Colours of Iceland 

 
 
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With 38 square kilometres, Myvatn is a true wonder for its beauty of course, but for its geological oddities and the tenths of bird species it shelters.

It’s called the “lake of the midges” because of the millions of these little insects always trying to harass you as soon as you are outside. If they are not dangerous, their permanent need to find refuge in you ears, your nose or your mouth will quickly incite you to borrow a local tradition: a net on your head to protect you…

One often praised the Icelandic horse, but you can discover it by your self around on a horse trip around Myvatn: its sweet-tempered nature and light foot are the guarantee of an unforgettable ride.

2 500 years ago was born Hverjfall, an explosive crater which size give a good idea of the terrible event that disrupted the region: 150 meters deep and 1 kilometers round are its main characteristics!

Today you can have a nice walk on its black sandy slopes : from the top you will be rewarded with an amazing view on the whole lake.

The « black castles », Dimmuborgir, give an odd feeling of disorder with their various shapes and overall structure of the lava.

It has been once a lake of boiling lava, that frozen after discharging its whole content: only remain the pillars that sustained and protected this reserve.

Let work your vivid imagination to give your own name to the giant lava shapes and then discover the names that the tradition and saga gave them.

Skudustadir is a row of so called ‘pseudo craters.

There are not born from a volcanic blast here near the lake, but from a hot lava stream that encountered the cold water of the lake: the reaction was explosive and created these craters.

At Namaskard a strong smell of sulphur welcomes you to discover the amazing bestiary of Icelandic volcanism.

Boiling pots, smokes, solfatars, are all the spitting, whistling, grumbling monsters that you can reach and observe here.

Boiling pots arise from the decay of the basaltic ground by sulphuric acid vapours coming from the subsoil.
The result of this decay is a 100°C blue-gray viscous mood on which big bubbles blow up slowly.

The intense activity, the heat, the sulphur and acidity of the ground create an almost desert place. All the power of the earth, source of life in Iceland, is here within range of nostril…and ear: all the plop-plop of the boiling pots compose a never ending music with the steam of vapour.

In a rude environment, the cliffs and the rocky columns shelter most of the bird species of Iceland, and especially the Northern Gannet.

Two rocky lava towers stand in front of an amazing red cliff, a very unusual colour in Iceland. They create a true building for the birds living in perfect harmony, as long each species stays on its dedicated level and do not enter another specie’s space.

With it’s gray and tumultuous waters Detifoss is not like other waterfalls in Iceland.

100 meters wide and 45 meters high, but most of all a flow of 200 to 400 cube meters per second and Detiffos is the most powerful waterfall in Europe. Its dark colour is due to waters melted from the Vatnajökull glacier and to the sand they carry: 5 million tons are moved each year through the 200 kilometres of the river.

In spite of it power you can get very close to the monster. Near the fall, the water seems so quiet, but if your regard follows a peace of foam, you will see quickening. Its move become chaotic, it hesitates and suddenly dives into the sprays.

Two other waterfalls are in the same canyon: Selfoss et Hafragilsfoss.

Around year 1 000, settlers chose to convert to Christianity and renounce their ancient gods. One of the painted windows in Akureyri cathedral tells this story.

They dropped the stature representing their old gods into the waterfall, naming it Godafoss : The waterfall of the gods.

Horseshoe-shaped, it’s a place you must see in Iceland, even if its size is not as imposing as the other watefalls : three separate parts, 12 meters high for only 30 meters wide.

Glambauer is an example of traditional Icelandic farms.

This peat made houses have been built in the 18th and 19th centuries and used as a school up to the beginning of the 20th century.

It’s pretty difficult to build a sole house with peat, that’s why the farm is made of several small houses designed around a central gallery. A kitchen, bedrooms, dormitory, a pantry, a blacksmith workshop: in all 13 different rooms constitute this farm.

Wood is a rare resource in Iceland, that’s why the heating system uses peat and dried sheep droppings.

Buildings are not as simple as they look like and nothing is done by chance: the architecture guarantees to resist to extreme weather conditions in winter and uses raw materials commonly found around the farm.
Houses are low and the flooring under the outside ground level. Waterproofness of the roof and isolation is due to peat and grass.
Walls are made of peat too.

Inclination of the roof is ideally designed: enough to avoid the water to stay, and not too much to keep the roof wet for the grass.

Akureyri is the biggest northern city with 16 000 inhabitants.

The town enjoys an outstanding sunshine for a city so close to the polar circle (50km).

Located on the edge of the Eyjarfjördur fjord, it’s an important harbour, protected from bad weather and deep enough to welcome big ships.
Founded in 1602 by Danish sailors, the city remained small up to 19th century and 20th century with the expansion of the modern motorized fishing. Akureyrarkirkja, the cathedral of ice, overlooks the city. Its stained glass tells eventful stories of the Icelandic religious history. Akureyri is a modern university town. The town centre is surrounded by front coloured houses in contrats with the roughness of the environment. Akureyri botanic garden (4 hectares wide) aggregates 430 Icelandic species and 6 600 worldwide species.

Created in 1957 it’s mainly a conservatory for local species but also a tree nursery to provide plants that people enjoy to grow in their homes or gardens.

The colours of the different species contrast with the uniform colours of the surrounding environment.

 

Drangey and Malmey stand guard over the fjord from their 150 meters height.

These two places are naturally protected by their cliffs and uninhabited: it’s an heaven for tenths of bird species.

Drangey has been used for a long time as a pantry for continental villages.

Birds provided both meat and eggs, and their droppings were efficient fertilisants for the grazing. Sheep were parked there without risks : cliffs are a natural fence and there’s no predator on the island. Malmey is uninhabited since 1950 when the last farm burned just before Christmas.

A legend tells that nobody can live there more than 20 years: after time the housewife would vanish and never reappear.