Iceland Part 12 - Waterfalls

Godafoss (waterfall of the Gods) It's call like that because when Icelanders decided to take Christianity as their religion (until then they were Pagans) their chieftain threw wooden images of the Pagan gods into these waterfalls.

All that bad weather I have described in previous entry, is not just to annoy tourists. The rain helps to feed one of the most beautiful and powerful natural wonders of Iceland, its waterfalls. Nobody knows how many waterfalls there are in Iceland, but I have read somewhere that they have one waterfall per inhabitant. Not sure when the statement was made, but even 100 000 would seem pretty unbelievable. It would, until you come here. There is falling water (and I'm not referring to rain now) everywhere. Even when I tried to find out what some of them were called, I couldn't. There are just too many to name all of them.

Foss a Sidu. It is in south of Iceland and you can see it straight from the Ring road. It's only 1-2 minute walk from the main road.

When you witness the power of some of them and the amount of water that falls down, you almost want to wait up, for when the water runs out. They are mostly melting glaciers which gives some of them amazing blue colour. I love waterfalls, probably because I have never lived anywhere near them. And I find them fascinating to watch and to photograph.

For me, Godafoss is the most beautiful one. If you get here, make sure you check it out from both sides.

Gullfoss - Golden Falls. Most popular in terms of visitors, as it is part of Golden Circle. This one is huuge. Amazing what mother nature can create with some water in thousands of years.

Hafragilsfoss. Downstream from Dettifoss. Jokulsargljufur National park. It reminded me of Grand Canyon. Great place for some hiking.

The Biggie - Dettifoss. The largest waterfall in Europe based on the volume of water that flows from it. 'Mazing.

Selfoss. If you walk upstream from Dettifoss, about a mile, you will get to see this natural beauty. The walk is very rocky at places, so have sturdy shoes.

Detail of Selfoss with some funky sunflare :-)

Svartifoss (Black Fall) in Skaftafell National park. The most famous sight in the park, thanks to it's beautiful basal lava columns that form a backdrop.

Dynjandi (Fjallfoss) The jewel of West fjords. There is a couple in front of it for scale.

Detail of Dynjandi. The dreamy effect is just lots of spray on the camera glass.

And thats all the waterfalls that are famous I have. There are some famous ones I could not photograph, because the weather was not only very bad rain wise, but at Skogafoss I couldn't even open the car door, the wind was so strong. I have only done Ring road and there are lot more waterfalls to be admired in the Interior. I can't wait.