Before we returned to Reykjavik we visited a national park. One thing you notice whist travelling around is the lack of trees. Landowners are encouraged to plant trees but on this part of the island they are few and far between. It is mainly birch shrubs that you see.
These channels are crystal clear and a beautiful shade of blue. You can snorkel here although personally I prefer to do that in much warmer water.
The air temperature was freezing as you can see from the ice on the plants.
A few trees stood out on the stark landscape.
Do trees not grow easily?
ReplyDeleteThere are some forests on the island but not where I was travelling. Reasons given were the glacier age, volcanic eruptions which are frequent; animal grazing and human using the wood in previous centuries. There is not much soil for trees where you have all the lava fields. Trees also find it difficult to thrive in the long freezing temperatures.
DeleteIt's very beautiful, even with a scarcity of trees. Thank you for showing me what it looks like there. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a variety of experiences so far! The glacier walk, the hot pools, the waterfalls. All beautiful in their own way. I love the color palette in the photos of the National park.
ReplyDeleteStark is the word that came to my mind. Stark beauty actually.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly a different sort of landscape. Great photos.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they don't want to have the risk of leaves and twigs polluting the water, I can understand that part.
ReplyDeleteCold stark landscapes but beautiful in a way. I wouldn't like the cold.
ReplyDeleteI imagine that the scenery is pretty much devoid of wildlife at this time of year. Come March, April and May it will be a different story
ReplyDeleteBrrr it does look cold!
ReplyDeleteLovely photographs, especially the last one.
All the best Jan
It is a whole new world there. Post some photos with some green? Beautiful!
ReplyDelete