Background
On arrival at the military base of Keflavik we met Karl who took us to hostel accommodation close to the harbour of Hafnafjordur on the outskirts of Reykjavik. Nearly 75% of Iceland's 250,000+ population live in this modern capital city or within 30 minutes travelling distance. Our 12 day anti-clockwise trip around Iceland required a sturdy minibus given the nature of the terrain on the track crossing the central Icelandic desert. As well as visits to fishing harbours and some sites of historic interest we had a number of days walking into remote locations and climbing peaks such as Kristinatindar. A particular highlight was the tractor ride to the 'island' of Ingolshofdi, surrounded by black sand, site of one of the earliest recorded landings on Iceland and home to impressive colonies of birds. Karl encouraged us to make full use of the open-air hot pools ... so isolated that all inhibitions are forgotten! For much of the time we appeared to be travelling through remote wildernesses with only isolated settlements. As we were there for the last two weeks of June we enjoyed 24-hour daylight (watching the sun both set and rise on the Arctic Ocean) and even midnight rainbows. Go to the other sets of pictures for more detailed descriptions and images of the flora and fauna we saw and the striking geology of the island. To see the photos click here.