Iceland expedition - juillet 2012
Well, the expedition Iceland 2012 starts today ! The participants arrive (one by one in different flights) to Reykjavík, in a warm, sunny day (16ºC : The highest recorded in all summer so far).
Note : From now on, the article is written by our participants, only minor corrections done. Thus, the english level may not be perfectly academic, but we have decided to keep it this way so everyone can see our language skills’ progress.
- First campsite, Reykjavík
monday july, 9th
We visited Reykjavik, the coast and the center by foot.We saw a big map of Iceland in the city hall.We did the principal test in the hot spring (ph, temperature and chemical composition) and we swam in.We came back to camp site and, after the dinner, we played « trivial pursuit » with questions about Iceland
Tuesday july 10th
We woke up at 9h and we began to speak about activities of the day.We left the camp at 11h to visit the Reykjanes peninsula. A lot of hot springs where we tested the water, and the bridge between 2 continents where we did an activity putting some historical events on its position according to the rift opening speed.
- Enjoying Reykjavík
Wednesday July 11th
Today, we woke up at 7a.m. We packed our stuffs and we put it in cars. We went to the water fall. It was wonderful, we could go behind the waterfall !! After we went to eat close to the hot spring. We swam. Then we left and moved to Landmannalaugar. We ate housemade pasta and we slept in the beautiful valley.
- Bridge between 2 continents
Thursday, July 12th
We woke up after a good sleep and after a quick breakfast, we separated in two groups. The first one left for Hraftinnusker mountain for the day, and the other one move to Brennisteinsalda. When we arrived on the top, the view was beautiful. We can see the flows of lava and all around the mountain. After we swam. And we found a word for the camp : Awesome !!
- The trekking group
- Obsidian mountain 1
Friday, July 13th
After a small breakfast we did the same program than yesterday but we changed groups. So the first group stay at camp to make a short walk and to built a dam on the river and the other groups went to the obsidian mountain (Hraftinnusker mountain). Both groups met at 6h p.m to share a nice diner and to relax in the hot spring.
- Obsidian mountain 2
Saturday, July 14th (happy french national day !)
We were supposed to drive to Skaftafell , but a car problem forced us to call the rescue rangers.Despite an excellent job from them, the car had a breakdown, so they called an excursion bus to bring half of our group to the next camp site next to landmanalaugar, while the other part was walking but they found a new taxi:The rescue bus !.So after all these adventures, everybody met at the camp site to share a nice dinner.
Sunday, July 15th (Actually rain-day)
Just after the breakfast we packed our stuff and we left the camp site to drive to Skaftafell with a brand new MONSTER TRUCK brought by the car rental at 2a.m. So after three hours of travel we arrived at the Skaftafell camp site near the glacier to share a meal we well deserved.We spent the afternoon choosing pictures for the blog and writing article because of the rain.
- Breakdown
Monday July 16th First, we went to the glacier to take a photo to see the evolution of it. Then we have seen a waterfall with basaltic columns. It was awesome .After lunch, the first group went to the left side of the glacier with GPS, and the other one went to the right side. After this huge work we share a good dinner and we went to bed.
- the group at the Svinafells glacier
Tuesday July 17th That was a road day, actually ; We left Skaftafell to visit Jokulsarlon where we saw the wonderful lake with icebergs and some seals. After that we ate a good lunch with very good bread, and we began the road to Vik…(200 km).
- Jokulsárlon, the glacial lagoon
Wednesday July 18th
We woke up normally at 10, after a long breakfast we climbed the mountain to go to the beach with puffins and basaltic columns. We climbed them and took nice pictures.
Then we shared hot dogs in a cave on the beach under basalt columns. Then we tried to meet puffins, but they were not that sociable (rires). Then Julien and Gaelle tried to introduce themselves to a seal but he was not interested ! After that, we went to Vik hot swimming pool, we played several games and relaxed in a sauna !
Thursday July 19th
We woke up normally and removed the tents. After that some of us went to the store and bought some souvenirs for their parents. Then we took the car to go to Geysir, the original (the word ’’geyser’’ comes from there).After a quick visit we went to take some pictures at the principal geyser .We made some analyses of the water and that was not that huge (tº:95C /ph:9 first basic water we found in Iceland, that’s strange because the water should be acid normally).The weather was not good so we had to take lunch in a restaurant.Then we took the car to go to the big waterfall in Gullfos.Then we directly went to the camping next to the airport.
Friday July 20th
After a bad sleep because of planes we woke up very late and we started to make the film and to write this text. Like in the Beatles song... It’s been a hard day’s night and we’ve been working like a dog , it’s been a hard day’s night and we will sleeping like dog...
Saturday July 21th
This is the last day of our expedition in Iceland. The group finally ended the film, with very impressive results. As a reward, all of us ended in the local swimming pool to relax in the hot tubs and the steam sauna. But our adventures weren’t yet finished : A strong wind and rain storm forced us to sleep our last night inside our camping’s shelter, because water was entering the tents. In any case, this is Iceland and they’re well prepared for these kind of events, so we were finally safe, warm and dry indoors. See you in our next expediton ! The Icelandic team :
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date de publication : 11 juillet 2012,
date de dernière mise à jour : 30 juillet 2012
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