A Land of Abundant Natural Resources and Amazing Geological Formations
Where can you travel to see geysers shooting 40 feet into the air, feel the heat and smell the sulphur from active geologic bubble pots, watch puffins frolic and whales spout, swim in hot springs, and see glacial fragments float past on their way to the ocean? No other place than Iceland!
Iceland is a strangely beautiful place with a surprisingly mild climate. The summer temperatures range from mid-60’s during the daytime hours to mid-40’s in the evenings. The sunshine is brilliant as we are located near the Arctic Circle. (If you are a photographer, this makes for amazing images—the blues are bluer, the greens are greener, and so on.)
Have you wished to see the Midnight Sun? It is definitely an amazing sight and one definitely not to be missed.
Some of the highlights of the two weeks in Iceland include visiting Pingvellir National Park (where the North-American and European continental shelf plates are being torn apart), Myvatn (a lake region near Akureyri in northern Iceland where there are numerous volcanic craters), Gullfoss (or better known as “the Golden Falls,” where you can see a double cascade of water), Geysir (the geothermal hot spot which gave the world the term, “geyser”), and Jokulsarlon (the majestic glacial lagoon near Hofn where several movies were made, including the James Bond film Die Another Day).
Cities located near the Ring Road we will visit include Reykjavik (the capital of Iceland and her largest city), Akureyri (the capital of the North), Hofn (the main town on the southeastern coast), Husavik (one of the world’s most reliable whale watching site during the summer), Selfoss (South Iceland’s largest town and hub of the main agricultural region), and Vestmannaeyjar (a cluster of islands and town in Southern Iceland). We will fly into and out of Keflavik, the location of Iceland’s international airport.
Our home away from home for most of the trip will be at Holar University College, nestled in between two large mountain ridges in the north central region of Iceland.
