Isafjordur – again

The day was warm and sunny and the waters as we left town on the harbor were like a mirror. Our guide, Heidi, said it was very rare for the water to be that still. This is probably a repeat, but Isafjordur has a population of about 2,700 and is considered the capital of the west. This part of Iceland is the oldest and has no geothermal activity. It is full of lakes, fjords and waterfalls. There are three legs to the economy here: fishing, aluminum and tourism.

There is a small airport on the edge of the fjord and pilots need a special permit to land here because of the difficult approach. There are many fences and barriers on the mountains to protect the town and inhabitants from avalanches and rock slides. The hillsides were full of summer houses, but strangely about 70% were owned by the people of the town. The reason is that they are up high and are cooler in the summer.

We found out that the people of this area are pretty wealthy. The reason is that when the company, Kerecis (remember they developed using fish skin for healing of burns) was started the people of Isafjordur were given the opportunity to become shareholders. Many years later the company was sold for 1.4 billion and that made many people very rich. A really good story.

We went through a 1 lane tunnel which was 6 kilometers long and had a branch in the middle where you could exit to get to a 3rd town. There are lots of rules about driving in a 1 lane tunnel. When it was built they found an underground waterfall that supplies several towns with water.

The oldest bookstore in Iceland is one of these small towns and when you come in to buy a book it is sold by weight. The bookstore was established in 1914. The reason the books are sold by weight is because in the old days, it cost so much to bring in a book, that the best way to price it was by weight and they have not changed in over 100 years.

Our guide explained why Icelandic lamb is the best- it grazes all summer eating all kinds of grasses and wild herbs – sort of premarinating. We also learned about the traditional Icelandic sweaters and what the different colors and designs mean.

Our first stop was at a farm called Gemufall. We had drinks and traditional marriage cake. Then a young man took us to meet the horses, dogs, chicken, turkeys and of course the new lambs and their mothers. He had a fabulous sense of humor and told us very vivid stories about life on this farm.

Then we were on the road again, through another 5.6 kilometer tunnel, but a regular one with 2 way traffic. Our ultimate destination was the Dynjandi Waterfall. It was amazing and not just 1 waterfall but a series of over 10. The biggest part at the top looks like a bridal veil or maybe a wedding cake. We climbed up to get closer looks. Please Google it for more professional photos, we could not get all of it with our limited photographic abilities.

It was a wonderful day; sunny, cool and fun experiences.

We sail tonight towards Greenland.