I spent 3 days in southern Iceland in October 2010. Our first stop was the Blue Lagoon spa, southwest of Rejkavik. After that, we drove east along the coast and spent the night in the small coastal town of Vik. We continued on past the volcanic deposits from recent Eyjafjallakull volcanic eruptions (just 6 months earlier) and to Jokulsarlon river delta.
Blue Lagoon geothermal pool spa. In the background you can see the Svartssengi geothermal power station. The spa waters are temperature-controlled industrial waters released from the geothermal plant. Swimming in the waters was a fantastic way to get over jet lag.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_(geothermal_spa)
The hut in the village of Vik where we stayed. Layers of basalt flows form the rocky backdrop.
Extensive road damage was left behind from Eyjafjallakull's volcanic eruption 6 months before our visit. This photo shows a stream cutting a channel through the recently deposits volcanic sand and silt. Road crews with backhoes and excavators were still removing volcanic debris from main roads on the day of our visit Oct 20. Some amazing photos of the Eyjafjallakull April 2010 eruptions are featured in this Boston Globe article
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html.
The meltwater bay at Jokulsarlon. If the image looks familiar, it's because this locale - where a glacier sends icebergs downriver out to the Atlantic - has been featured everywhere from a James Bond movie to the Amazing Race reality television show.
Kai at Jokulsarlon.
Beached icebergs on black basalt sands at the Jokulsarlon delta, where the lucky icebergs are released to the wild Atlantic.
Ewes east of Jokulsarlon.
