Voyage of the Vikings: Isafjordur

We put clocks an hour forward last night and boy is it catching up with me. I had a terrible night sleeping. Poor Steve wasn’t feeling well and woke up congested with little voice.

The Zuiderdam is visiting Isafjordur today and Steve is staying aboard.

After coffee in the crow’s nest, we went to the Lido for breakfast. I am not too hungry after last night’s big dinner so just had oatmeal and an English muffin.

Dynjandi Waterfall: A Taste Of The Westfjords Excursion

Tour Description: In a land blessed with thousands of waterfalls, it is indeed a privilege to visit the one that many Icelanders claim is the most beautiful of all. Dynjandi Falls is your destination today.

From Ísafjorður, you’ll set out on a panoramic drive through the breathtaking scenery of the Westfjords area. The route takes you across an unforgiving landscape of jagged mountain ridges and narrow passes. The coast is lined with steep slopes and deep fjords, where farms and villages huddle together on narrow strips of land that reluctantly yield a living for the hardy souls that tend them. Take advantage of a number of scenic photo opportunities along the way.

The Dynjandi waterfall itself features a tall upper cascade and tiered terraces, ending with a free-fall into the pool below. Your guide will lead you on a walk up to the falls for a closer view.

Next, acquaint yourself with beautiful Suðureyri village — a destination that feels like you have it all to yourself. In Suðureyri, it’s all about fish. This is your chance to hear about life on the cusp of the Arctic Circle and to see for yourself how this thriving community processes Iceland’s ocean bounty. Enjoy a taste of fresh fish while listening to local stories. Learn how Iceland’s first-class export produce can be on your dinner plate in North America just 36 hours after leaving the icy-cold Atlantic Ocean. It might also surprise you to hear that sustainability is king here — this small, forward-thinking village has an eye on the future at all times.

I was in the theater a few minutes before our meeting time and bought a water and rain poncho to take ashore. It was $4 which was worth it to me since I forgot my rain jacket. I told the shore excursion staff Steve wasn’t coming.

We left on time and headed to our bus. We are docked (originally scheduled to tender) and it’s not done so we had to walk on gravel a bit. The Viking Star had the paved part of the dock, haha.

Our bus loaded up and we headed out of town. We passed the Einar Jonsson Museum and Sculpture Garden.

He was a well-known Icelandic sculptor. This one is named The Spell Broken and was completed in 1927. We hadn’t gone far before I saw a waterfall!

We entered the tunnel we learned about yesterday and went all the way through having to pull over a couple of times for traffic coming the other direction.

Glad I wasn’t driving!

The tour guide was wonderful telling us information as we traveled about the country and the area. It was about 50 minutes or so drive to the Dynjandi falls.

We saw four fjords along the way along with little villages and lots of little waterfalls coming down the high walls of granite.

Dynjandi Waterfall

We had an hour 15 minutes at the Dynjandi Waterfalls and it about the right amount of time. This is the first sight of it at the top!

There were nice restrooms and then I started walking up to visit as many of the falls as I could. Looking back you can see the parking lot and a small ship in the fjord tendering passengers ashore.

There are actually seven waterfalls here. I made it up until it got too steep/hard for me to continue higher although some people did. Here is the first waterfall.

A closer look at Baejarfoss. Click the image to enlarge.

Next I was at Hundafoss.

Here’s a closer look. Click the image to enlarge.

The third named fall was Gongumannafoss.

Here’s a closer look and again you can enlarge by clicking the image.

The fourth sign I made it to was stromgljufrafoss. Say that fast even once!

Here’s a closer look at it. Click the image to enlarge.

I got to the turnaround point for me as others continued on. This was the view up.

Then it was back down admiring the scenery as we went. At the bottom our tour offered a snack of bottled water, apples, bagels with cream cream and Icelandic yogurt.

I selected the bacon flavored cream cheese and couldn’t really taste the bacon. The bagels didn’t come close to NY bagels, lol. The yogurt was wonderful – high protein and not sour at all.

Then we headed to our next stop. It was an hour drive and this time we turned off to the other Y in the tunnel.

Suoureyri Village

The village of Suoreyri is on the fifth fjord we saw today.

The bus parked in the village and we started a 1 mile or so walking tour. The residents here have great views!

We visited the dock and learned fishing is the primary occupation.

The first fish processing plant there is where they filet the fish. We passed the 66 North original shop where only one person purchased a very nice, expensive jacket.

Then visited the local grocery store (tiny) where I purchased two Icelandic chocolate bars. We walked to the second plant where they process more of the fish. The last spot was where the remains (spines, etc.) are ground up for animal feed. Along the way we passed this drying fish.

The guide shared some of the dried fish which I declined but one of my fellow passengers said was like fish jerky. Very dry.

We passed the doctor’s office who is in town two hours a week. Otherwise residents have to drive to other cities for medical care. This house in the background was built in 1906. I guess metal siding holds up!

We walked to the cafe and had more snacks. Smoked salmon on bread with various sauces.

Then we had fish cakes with tartar sauce.

There was also water, coffee, tea and bathrooms.

I walked away from the group to take pictures of the town church that is really used for gatherings more than religious activities.

A rainbow flag was painted on the ground.

I saw from pictures on facebook Isafjodur also has this painted on a street there. This store had a map of Iceland painted on it.

Then we loaded up on the bus (I was the last there but not the last one on) and made the drive back to our ship.

It was 2:30 when I got onboard. Steve was resting and I joined him taking a nap. Once again it was interrupted by a ship announcement about maintenance requiring elevators to not operate for a few minutes.