BROADWAY LIGHTS AND NORTHERN LIGHTS DAY #11 “Tour of the Southern Coast with Crazy Denis (not Dennis)”

Last night we were up late trying to see the Northern Lights so we tried in vain to delay the start of today’s tour of the Southern Coast of Iceland.  Since we were unable to change the time, we were good campers and were dressed, fed and ready to go at 8:30AM.   Soon after, we were picked up by our tour guide Denis from Top Iceland Tours (www.topicelandtours.com).  We hopped into his very comfy Toyota Land Cruiser and were on our way.  Denis is 23 years old (24 in November) and drives like it.  To his credit he did offer to slow down but I was too meek to admit I was petrified.  Patrice was too sleep-deprived to be scared and she is naturally a much calmer person than I am (e.g. she loves roller coasters).  I told myself, “this kid is young, athletic and he does this all the time, Robert, you are perfectly safe”.  Of course being able to read the fine print on the license of the car in front of me is not my usual preference.   See below.

We arrived at our first sight (Seljalandsfoss) and it was a lovely waterfall with a walkway allowing you to view it from underneath.  This was nothing like the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls.  There you are given rain protective ponchos to prevent you from even a hint of a spray emanating from the falls.  Here you are on your own.  Everything is wonderful once you are mountainside and viewing the falls from behind.  Getting there you get drenched.  Patrice and I were bundled up with our heavy coats on top of two upper layers and our pants with thermal underwear.   Water was dripping from us in buckets and we were very cold. Denis on the other hand didn’t want to get his nice sweater wet so he took it off and just wore a t-shirt.  See below.

Denis then proceeded to take us to one magnificent sight after another.  His vitality and enthusiasm were amazing.  We got to visit the Eyjafjallajökull ice cap.  This mountain of snow covers a volcano that erupted in April 2010 and paralyzed a large portion of Europe due to the large amount of ash that was sent out into the atmosphere.

I am sure you have no idea how to pronounce the name of this snow mass.  Thanks to Denis’s help we know exactly how to pronounce it.  Simply say “I forgot my yogurt”.

Sight after sight was increasingly beautiful and Denis’s passion for his work made it all the more enjoyable.  He was great at taking pictures of us and showed us how to use the iPhone for wonderful panoramic views.  At one location some young ladies from Florida asked if we would take a picture of them.  Denis took their camera and instead of taking a quick shot and moving on he stepped beyond a protective railing and climbed on to the restraining wall, meant to keep people from falling off the cliff, to get a better angle from which to shoot.  See below.

In the car we talked about Iceland, Denis (born in Russia and came to Iceland at 6 years old) and his family (he works with his dad in tourism, mother is an award winning cake decorator, and younger sister is still in school).   Denis told us he used to be a gymnast and showed us this photo.

Toward the end of our day trip to the Southern Coast with Denis he did something that I captured on video.  I am not sure why this happened but I can say I am very glad I had my camera ready.  Otherwise I would not have believed what I had just seen.  The link to the video is:  https://youtu.be/V68Ux0OgWYE

During our tour we had mentioned that we had tried to get horse to eat but were told there has not been horse in the city for the past 3 weeks.  Denis was incredulous and put out the word with his friends looking for horse.  On our way back to the hotel, Denis informed us that he found a restaurant close to our hotel that served horse, they had some in stock and he had made dinner reservations for us.  More about horse tomorrow but for now, how about a 5 star rating for Denis and Top Iceland Tours on Trip Advisor?  I just saw we are not alone, they have 39 Trip Advisor reviews and a 100% 5 star rating.