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My last full day in Iceland accomplished something I had been working on since my second day. I convinced the ladies of the Single Ladies Travel Collective (Gloria from Guatemala, Uno from Toronto and Helen from Amsterdam) to go snorkeling at Silva. Silva is one of only two places on earth where you can snorkel between the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia in the continental divide. The water is crystal clear and only 2 degrees above freezing. It requires 3 layers of clothing and gear: thermal base layers, cold suit and dry suit, plus boots, gloves, head wraps, collars, masks and find. It takes the average person more than 20 minutes just to get dressed but when done properly it keeps everything but your hands and head dry and keeps most of your body warm, except your face, which goes numb.
We were each picked up at our guest houses for the hour drive to Thingvellir National park with our guides. After struggling into the layers of suits and finally making our way to the water we dropped into the frigid water, waited for our faces to freeze around the mouth pieces and started the 45 minutes of snorkelling along the divide. There are no fish and no plants, just rocks but it is worth it just to see the deep reaches of the divide between the plates and wonder of this space between continents that you take for granted. In places you can reach out and touch both continents. I took pictures and Gloria shot video of the experience.
After peeling out of the suits we warmed up with hot chocolate and headed back to Reykjavik. We all went to our own temporary homes to drop off bags then met back up downtown to walk to one of the public outdoor pools and hot tub areas that are to popular. We spent a couple hours in the warm hot tubs under a clear blue sky with the locals. Relaxing and discussing plans for a reunion trip to Patagonia in Argentina next fall.
We left at 6:00 to get cleaned up, walk back to Gloria's hotel, grab some hot dogs at the famous harbour stand (people are obsessed with these hot dogs, they are great "with everything": ketchup, sweet mustard, gravy and crispy onions)
We waited over an hour and a half for the driver to pick us up for a northern lights by boat tour, taking turns running to the corner store for coffee and skyr as needed.
We eventually boarded our boat and spent 2 hours watching the northern lights dance across the sky and the mountains while an announcer read Icelandic poetry and badly sang folk songs. The announcer was horrible, we were all begging for the talking and singing to end. The northern lights are rarely bright or eye catching like you see in movies or postcards. If you see some faint green swirls and stripes you are lucky. To have gotten to see them 3 nights in a row in any form was extremely good luck.
The verdict: snorkeling Silfra was worth the money and cold water, the boat trip was not worth it, you can't take pictures of the lights on the boat well because you need long steady exposura times to capture the lights and you can't do that on a boat. The entertainment was so constant and horrible that it tainted the experience.
We didn't let that stop us, we enjoyed being together and were sad to part but have plans to keep in touch regularly and travel together again.
We each went to our own guest houses. Gloria leaves for Bilbao, Spain early tomorrow, Uno returns to Toronto tomorrow and Helen has one more day in Reykjavik before heading home to the Netherlands.
Tomorrow I have the morning in the city and then catch my bus to the airport at 12:30, where I have a hot date with duty free for a bottle of the local rhubarb schnapps.
Iceland was incredible. The winter visit was perfect for me but I can understand why most people stick to summer. This beautiful country challenges even hardy visitors in winter but that makes the experiences that much better.
- comments
Mom Sounds like you have had a wonderful time. I love how adventurous you are. The fact that you met adventurous travel friends and will keep touch is awesome. What an eclectic group! See you soon. Travel safe.