nature, Photography

A Land of Contrasts

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Iceland is traditionally described as a place of fire and ice. And that’s definitely true, but there are so many other stunning variations.

We visited Thingvillir National Park to find forests, barren lands, farms, lakes, geysers, and waterfalls.

Stark, foreboding, bucolic, serene, pretty – all these descriptors apply in breathtakingly beautiful diversity.

The barren lands will suddenly open into a healthy forest growing in the lee of an ancient volcanic crater …

… while farms thrive …

… among the beautiful lakes …

… and hot springs.

More pictures are coming.

Greetings from the land of beautiful diversity.

22 thoughts on “A Land of Contrasts”

    1. It’s very beautiful, Annika. No, as a general rule, aircraft can’t fly anywhere near a volcano as those huge plumes climb vast heights and also contain tiny pieces of rock that can seriously affect the engines very quickly. There are specialised aircraft used here to monitor the active volcano that has been erupting since last autumn. That area of Iceland is now closed to all but fire crews, volcanologists and other specialists. The Icelanders know how to deal with volcanoes and are for the most part calmly handling it. Cheers.

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    1. Thank you very much for the heads up. This is the same volcano that has been erupting since last autumn. We planned our trip around avoiding that peninsula and tomorrow we’re heading north, so all’s well at the moment. Cheers.

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  4. Ohhh, how were the biting insects in Þingvellir. They almost ate us alive and we longed to have bug jackets. It is such a beautiful place and a beautiful island. Happy travels Lynette. Allan

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    1. Actually, we didn’t encounter any at all, but that was mostly because of the wind and rain! I was told by several people that it was too early, but I don’t know about that! Yes, it is an extremely beautiful island.

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    1. It’s such a landscape of contrasts, Ally. I am awed also. Today we drove through emerald green pastures with enormous green-cloaked cliffs dropping into the sea immediately followed by desolate black lava fields, all in the blink of an eye!

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    1. How great that Iceland is where your love of hiking and travelling began! It’s a special place for me, too. I remember my first visit almost 30 years ago when tourism infrastructure was quite rudimentary and hiking very demanding given the conditions and lack of information. It’s so different now but Iceland also hasn’t changed much, either. I agree, the scenery is very different depending on where you are but it’s always awesome.

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