Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2011, Side 68

Experience excitement in Iceland’s
pure nature or get a bird’s eye view
of the country’s most beautiful places
Adventure tours Air charter servicesScheduled flights
This tour takes you from Reykjavík
to the island of Heimaey in the
Westman Islands archipelago.
Boat trip on the Glacier lagoon and
an ATV excursion in the area of
Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull.
A never-to-be-forgotten trip
showing the sharply contrasting
faces of Iceland’s natural features.
Activity
Adventure
A Historical Tour of
the Westman Islands
Ice and Fire –
Glaciers and Volcanoes
Reykjavík Airport | +354 562 4200
info@eagleair.is | www.eagleair.is
Bookingsand information
The South and the EastIS
OUTSIDE REYKJAVÍK
Standing around in the Skaftafell
Visitors Centre during midday is
more akin to being in a crowded
shopping mall than at a nature re-
serve. It’s busy. Real busy. Don’t
let that scare you off however—the
busloads of tourists are all on their
way to somewhere, and the Skaf-
tafell region is large and bountiful
enough to satisfy everyone.
The Skaftafell Visitors Centre is an
offshoot of Vatnajökull National Park
(Skaftafell used to be its own National
Park, called Skaftafell National Park,
until it was united with Vatnajökull
National Park in 2008). It is in direct
view of Iceland’s highest peak, Hvan-
nadalshnjúkur (2119 m) and encom-
passes glacier-tongues Skeiðarárjökull
and Skaftafellsjökull, glacial rivers,
lagoons, waterfalls and several other
stunning sights and places to visit. It
has been a local favourite for decades,
and is now, as we learned, really popu-
lar with visitors to Iceland.
Stamps and Svartifoss
Inside the centre, we met park ranger
Auður Hafstað, who took time off from
directing visitors to Svartifoss and sell-
ing them stamps to tell us a little bit
about life as a park ranger. “The job
involves welcoming tourists and travel-
lers, and giving them any information
they need. We do various acts of main-
tenance on the park and its facilities,
and then we lead guided walks with
a geological theme twice a day, every
day—in Icelandic at 11 in the morning
and then in English at five in the after-
noon.”
“This is my second summer here,”
she continues,” I was here in the sum-
mer of 2001 and I’ve returned now,
ten years later. I’ve been here all sum-
mer and I can tell you, it doesn’t get
boring—even though we’ll often get
the same question a thousand times a
day. July brings 3500–4000 visitors to
the park each day, and usually 2000 of
those stop by at the information centre.
Most of those wish to know how to get
to Svartifoss, and giving directions to
there every two minutes is not without
its charm, actually. It’s no wonder they
want to go there, though it is a fascinat-
ing waterfall surrounded by basalt col-
umns, and the walk there leads you by
two other waterfalls, Magnúsarfoss and
Hundafoss, that are also very beautiful.
I definitely understand the appeal and
am happy to facilitate people visiting
it.”
While removed from friends and
family, Auður says the life of a park
ranger is far from tedious. “Honestly, I
love it here. The best bit is probably just
being so close at all times to nature’s
magnificent powers. All these contrasts
and opposites: breathtaking beauty that
goes with destructive and dangerous
forces. Just being here, the land formed
by glaciers and fire and is still in forma-
tion. I try and go on short trips or hikes
every day if I can. Every day, I wake up
excited.”
Receding glaciers
-Has a lot changed in the ten years since
you last were park ranger in Skaftafell?
“Yes, I couldn’t believe how much the
glaciers, Svínafellsjökull, Skaftafell-
sjökull and Skeiðarárjökull, have re-
ceded in that decade. They are receding
at an astronomical speed—Skeiðarár-
jökull has all but disappeared, and
Skaftafellsjökull has receded a few hun-
dred metres in those ten years and left
a huge lagoon that wasn’t there the last
time I was. It’s exciting really, and noth-
ing to fear, as these glaciers have grown
and shrunk through the ages. It’s the
forces of nature. We are seeing new
land being formed, and one can’t help
but be excited about what the receding
glaciers will reveal.
-Has the amount of visitors in-
creased a lot? Are you worried that
these large groups of travellers might
damage the local environment?
“We have a lot more tourists now than
ten years ago, that’s for sure! But as
long as everyone makes sure to fol-
low our rules and guidelines, such as
staying in the marked path and mak-
ing sure they don’t litter, we should be
good. We are constantly working on im-
proving and fixing the paths here, and
are fortunate enough to enjoy the assis-
tance of groups of volunteers that come
from all over the world to help preserve
the region.”
Auður was at this instance accosted
by a woman who wanted to buy stamps
to Europe before hiking to Svartifoss,
so we left her to her devices. Be sure to
say hi if you drop by. And ask her how
to get to Svartifoss.
www.vjp.is
Tel: +354 4708300
skaftafell@vjp.is
Black Ice, Black Falls, Hyper-Colourful Experience
If You Worship Nature, Svartifoss Will Be Your Altar
Skaftafell is still an awesome place to visit
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Park ranger Auður Hafstað jokingly
told us that the biggest part of her
job is telling tourists how to get to
the Svartifoss waterfall (“Black
Falls”). We all shared a good laugh
at that, but when we reached Svar-
tifoss after a short hike (as per
Auður’s instructions) we instantly
understood why all these travellers
were so excited to get there.
Describing Svartifoss and its surround-
ings as ‘a natural cathedral’ is likely a
travel writing cliché by now, but that
doesn’t make the description any less
true. After a 45-minute hike from the
information centre that takes you past
two waterfalls (Hundafoss and Mag-
núsarfoss—those are already sort of
stunning), one reaches Svartifoss and
the only suitable reaction is to let ones
jaw drop and gasp at the wonder of it all.
Enveloped by thick, black, hexago-
nal basalt columns, the waterfall itself
spews forth water from 12 metres up
high right at the centre of the stacked
basalt columns, that align in sort of a
dome or semicircle. One is constantly
faced with the question: do I look at the
majestic falling water or do I look at the
majestic basalt columns and their for-
mation. It’s like being religious must
feel.
One can stand there a long time,
looking and listening.
And one will probably go there
again, later.
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