Iceland (2) - Skaftafell National Park

Day 2
We checked out early in the morning. Our hotel for the next two nights was at Nesjahverfi, a small village 8 km west of Höfn. There are two main attractions along the way: Skaftafell National Park and Jökulsárlón. We planned to visit the national park today, and leave Jökulsárlón for tomorrow.

1. Along the Ring Road, miles of rocks in all directions were covered by very spongy green moss.


2.


3. Along the Ring Road.


4. Along the Ring Road.


5. Some historical turf houses.


6. The wind was so strong, the waterfall up there couldn't really fall and was blown back up.


7. A turf church.


8. An Icelandic sheep. Sheep were everywhere when we were there. We saw them high up in the mountains, down in the field, even on the Ring Road. According to the rule, no matter how reckless the sheep is, if the driver hit the sheep, it is the driver's fault and responsibility to pay for the loss.


After arriving at Skaftafell National Park, we took two short hikes, one was to the glacier nearby, the other was to a waterfall.

9. The glacier near the visitor center.


10. The waterfall, Svartifoss, with black basalt columns behind it.


11. Another glacier down the road.


12. Dozens of people were on guided glacier walk.


13. We reached Jökulsárlón after 4:00 pm. Since it was rainy and we planned to come back here tomorrow, we didn't linger, just took some pictures and continued driving east to find our hotel.


Dinner tonight was at Gastronomy Langoustine in Höfn. Höfn is a fishing town whose main product is the lobster. So I had lobster, which they call langoustine, for dinner (6,450 ISK), while Dave had Icelandic lamb (4,600 ISK). The portions were not big but they were so good. Highly recommend!

(To be continued)