photos from October 23rd – 31st.
Once we hit November, it really started to get cold and dark. Days got quite short by the end of our stay. In early November, Ísafjörður has about 8 hrs of daylight. That decreases by 90 minutes every two weeks. In December, day length is 4-5 hrs. It makes you really appreciate the hot pots and happy lights! I brought a happy light in preparation (although it made me quit nauseous) and we took daily supplements, but I know folks still started to feel funky by this point. Here are some photos from November 3rd- 6th in Ísafjörður!
By mid November, it was time for us to depart! We finally headed to Reykjavík, but were pretty limited on sight seeing due to COVID restrictions. A reason to visit again, I suppose!
We flew out on November 11th, but I had the distinct feeling I would be back, hopefully in more normal? times!
Bonus photo: I arrived home November 12th to that states. Pictured below you can see the reality of graduate school abroad during a global pandemic. It was… interesting!
See you next time, when I finally blog Zanzi, and our bonus time in Kenya! Takk!
All Abroad! 