Karen and I spent our first two weeks in Iceland volunteering at Husadalur camp in a national park called Thorsmork. The area is wedged between two glaciers, Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull and is one of the most dramatically beautiful places in Iceland. It's impossible to get to without a serious high clearance 4-wheel drive and but the bus company, Reykjavik Excursions has specially designed monster buses to handle the many river crossings and bumpy ride through the riverbed which is the "road". While at Thorsmork we worked with 15 other delightful volunteers from ten countries. We played a lot of goofy games, worked hard, ate alot of good food and sloshed through the wet and windy weather which didn't let up for two weeks.
This was Karen and my first day...so we spent it soaking in the hot spot, totally unaware that this would be only chance to see the views...at least some folks went out and got some pictures!
This is where we started our hike...in the back of a monstrous truck that took us across the river a few times before leaving us to cross it four more times on our own.
These two were always ready to ham it up and always ready with a smile and a hand too, very sweet folks
It could have been called "rock detail" camp. We moved more rocks then I care to remember
This was not a happy moment. We had a pack of hungry Aussies banging their knives on the table and the lamb on the grill just as pink as the day it was...well, nevermind.
For our contribution to the international dinner, Karen gets help from Ayumi making all american chocolate chip cookies
The horses are pure descendants from the ones brought by the Viking 1100 years ago. They have shorter legs and longer hair and fiery attitudes.
The Japanese women got us started making the peace sign and now it becomes our sign for all photos shot at Thorsmork...we can't stop!
Worried that the river would be too high by the next day and not being able to miss their flights, we sadly say goodbye to a couple great people...boo-hoos all around.
Oddur and Helga pose in front of a map of Iceland...they were great hosts and mostly wanted us to play and have fun at Thorsmork. Helga is really a fairy queen, so it's best to get on her good side...and stay there!
Crossing river on our way out was tricky. The water was higher then anyone remembered it ever being in September and our driver had to stop and try different approaches. It was nerve wracking...but each time he made it, we clapped and cheered.
It's a Icelandic specialty and no-one goes home without first sampling some.
Carol is a veggie so she only has to try a shot of brennivin schnapps made from potatoes and flavored with caraway
These are just the funny pictures...I'm not including any from people who seemed to enjoy rotten shark...Stina and T'bo ate almost a whole jar themselves! So you really must try it for yourself and not just take my expression as proof that you won't like it.
If you're not coming to Iceland anytime soon, you can just catch yourself a shark and bury in the sand for up to six months, let it decompose properly (so that it can be left on the table without fear of even carrion birds touching it) then just dig it up and enjoy!
