Adventures & Hot Pools

Hey everyone!

This is going to be my last post about my amazing time in Iceland. I’m really excited to be able to share all my summer adventures with you really soon!!

So this is about my last day trip with Sofie, Zuzana, Martin and Stewart. One of the guys I meet on the first northern lights trip suggested a really cool place in the south, called Gljufrabui. We also wanted to check out some more hot pools that were on the way. Sofie did the driving again and I organised and navigated.

At first we were blessed with a stunning sunrise that felt like going on forever. It was definitely a wonderful start to the day. We then drove for a couple of hours before we got to the Gljufrabui. The Gljufrabui is a waterfall within a canyon, that you can only access through water. Because I knew this we all brought towels or spare sets of shoes.

 

If you look closely on the next picture you can see that I was only wearing socks and had my pants pulled up. And yes it was freezing cold especially because the ground was either a small stream or covered in ice. But it was also so worth it. I feel like the pictures don’t do the place its justice. It was so magical in there. So definitely the right decision.

Can you believe that all those three waterfalls are not even a kilometer apart. Crazy how different they are right? So after being inside the canyon we changed shoes and then went for a little stroll around the area to explore and also warm up our feet.

Before we started our way to the hot pools we did another short stop at the Skogafoss where I cought a stranger for my picture. From there on we then drove to the Seljvallalaug. It was a 15 to 20 minutes walk through the nature before we got to the hot pool build into the mountain. And I can now understand why you barely find any pictures of that hot pool in winter. It was definitely not hot so most of us decided not to get in. Only Martin went for a really quick swim before we walked back to the car. We then took a small detour and drove back to the Hrunalaug where I had been before and new the water was actually enjoyable warm!

When we got closer to Reykjavik wind started picking up and it started snowing. We checked the roads on (road.is) just to find out that pretty much all the roads going to Reykjavik where closed. You have to go over a mountain range making it more dangerous. So we had to go all the way around the Reykjanes Peninsula. Meaning a two hour detour before we got back to the hostel. Since we only got back so late and the weather was so stormy, we decided not to go and search for the northern lights that day.

So the next day already marked the last full day in Iceland. I decided to spoil myself with spending the day at the Blue Lagoon which unfortunately isn’t the cheapest. I got picked up at 7.30 and then driven to the Blue Lagoon. I pretty much spend the whole day relaxing in the lagoon. Talking to people, chilling in the water, trying out face masks or spending some time in the sauna and steam baths. The weather hasn’t been the best at first (rain or hail) but stopped later and eventually the sun came out. I just did not manage to get a proper picture of it.  It was a nice last day but I think it would have been more fun going with a group of friends.

Because our flight was fairly early (and we would have had to take the shuttle at 3am otherwise) we both individually decided to just spend the night at the airport. Together with Rachel and Andrew we drove to a remote place hoping for some last northern lights. We weren’t lucky but still had a nice evening with good conversations. After that we all waited together. I actually managed to get 3 hours of sleep in. Rachel left a little bit before us and around 6 we checked in our bags and went through security to make our way to Copenhagen.

For those of you wondering, what I am unto right now. I got to Cape Town last night and now have 6 days to explore the city and the area around it before heading to George where Im going to start my second volunteering project in an Animal Sanctuary.

Lena xx