If you’re looking for a good example of the diversity and wonder of nature take a trip to Iceland, the island of fire and ice. Iceland is one of the few places on earth where you can find a volcano and an iceberg within just a few hours of each other. It offers breathtaking scenery, a surprisingly comfortable climate, and cheap cruises that travel through arctic waters that rarely freeze because of the presence of the warm North Atlantic Current. There is a lot to see and do here for holiday makers and travellers.
Two of the largest glaciers in Iceland are Tindfjallajökull and Eyjafjallajökull glaciers, both popular tourist attractions. Nearby, on the same trip if you are doing a helicopter tour, you can visit Mount Hekla, a volcano which last erupted in 2000. Another eruption, this one from the Vestmannaeyjar submarine volcanic system, reached the surface on November 14, 1963 and lasted until June 5, 1967 creating the island of Surtsey off the coast, a testament to the power of geothermal activity in the region.
Any area that boasts such a high number of active volcanoes will also have a number of waterspouts known as geysers. Iceland actually has the original, simply name “Geyser”. Another geothermal wonder called Lake Kleifarvatn is located on the Reykjanes peninsula southwest of Reykjavik. Up until a couple of years ago it was actually disappearing through a crack opened in its basin by an earthquake in 2000. That crack has filled in and the lake has since returned back to its normal water level.
Iceland is beautiful. No one who has ever travelled there would argue with that statement. The volcanic activity has created a fertile land that is fed by rivers created by glacial movement that started after the last ice age which still continues today. The warm currents of the Gulf Stream off the southern coast keep the climate warm and the people keep the land clean and inviting. There are only 320,000 people living in Iceland, most of them in Reykjavik so it is not a crowded place. This makes it an ideal place to visit by cheap cruises travelling through the arctic waters.
Iceland is the eighteenth largest island in the world; it was formed from volcanic rock and carved by glaciers. Fire and ice have created a place which will be the first country completely independent of any foreign fuel sources, an event that is projected to occur in 2050. The people who live there understand how to live within their means and use the resources nature has provided, something everyone will have to learn at some point.