The first day at the airport of Reykjavik had the worst
weather of our five weeks trip. From the capital we followed the continental
rift to Thingvellir and Gullfoss. This is what every tourist sees.
After the huge waterfall Gulfoss we began our first highland-crossing
on seemingly endless gravel roads. We headed north on the Kjölür-Route
towards Akureri, where we arrived four days later.
We joined a whale watching tour at the coast and cycled through the
Jökulsargljufur-Reserve to the famous lake Myvatn.
There we rested for a couple of days before we decided to head back
along the more diffcult Sprenisandur-Track. The highlands are covered
less than 2% with vegetation. Icy wind blows down hard from two glaciers,
and some unbridged rivers have to be crossed on foot.
For five days we had to ration our food and work hard to make our daily 35 km through the central desert.
Back at the southern coast I went for Heimaey - a small island off the Icelandic coast.
There the famous whale "Free Willy" is fed regularly and wild puffins come to the cliffs for the summer.
A detailed plan of our tour, made by Dominik: Route
[see the photos]
|
