Rebecca White
Gal_From _Gallifrey
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2018
Before I get to the change that will most likely be made to the itinerary for next year, I would just like to start off by saying holy crap this trip was amazing!!! I love outdoors-y trips, and this one takes the cake. We were hiking, rafting, swimming, and boating from sunrise til sunset. Our guides, Drew and Julli, were the best adventure guides I've had yet, and this was my 12th ABD trip. However, this trip also has the most bus time of any adventure: over 28 hours are spent on the bus. And with that being said, let me tell you what happened on day 3 of our itinerary that I hope will be the new official itinerary for the trip in the coming years:
I was on the 8/4-8/11 tour. Day three typically starts out with an early morning as this is the day of the Skaftafell glacier hike. At breakfast our guides told us there was severe flooding in that area and the road had been blown out to make room for the water. We would not be going to the glacier hike or boat cruise that day. But, in true Disney fashion our guides had several back up plans. After seeing Seljalandsfoss we made an extra stop at Skogafoss, which was even more brilliant than Seljalandsfoss. You could hike up to the top of the falls and stand on a platform out over the precipice. Lunch at Vik was the same, located in a shopping mall right on the black sand beaches. Our guide Julli said we would not be able to see any puffins at this time of year as they have left the island for their winter nesting grounds, but at the second of the unplanned stops we came across a puffin roosting cliff! This black sand beach was at the southern most tip of Iceland, and there were hundreds of puffins flying around the mossy basalt columns and out in the ocean. Our guides had to drag us away from the beach as we didn't want to go! But they had saved the best for last: Julli called in a few favors and got us a glacier hike on Solheimajokull glacier, not 45 minutes from our hotel in Vik. The tour company Troll Expeditions came in on their day off to guide us up the glacier. According to Drew, this hike was actually more scenic and more rugged than the Skaftafell glacier as we actually hike up the glacier, not simply on it. Dinner that night was at the hotel in Vik, with drinks on the mouse!! Everyone, including our guides, agreed that this new itinerary was far better than the original with 5 less hours on the bus and a chance to see the puffins, and Drew said he would suggest changing the set itinerary to match what we had done today.
I realize that, since I did not get to do the Skaftafell glacier hike, I can't really make a good comparison between the two, but arriving at our hotel at 6:30 pm instead of 11:30 pm makes up the difference. I have many puffin pictures, but I just returned last night from the Denmark Short Escape ABD and haven't even unpacked yet Let me know what you all think!
I was on the 8/4-8/11 tour. Day three typically starts out with an early morning as this is the day of the Skaftafell glacier hike. At breakfast our guides told us there was severe flooding in that area and the road had been blown out to make room for the water. We would not be going to the glacier hike or boat cruise that day. But, in true Disney fashion our guides had several back up plans. After seeing Seljalandsfoss we made an extra stop at Skogafoss, which was even more brilliant than Seljalandsfoss. You could hike up to the top of the falls and stand on a platform out over the precipice. Lunch at Vik was the same, located in a shopping mall right on the black sand beaches. Our guide Julli said we would not be able to see any puffins at this time of year as they have left the island for their winter nesting grounds, but at the second of the unplanned stops we came across a puffin roosting cliff! This black sand beach was at the southern most tip of Iceland, and there were hundreds of puffins flying around the mossy basalt columns and out in the ocean. Our guides had to drag us away from the beach as we didn't want to go! But they had saved the best for last: Julli called in a few favors and got us a glacier hike on Solheimajokull glacier, not 45 minutes from our hotel in Vik. The tour company Troll Expeditions came in on their day off to guide us up the glacier. According to Drew, this hike was actually more scenic and more rugged than the Skaftafell glacier as we actually hike up the glacier, not simply on it. Dinner that night was at the hotel in Vik, with drinks on the mouse!! Everyone, including our guides, agreed that this new itinerary was far better than the original with 5 less hours on the bus and a chance to see the puffins, and Drew said he would suggest changing the set itinerary to match what we had done today.
I realize that, since I did not get to do the Skaftafell glacier hike, I can't really make a good comparison between the two, but arriving at our hotel at 6:30 pm instead of 11:30 pm makes up the difference. I have many puffin pictures, but I just returned last night from the Denmark Short Escape ABD and haven't even unpacked yet Let me know what you all think!