Iceland Day 4 Part 2
The ice cave was amazing, but day 4 wasn't even close to done yet. There's lots to do around Vík that we weren't going to miss.
Iceland's coastline is full of black sand beaches (volcanic rock turned sand). One of the most famous is Reynisfjara, which was very near to us when we stayed in Vík.
One of the most famous features of the beach are its enormous basalt columns.
We walked along Reynisfjara beach for a while, and there are so many awesome things to see. This giant basalt cavern, for one.
There were rocks to climb.
And more caverns.
Me and Jen, on a black sand beach, in Iceland.
After some time on the beach, we went up to Dyrhólaey lighthouse, which gives fantastic views of the coastline.
But better than landscape views, there were a bunch of puffins next to Dyrhólaey lighthouse. Thanks to Molly for finding them. They were even closer to us than they were on Vestmannaeyjar! We stayed for a while watching and photographing them.
I spent a lot of time photographing puffins. In fact, a fellow tourist who happened to also be from Maryland gave me his email address so I could send him my pictures. But eventually I pulled myself away from photographing the puffins, and we headed to another waterfall.
Skógafoss is another waterfall that's easy to get to, and magnificent. I love that Molly's totally up for getting up close and drenched.
Near Skógafoss, there is another hidden waterfall if you know where to go. Getting there involved climbing this ladder over a barbed wire fence. You really feel like you're trespassing, but our guidebook said this was OK so we went with it.
After hopping the fence and a short 20 minute hike, we arrived at Kvernufoss. You can go behind this one too, as you can see from Leah, Molly, and Jen's bright colored jackets.
For dinner that night, we went to the Black Crust Pizzeria in Vík, which has, you guessed it, pizza with black crust. Very on-theme for all the volcanic rock and ash around. It was absolutely delicious - some of the best pizza I've ever had.
Table of contents for the whole trip
- Day 1 - Reykjavik and Lava tunnel
- Day 2 - Golden Circle
- Day 3 - Vestmannaeyjar
- Day 4 Part 1 - Ice Cave
- Day 4 Part 2 - Black sand beach, puffins, and waterfalls
- Day 5 - Glacier hike
- Day 6 - Glacier Lagoon
- Day 7 Part 1 - Blue Lagoon
- Day 7 Part 2 - An active volcano
