AMERÍSKUR: THE BOOK

Two years late, but we finally followed through with our grand plan to publish a photo book from our time spent in Iceland. This book was really made for our own personal coffee table, but we decided to make it public in case someone might want a copy for themselves. It has very little text, nice large photos, and a glossary and map in back for explanation and location reference. 123 pages, full color, hard cover. A much nicer way to browse photos than our Flickr page.



Direct link: www.lulu.com/product/lulustudio-photo-book/amer%c3%8dskur-life-and-landscape-in-iceland-2008-2009-2011/16670925

Tune In Next Time...

Åsbyrgi: Capital of the Hidden People

As Icelandic legend has it (as told to us by our friend in the North, Ólafía) the Hidden People are descendants of Adam and Eve, just like the rest of us. But, on one fateful day, God dropped in for an unexpected visit and Eve, having only half of her children properly cleaned for the Almighty's presence, told the dirty ones to hide. God, being the all-seeing and all-knowing entity was not fooled by such earthly tactics, and thus banished the dirty (hidden) children to a hidden life. They would forever on live in a world mirroring ours, where up is down, right is left, and seen is unseen.

It is said that the Hidden People only show themselves in times of dire need (or to lend a helping hand to humans in moments of desperation), that they are like us but more beautiful and well-to-do, and that their capital city is in Ásbyrgi. We took it upon ourselves to investigate and present to you the following proof:



cliff dwellings


forested valley


no shortage of places to hide


dense forest


centrally located water source


waterfall falling UP! (also note bird flying SIDEWAYS!)


a hidden person?!


an entrance?


the final proof: A DANCE FLOOR

Iceland (Revisited)

We had the opportunity to make a short visit back to Iceland to see some of our favorite pals, sights, and festivities.... and incidentally just in time for a fresh volcanic eruption and the coldest Spring Iceland has experienced in some 40 years. But, as they like to say in Iceland: "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." Words to live by.


Reykjavík as seen from Hallgrímskirkja


inside Grjótagjá


the waffle wagon


midnight sun explosion

Bless Bless og Sjáumst!

Above photo features: Lopapeysas (Icelandic sweaters), Icelandic protest t-shirt, puffin t-shirt, strawberry Skyr, Þorskalýsi (cod liver oil), and midnight-sun-appropriate eye-wear

This is our final post. We leave the island today. Goodbye to all our wonderful friends that we've met along the way. We will miss you and we will miss Iceland.

Það var mjög skemtilegt að vera hér!!!

Sincerely,
Jess og Ben

Hornstrandir: Bugs, Blisters, and More Bugs Oh My!

our route into the Icelandic wilderness

We heard wondrous things about Hornstrandir, the deserted northernmost part of the West Fjords (now a nature preserve) so we decided to embark on a two-day adventure into the Icelandic wilderness. As there are no roads in Hornstrandir, this involved driving to Ísafjörður, taking a Sunday ferry to Hesteyri (an old settlement in Hesteyrarfjörður, on the south coast of Hornstrandir), spending two days hiking and camping, and getting picked up by the next ferry on Tuesday morning at Sæból (an old settlement in Aðalvík bay on the east coast).

Day 1:


We arrived at Hesteyri at approximately 3pm and began our hike to Aðalvík. The hike was to take around 6 hours and as we had beautiful, clear blue skies and a full 24-hours of daylight (it was after all the summer solstice), we began right away and expected to take our time getting there. About one hour into the hike Jess was the proud new owner to two mega blisters, one on each heel.

Nonetheless, we kept a move on. Though in discomfort, the hike was still manageable, and hiking barefoot through glacial streams seemed to dull the pain somewhat.


It wasn't until around 4 hours into the trek, as we were descending into the valley leading to Aðalvík, when the fun really began. Enter GNATS!

These little buggers made the rest of our hike unbearable. They swarmed in our faces, crawling in our eyes, up our noses, and inside our ears. We thought at first we had just entered a gnat zone and that it would soon be over. Little did we know the next two days would be experienced through a filter of gnat bodies.

So after hiking down the mountain, through a waterfall, and body-sliding down an ice cliff, we found ourselves in a marshland - AKA Gnat Central. We booked it as fast as we could toward the coast, but could hardly open our eyes to see where we were going. And while our destination was in sight, getting there was a long and tedious experience. By the time we made it to the coast Jess could hardly walk anymore so we made camp on the beach thinking that the ocean breeze might deter our pesky followers. No such luck. From this point onward we were tent-bound.

We did manage to get out of our tent around 00:00 to witness the midnight sun.



Day 2:
We were fortunate to have a light breeze in the morning so we could actually have breakfast in peace. But soon after the rain began, so we spent most of the late morning in the tent. By around 2pm the rain had stopped and we decided to start a day hike up the coast to Skáladalur in search of the much talked about Arctic Foxes (and offspring) of Hornstrandir.

fox den?

From the moment we left the tent and continuously for the next three hours our faces became gnat hotels. We made it as far as we could until the trail seemed to end at a bird cliff inhabited by Great Black-backed Gulls. Then the storm clouds rolled in and we retreated toward our beachfront property. We spent the rest of the evening in the tent, only venturing out to face the gnats to cook dinner and relieve ourselves in the wilderness (just making sure to stay out of view of the summer houses).

Day 3:
The ferry was to pick us up at 10am from Sæból, so we postponed taking down the tent (our one and only shelter from the gnats) until the last possible moment. We made our way to the beach around 9:30 (as instructed) and waited in a swarm of gnats until 10:45, when we were finally able to board the escape vessel. As we left the beach I said "take us away from the flies!" and an Icelandic woman who has been staying at a summer house in Sæból looked at me quizzically and said "and you did not have a bug mask?" I guess we should have been more specific when we called ahead to the tourist office to ask about hiking conditions and wildlife in the region. In true Icelandic fashion, since we didn't ask specifically about face-burrowing gnats, they didn't feel the need to tell us to bring our bug masks. Live and learn…

But hey, check out all the Arctic Foxes we saw!!

BEWARE THE ARCTIC TERN!

While revisiting Seyðisfjörður in the East Fjörds, we ventured out to Skálanes - a bird sanctuary on the tip of the peninsula. The area is closed most of the year, and is only accessible by foot or jeep in the summer as there are three rivers one must cross. This area is also the nesting grounds of billions of Arctic Terns which act as a security system for the lone guest house. We had the unfortunate privilege of experiencing the famed Arctic Tern's aggressive behavior.


Here are the Arctic Terns between us and the guest house.


They seem to be aware of our presence and are letting out their shrill cry to warn the others.


Jess is panting after running for dear life through the nesting grounds, and the others are still coming. Watch as the birds swoop down to attack the heads of predators, Dan and Erla.