Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [239]
Thankfully (unlike feather-brained arctic terns), skuas will stop plaguing you if you run away from the area they’re trying to defend. You can also avoid aerial strikes by wearing a hat or carrying a stick above your head. Occasionally ravens or groups of smaller birds will get together to mob a skua and drive it off: these aerial battles are interesting to watch.
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
THE SANDAR
Another area of devastation are the sandar, soul-destroyingly flat and empty regions sprawling along Iceland’s southeastern coast. High in the mountains, glaciers scrape up silt, sand and gravel that is then carried by glacial rivers or (more dramatically) by glacial bursts down to the coast and dumped in huge desertlike plains. The sandar here are so impressively huge and awful that the Icelandic word is used internationally to describe this topographic phenomenon.
Skeiðarársandur is the most visible and dramatic, stretching some 40km between ice cap and coast from Núpsstaður to Öræfi. Here you’ll encounter a flat expanse of grey-black sands, fierce scouring winds (a cyclist’s nightmare) and fast-flowing grey-brown glacial rivers.
In July and August, the Icelandic Mountain Guides ( 587 9999; www.mountainguide.is) run a guided four-day (60km) hike through Núpsstaðarskógar, over to Grænalón lagoon, across the glacier Skeiðarárjökull and then into Morsárdalur in Skaftafell. The trip costs Ikr79,000 with food, camping gear, glacier equipment and transport from Skaftafell included. There’s a supplement to pay if the walking group has fewer than five people.
Iceland’s third-largest hostel, Hvoll HI Hostel ( 487 4785; hvoll@hostel.is; dm Ikr2100, s/d Ikr4000/5800; Feb-Oct), is on the edge of Skeiðarársandur (3km south off the Ring Road via a gravel road) and feels very remote despite its size. It’s very much like the Reykjavík hostel in its clean new design and busy atmosphere; facilities include several kitchens, a TV room, a laundry, bookshelves full of Mickey Spillane, and a payphone. It makes an excellent base for exploring Skaftafell, Núpsstaðarskógar and the surrounding sandar.
Meðallandssandur
This region spreads across the Meðalland district south of Eldhraun and east of the river Kúðafljót. The sandy desert is so flat and featureless that a number of ships have run aground on its coast, apparently unaware they were nearing land. Shipwrecked sailors have died in quicksand while trying to get ashore. There are now several small lighthouses along the coast.
Skeiðarársandur
Skeiðarársandur, the largest sandar in the world, covers a 1000-sq-km area and was formed by the mighty Skeiðarárjökull. Since the Settlement Era, Skeiðarársandur has swallowed a considerable amount of farmland and it continues to grow. The area was relatively well populated (for Iceland, anyway), but in 1362 the volcano Öræfi beneath Öræfajökull erupted and the subsequent jökulhlaup laid waste the entire district.
The section of Rte 1 that passes across Skeiðarársandur was the last bit of the national highway to be constructed – as recently as 1974 (until then, Höfnites had to drive to Reykjavík via Akureyri). Long gravel dykes have been strategically positioned to channel flood waters away from this highly susceptible artery. They did little good, however, when in late 1996 three Ring Road bridges were washed away like matchsticks by the massive jökulhlaup released by the Grímsvötn (or Gjálp) eruption (see the boxed text). There’s a memorial of twisted bridge girders and an information board along the Ring Road just west of Skaftafell National Park.
The sands are a major breeding area for great skuas (see the boxed text) – particularly appropriate