Today was the day! A guided tour snorkelling in Silfra and cave diving in some of Iceland's many lava tubes. Very exciting.
For those that don't know: Iceland is split into pieces, technically. And still splitting. The North American plate and the Eurasian plates are drifting apart, and have left a rift valley through around half of Iceland. And in that rift valley, there are a few really awesome things to see, but the awesomest of them all has to be Silfra. A chasm between 1-58 meters deep filled with crystal clear water. As if that wasn't beautiful enough, it is set in the impressive Þengvillir (theng-vell-eer).
The water is SLIGHTLY above freezing, around 2° celsius. So snorkeling in it for 45-60 minutes means that one must be adequately insulated. I thought it would be a wet suit, but apparently it's too cold even for that. Who knew? So we wore dry suits over a thermal suit (think body-shaped sleeping bag). Very sexy.
As you might have expected, I didn't bring an underwater camera. So, unfortunately, there aren't any pictures (taken by me) of Silfra, so I have included a picture from interwebs. As well as some I took from the land.
The whole experience was great, and new. I have snorkeled many times in a few very different places, but none of them were freezing arctic lava-filtered glacial water. It tasted great, might I add.
Caving was also great. The caves were great too, though very similar to the lava tubes in Washington and Oregon. One difference was the various shapes the lava made; large drips and drizzly shapes and stuff. Even one section the ceiling was a field of 6-8cm lava drips.
One thing for sure that differentiated it from the other lava tubes I have been in was the setting. It was in a lava field that was covered in sage green moss, at the base of a volcano, and with several others nearby. It was also exponentially far less visited. There was virtually no sign that other people had been there. I liked that.
What I didn't like was the ceiling getting so very low at several points. I liked it, but I just didn't want to tear my new jacket. Gay, I know. But I need it and it was expensive. I actually liked the challenge though. maybe if I was in sensible attire. :)
But who does that? Remember when Abercrombie and Fitch was expedition wear? Not that I would wear any of their stuff.
Where was I?
Ahh yes. The rest of the the evening was normal. I had dinner, walked around a bit and came back to the hostel.
Oh, did I mention dinner was WHALE?! I don't want to dwell on it. But I will just say, it wasn't bad, like a fishy steak. Yes, I feel a little guilty about it. But I think it's because I was programmed to as a child. Iceland's defence is that they do it in a documented, sustainable way and it is no different than any other controlled hunting. Fair point.
Tomorrow is a road trip day. I had been planning on driving to Jokulsarlon (Glacier Lagoon) but I think I am gonna drive the Reykjanes Peninsula instead. We'll see how I feel in the morning, I guess.
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