Welcome back to yet another weekly report. We start today like in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie: with an earthquake. A magnitude 3 quake struck at Mýrdalsjökull on Sunday, just before 5 a.m. According to Kristín Jónsdóttir the earthquake hazards coordinator, earthquakes are normal at this time of the year there, as there are cavities in the glacier where a lot of water accumulates. The specialist cautions that this process can lead to landslides, similar to the one in July 1999 in Sólheimajökull.
Suzuki Jimmy in the river. On Sunday evening, two tourists tried to cross the Steinsholtsá river but despite the good off-road characteristics of their vehicle, it failed to clear the river crossing. After calling for help, a tractor from one of the nearby farms arrived and towed the unfortunate Suzuki ashore with its frozen passengers. As in this old saying: the more off-road the car, the further the tractor has to go.
Jokes aside, getting stuck in cold water that overflows through the cabin can be a health-threatening situation. Moreover, no insurance company in Iceland covers river crossing and flooding an engine. Our advice is to play it safe and not to cross rivers that you would not dare to cross on your own feet.
Iceland’s largest guestbook. If you are going to the south of Iceland (e.g. to Vik) it is worth visiting the town of Hella on the way. Recently, right next to the Caves of Hella, you can sign into a huge guestbook. Tourists most often sign their names, dates of birth, and country of origin, some also try to paint the shapes observed in the caves. In a way, this project is an attempt to encourage visitors to present their “calligraphic and art talents” before, instead of inside the cave, where it is prohibited.
USland? According to the Icelandic Tourist Board, 30.3% of the 176,316 tourists who visited Iceland in June were Americans. The second most visiting nation was Germany. These figures only apply to people traveling with airlines, if we added to them the number of tourists arriving on passenger ships, the advantage for Americans would be even greater, howdy.
It always seems impossible until it’s done(Nelson Mandela). After Italian athlete Andrea Devincezi lost his leg in a motorcycle accident in 1990, his career seemed to be over. However, Andrea not only remained active but began to pose even greater challenges for himself. He has many amazing achievements to his credit, and in the next 24 days, the athlete will cycle a route around Iceland, over 2,200 kilometers! If you look for inspiration follow Andrea on his official fan page. By the way, the Nelson Mandela quote, with which we started this paragraph, was published there early morning today.
A fishing boat in trouble. Two people were rescued from a sinking fishing boat off the coast of Breiðafjörður in the west of Iceland on Thursday morning. Only 6 minutes passed from the moment the emergency call was answered until the fishermen were pulled out of the sinking boat. The reaction time proved crucial as the boat rolled over as soon as the men left the deck. Bravo rescuers!
Reykjavik’s night city buses are back. Finally, after a two-year break, you will be able to return from a late walk around the downtown much cheaper than by taxi. The bus will run on weekend nights at least until September. The cost of a single trip is 1000ISK.
Áfram Ísland! The Iceland national team competes for the European Women’s Football Championship in England. In the two matches played so far, the Icelanders have twice tied(Belgium, Italy). In the next match, Iceland will face France – one of the favorites of the championship.
Any Japanese readers here? The Alaska-based company is laying a giant submarine cable from Japan to Ireland that will connect directly to Iceland. This new technology will open up opportunities and markets for Icelandic data centers in East Asia. The project is scheduled for completion in 2026.
The word for Today is a river – ánni. One tip here: in Icelandic, river is indicated with a suffix á, as in Jökulsá. Remember to think twice before you cross any ánni 🙂