Nature, Wildlife & Light: Our First Days in Iceland's Raw Beauty

Our first full week in Iceland is behind us, and the impressions are overwhelming. If we had to sum it up in three words, these words would be Nature, Wildlife, and Light.

Nature: A Landscape in Fast Forward

Iceland's terrain changes so fast it's like a movie in fast forward. One moment, you're standing in a lush green valley with a waterfall as tall as a skyscraper. Mist fills the air, wrapping everything in a cool veil. Rainbows hover like permanent guests. At Dettifoss, it felt like we'd reached the end of the rainbow itself.

Just a short drive away, the scene changes entirely. A barren, moonlike landscape stretches to the horizon. Not just uninhabited, but downright ininhabitable. Steel pipes run like arteries through the rocks, feeding steam into geothermal plants. Grey, bubbling mud pits spit heat into the air. It could be the main base of a Bond villain.

And then? You turn a corner and you're in a gentle, wavy valley with a meandering river, wooden bridges, and soft hills dotted with trees. All of this, reachable in a single day’s drive. Iceland's diversity isn't just astonishing, it's accessible. That's the magic of exploring here.

Wildlife: The Unexpected Stars

Puffins are Iceland's flying comedians. They fly like penguins with jetpacks, adorable, clumsy, and oddly tipsy. But that wobble while walking is misleading. They're built for the sea, diving as deep as 50 meters to catch fish and spending entire months offshore without touching land. They only return to land to breed and raise their chicks. Watching them 'fall' from the sky and land with a mouth full of fish was pure joy. They mate for life, and might just be the cutest birds we have ever seen.

Then there are the sheep. Everywhere. They huddle in hollows to dodge the wind, warm each other, and often refuse to move off the road. More than once, we had to stop the truck, open the door, or even get out and play sheep herder.

And the whales. We took a whale watching (or whale waiting) tour in Húsavík. These giants dive deep to feed on krill and small fish, filtered through mouths wide as windows. The bay is rich in marine life thanks to mineral-filled river water that sparks the entire food chain. It is like ducks flying straight into your mouth at a BBQ, nature's buffet line in action.

A less welcome wildlife encounter happened at Lake Mývatn. Beautiful lake. Horrible midges. Clouds of them. Within minutes, our RV was surrounded. Mývatn literally means "Lake of Flies," and now we understand why. We packed up and drove 20 miles just to escape the swarm.

Light: The Cinematic Magic

Everyone knows Iceland has long summer days. But knowing is not the same as experiencing it. It never really gets dark. The sun dips just below the horizon, leaving a twilight that lasts all night.

But the real bummer? It is always golden hour. Photographers call it the best light of the day: soft, warm, low-angle sun that adds depth and glow to everything it touches. Here, it's not just an hour. It's a six-hour glow that turns hills and grass into living paintings. Shadows stretch long, colors turn rich, and everything feels surreal.

Golden hour in Iceland is a mood, not just a time of day.

Reality Check

It is not all dreamscapes and puffins. Iceland is expensive. Really expensive. Two small buckets of meat soup and a Diet Pepsi cost us 35 euros.

Another meal yesterday with simple noodles and some veggies for Annika, fish and chips for me, set us back 63 euros.

We are not stingy travelers, but this made us pause. Going forward, our home-on-wheels kitchen will see far more action than on our last trips in Scandinavia and Balkan.

What Comes Next

We have only scratched the surface. The real adventure lies ahead in the highlands, remote, rugged, and far from the tourist trail. But before we head there, Reykjavík is on the list as well. Until then, we let ourselves drift. If a place feels right, we stay. Like Dettifoss, where we simply set up our chairs, sat on our 'veranda with a view,' and soaked in the moment. Just reading, watching, being present, while a few hundred meters away one of Europe's most powerful waterfalls roared down with hundreds of thousands of tons of water.

Iceland continues to surprise, and we are excited for what's next. Thanks for joining us for week one in Iceland. More stories, more landscapes, and more golden hours coming next week.