The hostel we are currently staying in is so cute! The girls in our group were split up between 3 different, but tiny cabins where we have double beds, a small coffee table, and a toilet. The cabins remind me of a hobbit home! The only downside to this hostel is the fact that we have to walk to the main building in order to take a shower, but at least we get a great view of the horses behind our cabin while we run in our pajamas. We woke up this morning a little earlier than usual, around 7:15, in order to set off for our journey to Vatnajokull. Just like a few days ago, today was a very windy day, more so than the other day actually. I literally thought I was going to be knocked backwards! Even Camille, who has been in a tornado, claims that the tornado wind wasn't as strong as this! Kind of crazy. The terns that we saw today had a very hard time trying to fly in this wind and several were knocked backwards while trying to take flight. Definitely a day for multiple layers and a hat or two.
When we arrived at Vatnajokull, I was shocked to see just how big the glacier was... and we were only looking at the very tip, known as Breidamerkurjokull. The formation of the lagoon is mainly due to climate change in the area. After "The Little Ice Age" between 1600-1900, the glacier began retreating as the temperature became warmer and caused a 190 meter deep lagoon of water and ice to occur where the glacier snout existed. The icebergs were a beautiful, blue color and they were so big and so numerous! Everywhere I looked had several icebergs in the area. As the glacier continues to retreat, icebergs break free and are carried by the current of the water to the lagoon (Jokulsarlon). The tides, winds and currents continue to erode away at the icebergs until they are small enough to float away to sea... something that was an extraordinary process to watch. We were also able to walk on the moraines that have been deposited all around the lagoon. The moraines were dark, brown/blackish color due to the basaltic sediments that were carried onto the glacier. We also noticed that since the face of the glacier was vertical instead of slanted, the glacier hasn't been actively receding lately and is more at a state of equilibrium.
While we were walking along the beach area and taking pictures at every possible angle, I noticed something that looked like a combination of a human head and a dog head peering right above the water. At first I wasn't quite sure what it was... It couldn't be a person or a dog because the water is wayyyyy too cold, so what kind of creature was it? As soon as the entire body of the creature was revealed, I realized that it was a seal! I've never seen a seal this close before, even in a zoo! It was so adorable! A few days before I left for Iceland, I saw a video of a man in a kayak with a seal that decided to join him on his journey. I was really hoping that this seal would casually swim up to me and let me take a picture with it... But apparently Icelandic seals are not as social as American seals. As we continued to walk along the beach area, I kept looking around the icebergs to see if any more seals would appear. I started to give up when I noticed several of these heads popping up out of the water! There were so many of them and they were so close to the shore. They would peer their heads above the water just to look at us. It was like they were just as curious to see humans as we were to see them. After they looked around at all of us, they would flip upside down and hit their fins against the water to make a huge splash. It was as if they were performing for us... And then, they would stare at us again. It was so entertaining and amusing! I could've watched these seals all day, but I had to keep walking in order to see everything before it was time to head back to the bus for lunch.
Once we got to the furthest point on our walk down the beach, we were able to see Breidamerkurjokull in full view. It was so beautiful and when I looked through my binoculars, I could see moraines, crevasses, fractures and other glacial features that I have only seen in pictures. It was great knowing that I was staring at the largest glacier in all of Iceland.. But even more than that, it's the largest glacier in the world outside of Antartica! Never would I have ever thought that I would be standing in this position. Unfortunately, in order to make it back in time for our lunch, we had to leave our wonderful spot that we had all to ourselves to enjoy. After taking a few more pictures, we began our journey back to the bus. Instead of walking along the beach, I decided to walk on the moraines to get a different perspective of the area. The hike on the moraines proved to be much harder than the beach since I had to keep climbing up and then back down large hills with slippery surfaces. At one point, I actually "skied" down a very large hill by moving my feet in a back and forth pattern (kind of like ice skating). It was a very efficient way of getting down this mountain, and quite fun since I needed a break on my calf muscles anyways. Once we finally made it back to the bus (being pretty much exhausted), I enjoyed peanut butter sandwiches and a nice piece of chocolate cake for dessert.
We made one more trip before heading back to our hostel for the rest of the day. We crossed the bridge that existed over the lagoon and went to the beach of the sea where the icebergs would eventually go. It was so cool being able to watch the bergs roll over and over again into the sea and out into the ocean! Hopefully Titanic won't be sailing through the area anytime soon. The sand was pure black... Absolutely beautiful and something that I would consider to be a natural wonder of the world (if it was up to me). But, something else that was very new to me was the clear line that separated the blue, glacial melt water from the green, sea water. It was incredible to see this perfect separation where the more powerful water would take over the lesser. I was also interested in the beach rocks that were seen along the coast. There were many different colors of smooth stones that each had their own and unique pattern. For example, there were red rocks with black stripes, solid, blue rocks, and orange rocks with a lighter orange color on the inside. They were all so beautiful so of course I have to take a few home with me. We headed back for the bus a few minutes later to drive back to the hostel and spend the rest of the day as we desired. Around 7:00 pm., we enjoyed a pasta with vegetables on top (that was very delicious), and spent the rest of the night catching up on work. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good as today was... And I'm not sure it could possibly be better.
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