It’s worth noting that the BL is not a natural hot springs. In fact, it’s essentially wastewater left over from the geothermal plant next door. Superheated water from a nearby lava flow is used to power turbines for energy. The water is then shuttled over to the lagoon where they then bill its super rich mineral waters as highly restorative and beneficial.

In writing this, I’m making it sound less appealing that it is. It’s a cool experience and most of the world seems to agree: the BL is currently halfway through a giant expansion phase and will soon open a conference center and large hotel. Hence the cranes in the background of our photos.

Unfortunately we figured out 12 hours before our arrival that kids under two years old aren’t allowed. This must be a very recent change as I’d read blog posts about folks taking their 8-month old out for a BL excursion.

And we’d already bought non-refundable (and expensive!) BL tickets for the adults. Oops. So we guiltily enhanced Emma’s age by a few months. Sorry, Iceland, we promise we’re normally very polite, law-abiding travelers.

Some people spend all day at the lagoon, as there is a restaurant, bar, and massage available onsite. For 45 Euros, you need to get your money’s worth, right? Bring your own towels and slather the provided conditioner into your hair before jumping in the pool. Even so, my hair was a brittle mess for four days after our BL outing. The bright orange swim wings are provided onsite and are required for young children. Bring your own swim diapers.

 

We showered off, hit up a grocery store, did a quick driving tour through Iceland’s main capital of Reykjavik, and then pointed our car southward.

We were headed three hours south to a tiny cottage on a farm, that was situated between two of Iceland’s ice caps: Mýrdalsjökull and Eyjafjallajökull. Please don’t ask me to pronounce those. I failed miserably at pronouncing anything in Iceland.

 

It should be noted that Iceland has a population of just over 300,000 (about the size of Anchorage Alaska), making it the most sparely populated country in Europe. About 70% of the population lives in the capital, Reykjavik.

Frankly, in Southern Iceland, there are more sheep than people. It must have been a tough existence being a sheep in Iceland. They have miserably cold winters and our time in the south was punctuated by drenching showers alternating with brief sunny spells.

 

Here was our cute little cottage: Giljaland. The owners were lovely and the scenery was gorgeous. We booked our cottage late, by which point they were sold out of the larger rooms. Our’s was intended for only three people but we begged and they kindly let us squeeze a crib under the bunk bed. A word of advice: book southern Iceland as far in advance as possible. There simply aren’t many accommodations and things fill up quickly.

We spent our first two days exploring Vatnajökull National Park, which included some glacier viewing and a hike up to The Black Waterfall.

It should be worth noting that summer in Iceland still means warm clothes (and rain gear) for the littles. And the adults.

That’s a tiny portion of the massive ice cap that covers this region.

 

I should say that my camera, my beloved Nikon, is dying a slow death. Or perhaps my lenses are. I’ve had it since 2009 and the telephoto, in particular, has had a rough life. I distinctly remember it hitting the deck of an Alaska cruise ship and my sister-in-law saving it with an awesome soccer manuver as it rolled its way to the edge of the ship. So the fall (not the save) probably didn’t help its focusing ability. Anyway, that is the long way of saying that you’ll notice that many of these pictures are a bit soft.

I’m not quite sure what to replace it with; at this point in my life I’m not prepared to lug around twenty pounds of camera gear, in addition to two whirling dervishes (aka kids). Something light, with a single lens, the ability to do a manual setting, automatic focus, and a lens ranging from 18-300 (or 400!) would be my absolute ideal. Waterproof would also be nice, if we’re asking asking for the moon. 😉 Any suggestions?

Following our trip to Skaftafell, we kept heading south/east to Jokulsarlon Lagoon. This small body of water is a relatively recent landscape feature, as it formed 20 years ago due to an increase in the glacier melting rate. As the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier recedes, it drops chunks of ice into the lagoon, which then have a five hundred foot journey on Iceland’s shortest river before meeting the sea.

There are seals and birds to make things extra interesting for the wee ones.

The beach where the icebergs do most of their melting is black and gritty. It looks other-worldly. How often do you get to ‘drink’ 500 year old water?

 

We were awash in glaciers.

My favorite part of the day was our hike up to Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. It was late (8pm) and there wasn’t a single other person on the entire hike. And one of the great things about all of these attractions? They’re all free. Even the national park. There are plans afoot to change this policy but for now everything is well-priced. Well, except food, alcohol, restaurants, hotels, and rental cars. 🙂

Here’s a quiz for you: How much does a six pack of beer cost? (Answer at the bottom)

The hike it short (about 0.5 mile each way) and there aren’t any guard rails (so keep a firm hand on the kids) but it is peaceful and stunningly gorgeous.

Southern Iceland was by far our favorite part of our Icelandic tour.

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