Friday, 10-May-2024
I stopped by Seljalandfoss waterfall, because I saw it from the road and it looked pretty.
That simple sentence describes my biggest excitement about doing a #Van_Life roadtrip through Iceland… simply being able to drive, with the spare time to be able to stop at any interesting thing that I see on the side of the road. To move… but still have the free time and leeway to stop and take photos, wander around, and find some neat little unexpected beauty.
Seljalandfoss fit that bill completely.
It’s a huge waterfall, visible from the main road, free-falling into the open air. It’s got a huge cave behind it, allowing me to walk fully around the cascading water, and giving all the beautiful Icelandic waterfall views that one would expect from the infinite number of photos that we’ve all seen.
Equally fun, if not more so, was the smaller falls a bit further along the trail.
Here’s a big tip for any and all other adventurers – when you can, it’s worth it to take the extra time to walk away from the primary attractions and wander down side trails and spurs. Don’t break trail, of course, but… I mean, everyone sees the big attraction, right? And to be fair, it’s usually really cool! But the smaller things, the unexpected little views off to the side… those are a bit less travelled and always feel a bit more impactful to me.
In this case, Gljúfrabúi waterfall was the unexpected little spot off to the side. And, in the humble opinion of this explorer, it was the more exciting of the two!
Granted, Gljúfrabúi isn’t nearly as big as Seljalandfoss. It doesn’t seem to have as much water crashing down, and it’s not a free-fall waterfall, where you can walk fully around the deluge. Instead, it’s in a cave system, fully enclosing the waterfall and giving some staggeringly cool views up into the sky. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves… simple saying that I’m very glad I walked the extra 500m down the cliffside.
