A beautiful journey through the landscapes of Iceland and very interesting encounters.
Ismaël discovers a crater where he meets Anton Freyr Birgisson: they see the Lake Myvatn: this is a zone of volcanos, then they cross an area of forest and arrive at a zone of fumaroles (steam and boiling mud). Later Anton shows him the waterfall of Godafoss.
Then Ismaël discovers the Tungulkending Hotel at the seaside: the manager, Egill Bjarnason and Ismaël go to Húsavík; they take a bath in a swimming pool with hot water (geothermal area) and later there are on a ship for the observation of the whales: the guide, Huld Hafliodattir shows them a commun minke whale and play a gong music. Then Ismaël lives a great exoerience : driving for 8 hours with tremendous changes of climate (snow storm) to reach Thingeyri; Wouter Van Hoymissen , a Belgian man, manages a cafe and offers Ismaël some waffle. Then they ride horseback through the countryside, the cross a river and arrive at a place where the fishermen dry the wolffish: they take a piece of dried fish and taste it: Wouter, like Egill and Anton enjoy the life in the these wild landscapes.
Then Ismaèl goes to Western coast to Isafjördur where he meets the professionnal diver Simbi Hjalmarsson: they go to a fjord and dive to fish great scallops: after the diving Simi prepares the great scallop with lemon and coriander and they enjoy the great scallops.
Besides the volcanos, the seaside, the fjord we know also about the glaciers: the great glacier of Iceland, the Vatnajökull, covers 8.300 squares kilometers: the guide Haukur Ingi Einarsson and the tourists, using crampons and ice pikes are walking over the glacier and discover the ice caves.
I enjoyed also the excursion to the island of Grimsey (there are 2 ferries each week in winter and one ferry every day in summer): the guide Halla Ingolfsdóttir receives the tourists: they walk through the hills, see the place of the north polar circle (in the middle of the island) and then a colony of common puffins. Halla is among the 20 persons who live all the year in Grimsey.
About whale we see the work of Valérie Chosson, a French marine biologist in the primary school of her son , she explains the different types of whale, their anatomy and their sounds. Besides Sydni Long and other students who practice surfing are collecting data about the sea for the investigation about humpback whales.
We travel also to a village and meet two schoolteachers, Adalbjörg and Marta Gudrun who explain the educational system, the importance of outdoor activities, the conctact with the nature. In the same place a father is fishing mussels with his children (an introduction to a practical activity).
I forget the mountains and the snows, in Flateyri an avalance has destroyed several houses, the bookkeeper of the village is the chief of a rescue team of volunteers who learn how to save lives in the cases of avalanche.
In the town of Isafjördur there is the University of West Iceland: there Mathieu Reverberi and different students are preparing master diploms about coastal development (ecology, fishing, tourism and sustainable development).
A very interesting journey: the Icelandic people have a strong relationship with the nature, they try to protect this nature and enjoy the life in these natural landscapes: I enjoyed the quietness and the kindness of the Icelandic men and women.