Date: 28th Feb 2023

Jokulsarlon

This morning we visited the world famous Jokulsarlon, known as the Glacier Lagoon. Unfortunately it was a bit disappointing as there were very few glaciers in the lagoon and when we visited the so called diamond beach there were no ice bergs on the beach at all – a huge contrast to our previous visit 3 years before. Maybe we were just unlucky. At least there were a couple of icebergs in the distance to photograph which were backed by mist to give an atmospheric image.

We walked along the southern edge of the lagoon and came across numerous seals lying on the frozen lagoon. Although I did not have a vey long focal length lens, they were close enough for a decent picture after cropping.

On the way back to the car, it began to rain and we got rather soaked, so it was a quick drive back to the hotel to get changed, because in the afternoon we had booked a glacier cave visit. I have seen many pictures of ice caves in Iceland and they look spectacular. Perhaps I was expecting too much, but the caves we visited were not particularly large. The inside however had amazing patterns and a deep rich blue colour, so definitely worth a visit.

By the time we finished our ice cave tour, the clouds began to clear away, and just like that the the weather changed. Our first week in Iceland had been mostly overcast conditions with barely a glimpse of the sun. From this point on, for the next week, we had mostly sunny conditions. On the walk back to our glacier bus, we came across this vehicle adapted for the rough conditions, which might make a good advert for an exploration tour.

Our glacier tour began and ended at Jokulsarlon, so with clearer skies, we took a few photos at the lagoon in the fading evening light before returning to our hotel.

That evening at our hotel there was a good forecast for the aurora so we requested a call if the aurora appeared. I expected a call in the middle of the night, but instead it came just before we were due to go to dinner. We popped outside for a brief view and although we could see the aurora they were not particularly bright, so dinner won out! After eating, the aurora display was still going on, so we drove just a little way down the track to get away from the main hotel lights and managed a couple of photos before the aurora faded.