Photos from Iceland

One of my guests on Mt Esja this summer is an avid photographer. Here is a link to his photos from Iceland:

http://www.avibender.com/Travel/Iceland/18634820_9B3mPD#1440119371_G7vRHqg

A blog I wrote

Here is a blog I wrote for Tours By Locals called A Paradise for Outdoor Lovers:

http://www.toursbylocals.com/blog/list-Iceland-Outdoors&text=Iceland

A Special Winter Offer

Many of the activity companies in Icelandic tourism take a break during the winter and don't offer any tours for 8-9 months (September-May). Mountain Climbing is an exception. We offer hiking tours and other tours all year round. From October till May we have a special offer: Hiking on Mt Esja and entrance to the swimming pool afterwards. Price: ISK 14.400 per person.

3 favourite hiking mountains

Iceland is full with mountains of all sizes and easy to go to. The mountains around Reykjavik, capital region of Iceland, are so close, so popular for hiking and so easy to go to. There is no wonder why hiking is so popular in Iceland.

Here are three of my favourite hiking mountains:

1 Mt Esja because afterwards you can always feel you have been on the mountain. So many stories to tell!
2 Mt Esja because it is so nice and easy, suitable for everyone and so many stories to tell.
3 Eyjafjallajokull. Imagine how wonderful it is to go to the new still warm lava on the volcano from the eruption in spring 2010.

Horses and Hiking

A new tour available: Horses and Hiking. First a riding tour through the lava landscape on Reykjanes peninsula (only 15 minutes' drive from capital Reykjavik's centre), Iceland, and then a hiking tour to one of the marvellous mountain in this geothermally active area. The duration of the hiking is approximately 2 hours. Price: ISK 14.500 per person.
Contact Mountain Climbing for more information (www.mountainclimbing.is and www.icelandhiking.is).

Sunshine on Mt Helgafell

Wonderful day in Reykjavik, Iceland today. Sunshine, warm and no wind. The tour on Mt Helgafell was fantastic, peace and quiet and a lot of crowberries and bilberries on the mountain! It was a nice adventure, the passangers were back at the boat in 4 hours as planned! On the way back we met the locals on their way to the mountain.

Picking Wild Crowberries in Iceland

Fantastic day today picking berries in Reykjavik, Iceland. I picked my people up in Reykjavik's centre and then we drove for maybe 30 minutes. You don't have to go so far to get into the nature in Iceland, Reykjavik is a small city with nice lands for picking berries!
We mainly picked Crowberries which is the most common type of berries in the Icelandic nature but we also picked some Bilberries (what we call blueberries). I had been baking some muffins yesterday and I took some with me to give a taste on the tour and show what you can do with the berries. In the end everyone got some recipes.
This is the muffin recipe:

270g sugar
150g butter
2 eggs
240g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
50ml milk
1 tsp vanilla
Crowberries or Blueberries
80g Cocoanut flings

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Whip butter and sugar until it is light yellow and very easy to whip. Put one egg in and whip. Put another egg and whip. Put the flour, baking powder and the flings into the bowl, milk and the vanilla and stir. Divide the dough into the cups and put some flings over and put some berries over. Bake the muffins for 16-18 minutes.

A Great Tour in a Reykjavik Suburb

Had a fantastic "Life in the Suburbs" tour the other day. We took the bus to the oldest and best known Reykjavik suburb Breidholt (three parts but we only walked through Breidholt I and Breidholt II).
At the beginning of the walk we got permission to visit a school swimming pool, talk to the teacher and watch the kids play in the pool. We then proceeded and by a chance visited a cultural centre for older people in Breidholt II. The woman in charge walked through the centre with us and introduced the work in the centre to the group.
The woman encouraged me to take as many groups to the centre as possible! This is being friendly to travellers! :)
We had a sandwich and a cup of coffee in a bakery at lunch and then we walked back and took the bus back to the hotel. This was a great tour!

Picking Wild Berries in Iceland - New!

Mountain Climbing is running new tours: picking wild berries in Iceland, both Crowberries and Blueberries. A Special Offer: ISK 8.000 per person. Included: a plastic box for your berries and recipes for Icelandic berry specialities at the end of the tour. Pick-up and drop-off for free.
These tours are only available during August and September.

Running in Iceland 2010

Iceland organizes many different kinds of marathons, ironmans, half ironmans and other running competitions during the summer (and winter). The main run, the Reykjavik marathon, is usually scheduled around the 20th of August every year. The other runs and marathons are scheduled from April till September.
In this video you see some clips from different marathons and runs that were organized during the summer 2010. As you can see the weather can be straining but it can also be marvellous, especially the perfect temperature, not too warm, not too cold. But sometimes it is windy and raining...
That is a part of the adventure.
For more information check www.mountainclimbing.is... ;)

Whales in the harbour

Grundarfjordur, a small village on the west coast of Iceland, has two big whales ("killer whales") on a visit in the harbour. It is believed to be the same whales that "came on a visit" last year. See the pictures here:
http://www.dv.is/frettir/2011/2/20/hahyrningarnir-komnir-aftur/

Sometimes you can see whales and seals in Iceland. Usually you have to sail out on the ocean (you can buy whale watching tours) too see whales but it is possible (sometimes, not often though) to see them if you are standing on the coast. But you have to be lucky and even better, you have to know if they are to be seen and where to go.

A special offer

Mountain Climbing has a special offer: 10% and entrance to a swimming pool for free during February-April 2011. That makes ISK 12.600 per person. Included: Pick-up at your hotel, refreshments on the top and a certificate plus the hot pool afterwards. This offer is valid until April 2011.
The picture is taken on Mt Esja during July 2011. Mt Esja is all snowy now during the winter!