A shot of many members of the group along our first big hike, near Hveragerði. This four hour trip was a defining moment during our time in Iceland, as it was the first time we had gone on such a long trek, and gave us an idea of what to expect during our excursion in south Iceland. The Saturday hike encapsulated all the qualities of Iceland, from the hot springs, ice, and snow, to the mountains and almost comically unpredictable weather.
A view of Reykjavik from the top of the Hallgrímskirkja church. It was the first of our three trips to the nation’s capital, and gave us a sense of the city’s breadth and its natural surroundings. While it’s small compared to the American cities that we’re used to, getting a taste of Iceland’s cosmopolitan culture was something that we wouldn’t want to miss.
A series of turf houses, one of which we slept in for a night, located at Íslenski Bærinn. The turf houses were found throughout Iceland from settlement until the 1950s. This was by far one of the highlights in terms of learning about the Icelandic culture.
A zoomed in shot of seals basking in the sun on an iceberg. These were some of the few wild animals we saw during our stay, and one of the few species to reside in Iceland. With climate change worsening and the melting glacier in the background, it was curious to see how the homes of these seals would be affected.
One of the icebergs found ashore of Jökulsárlón, a black sand beach. This chunk of glacier showed us the power of climate change and earth’s response to it, as glaciers are calving and melting at faster rates than a hundred years ago.
Skógafoss, one of the many waterfalls seen throughout our trip in South Iceland, and an example the astonishing geological features found in Iceland. Like the two boys running into the mists, our travels this semester let us feel as though we were becoming immersed in Iceland’s natural world.
One of the many glaciers found in the Vatnajökull ice cap, seen on the last hike during our south Iceland trip. The glacier was absolutely stunning and reminded us of the size and beauty of nature. For many of us interested in environmentalism or geology, it was a breathtaking experience of how the planet is evolving.