Icelandic Adventure: Day 2- Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss

As I mentioned in my first post, we were staying on a horse farm called Hestheimar, located 10 minutes drive from Hella, for three nights. Although we were disappointed not to see the Northern Lights on our first night here, these feeling soon evaporated when we looked outside for the first time and got a glimpse of where we were (we had arrived in the dark). Hestheimar was picturesque and there was something so peaceful about the place. Soon this turned into excitement as we watched some of the Icelandic horses being herded down to the stables to be fed. I have a deep love for horses, having ridden since the age of 5 and owning my own horse for 10 years. When my horse sadly passed away in 2010, I was heartbroken and I have had little to do with horses since. It was nice to have horses back in my life for a few days and I have always admired and had a soft spot for the Icelandic breed.

Hestheimar was a great base being close to many places of interest. I was very interested to go and see the waterfall Skógafoss as it is one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland with a drop of 200 feet. We set off after the sun rose, which was around 11am, on Route 1 towards Skógar. It was another beautiful drive as we passed lots of horse farms and even volcanoes! En-route we noticed another waterfall and pulled off the road to go and explore. It turned out to be Seljalandsfoss. It was incredibly icy on getting out the car and although there was a walkway that went behind the waterfall it was absolutely treacherous and there was no way it was passable. The stairs were inches thick with ice. I actually struggled to get as far up the path as I did to take the below photo. I don’t know how I managed to stay upright! I was loving taking photos. There is something about being behind the lense that makes me happy. My husband had bought me my own DSLR for Christmas and I was thoroughly enjoying using it.

Back on the road we were soon caught up in an Icelandic traffic jam! I’m pretty sure those horses were not meant to be on the road as the police soon turned up.

We passed by Eyjafjallajökull, which is the volcano that erupted in 2010 and made worldwide news due to the chaos that ensued. There is a visitor centre located just off the road, which tells the story of the 2010 eruption and the impact it had on a local farm, but it is only open in the summer months so we kept on driving. When we arrived at Skógafoss I was not disappointed.

See that viewing platform up at the top right of the photograph? I managed to make my way up there! I was very chuffed with myself but my goodness was it tough! Halfway up my legs started to shake, not from vertigo but pure exertion. The climb was also made interesting by the partially icy stairs. I am sure if you had slipped you would have been a goner. There was only a wooden railing on one side of the steps and there were gaps between each railing where you had nothing to hold onto. A bit scary but it made the climb seem adventurous! I was fit to collapse when I reached the top but the view from there was a good pick-me-up. It was amazing! I had a good laugh as well because the platform was made from metal grating so you could see straight down. A woman came strutting across, in awe of the waterfall, and she then just so happened to look down. “OH SHIT” she yelled as she ran to cling onto the railings at the side. She was all right and had a laugh at herself too. Not one for heights I guess!!

I was pretty tired after a day of exploring waterfalls. We headed back to Hestheimar to chill out for the rest of the evening. There is a hot tub there so we decided we had to make the most it. Much hilarity resulted from this! The hot tub was located behind reception and due to all the snow and ice we had to drive down in the car to get to it. It was surrounded by snow and given it was probably around -3 to -5 degrees Celsius we had to strip off in the car, leaving only our swimming costumes and shoes on, and run as quickly as possible to get into the warm tub. Getting in was rather brutal brrrrrr! Being in the hot tub was lovely though and because I had my hat on the cold wasn’t really an issue. It even started to snow when we were in there. Getting out wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I literally threw my shoes on, wrapped my towel around me and ran for the car. After all the events of the day I actually had a good night’s sleep that evening.