Iceland review - 2013, Qupperneq 30

28 ICELAND REVIEW
the road to Höfn, a 1,690-person har-
bor town by the fjord Hornafjörður,
is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of
the wild horned animals rest peacefully on
withered pastures, grace next to sheep and
horses and bounce along the road. Reindeer
are a common sight in the lowlands of
Southeast Iceland in winter and spring but
when summer arrives and the hunting season
begins they move on to the eastern highlands.
Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and
the region’s biggest attraction, comes into
view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers
flow down from the mountains on which the
bright white icecap rests.
Lure of LoBSter
Caught off the country’s southern shore and
served at five different restaurants in town,
lobster, or langoustine, is quickly becom-
ing one of Höfn’s major attractions. “We’ve
experienced a significant increase in off-sea-
son tourists,” says Ingólfur Einarsson, master
chef and owner of restaurant Kaffi Hornið.
He serves a variety of lobster dishes, includ-
ing lobster pizza, with the classic lobster
tails with garlic and butter being the most
popular. “Some of our guests don’t even look
at the menu, just order: ‘lobster for five,’”
says Ingólfur. Another popular choice is the
reindeer burger. Ingólfur hunts reindeer him-
self and has the meat processed at the local
slaughterhouse.
Tourism is growing in Höfn but fishing is
by far its largest industry. Skinney-Þinganes,
the seventh largest fisheries company in the
country with a turnover of more than ISK
10 billion (USD 82 million), according to the
latest figures, is the town’s biggest employer
with a staff of 110 to 130 on land and a crew
of 90 on seven fishing vessels. In addition to
lobster, the company’s most valuable prod-
uct per kilo, Skinney-Þinganes catches and
processes cod, haddock, capelin, mackerel
and herring, the vast majority of which is
exported.
HArBor toWN
Höfn means harbor, and the Hornafjörður
harbor is considered among the best in the
country, even though it’s hard to navigate
due to narrow channels with strong currents
and shallows that become impassable in bad
weather. The harbor was in fact the reason
for settlement starting at Höfn in 1897 when
merchant Ottó Tulinius moved his house
and other buildings there from Papós in Lón,
further to the south. When coastal sailing
by steamship began in East Iceland, Papós
proved too shallow.
Höfn remained a small village until the
1920s when fishermen from the East Fjords
Iceland Review took a trip to Höfn, the largest town in Southeast
Iceland and self-proclaimed ‘Lobster Capital of the North,’ to learn
about the community’s local attractions and delicacies.
Harboring tHe Homegrown
BY Eygló Svala arnarSdóTTir
PHOTOS BY PÁll STEfÁnSSon
Höfn means harbor and its harbor is considered among the best in the country.