Black Sand

After driving south from Borgafjordur, we landed in the biggest forest in Iceland (I was wrong - there are trees, but they have all been planted). We stayed in a very nice hotel but the power went out early so no wifi! I would have written about our 5 hour walk through fog and freezing rain, ending by a glacial river with banks of black sand. It was the coldest day so far- the onset of July has not made it warmer here! We hiked down to the beach, a stunning setting straight out of Jurassic Park. I am beginning to see how the Icelanders believe in elves. 

We also visited a puffin colony - they are so cute, it's hard to believe they are a regular menu item, but with 18 million pairs of them in the country, I suppose I could understand.

We have 2 guides on this trip: Helgi and Dagny, both supremely qualified native Icelanders. They have been taking great care of us, but for the 4th of July they treated us to cake and coffee (their equivalent of the BBQ) at a farm cafe run by Helgi's family for 4 generations. We had homemade black currant Skyr cake and toured the barn where the cows were in for their twice a day milking. We were all stunned to see the cows take themselves into the stall with the robotic milking machine, patiently waiting in line for their turn. No humans involved. They seemed very content, as have all the animals here. Happy cows, sheep and horses. 

It's raining again. I'll write tomorrow about our day today - rain and waterslides.