Last Updated on June 24, 2019 by PowersToTravel
We stayed the previous night at the Hotel Skaftafell, and traveled about 45 minutes north to Jokulsarlon, the Glacial Lagoon.
I had visited Jokulsarlon with my parents in 2004. In 2004, we had taken the left hand turn right BEFORE the bridge, to a gravel area where cars were parked. Traveling with Photographers meant that not only were we on the look-out for scenic panoramas, we were also on the look-out for parked cars where no parked cars were expected. That often signaled a secret vantage point. (At least in the locations where we tended to travel!)
So we pulled off, parked the car, and then hiked up a steep gravel hill. At the top we found views of the glacial lagoon. We spent a long time in that location, and finally hiked down, drove across the river and up to the official visitor’s center. We had been there on the hill so long that we felt we didn’t have enough time for the boat trip. My father is not usually keen on boat trips because on a boat the camera is in motion, and in danger of going for a dip.
Fast forward to 2012. As my husband and I traveled along Rt 1, and approached the lagoon, we could see the tops of ice bergs in the distance. We stopped along the highway, and climbed the gravel moraine and down to the water’s edge. Sadly the ice-bergs in this location were not as impressive as the ones eight years ago.
Anxious to take the boat trip this time, we headed to the visitor’s center. It was chilly in late May but we took little time to decide to take the boat trip. We did have time to check out the seals by the waters edge while other patrons arrived. Then we were hustled to the bus and drove a distance around the lagoon to where the bus simply drove off into the freezing water. It was an entertaining and beautiful ride through the ice bergs. Some were striped black with lava dust, some deep blue. They fished out a piece of ice for us to handle and taste. We saw seals swimming among the ice bergs.
After the trip I noticed that the overcast sky was starting to break up, and blue sky beginning to appear. I wanted to sit and relax and see if the views would improve. We noticed some activity below us. A BBC film truck was filming a TV show named Iron Man, a fact we learned from another tourist. They had a hot tub at water’s edge to return the swimmer’s body temperature to a healthy level. We watched and waited for the foolhardy man to swim out in the lagoon.
There was a flurry of action and an announcer appeared and seemed to be introducing the event. Then he stripped down and plunged into the water and immediately hopped into the hot tub, I guess to demonstrate what the Iron Man would shortly be doing.
We waited at least an hour, huddled on a hillside above the event. The Iron Man never dipped his toe and nothing ever happened. Meanwhile the blue sky opened up over the mountains opposite us, and I took my favorite picture of the trip.
Diabetic Travel Tips
The visitor’s center has a café.
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(I am not compensated in any way for my reference)
Check out this article of mine too:
Iceland Travel Blog – Itinerary, Lessons Learned and Diabetic Tips
