After two amazing days seeing so many beautiful places, I will have to admit I wasn’t excited about our first stop of the day on our way to the Snaefellsness Peninsula.  On Overseas Adventure Travels tours, “Controversial Topics” are a feature, and they are often very interesting and memorable.  This one about blood mares, however, left me feeling sad. 

We visited a co-op hardware and farm supply store to listen to the store’s manager, a veterinarian, speak about this husbandry practice that she is very much against.  She was excellent; the topic was not.  It involves impregnating horses for the sole purpose of harvesting their blood (a weekly draining of up to five liters in the span of just a few minutes), which contains a rare hormone coveted by veterinarians (the bad type, in my opinion), who use it to improve the fertility of other livestock.  Iceland is one of the only countries in the world—and the only country in Europe—where this practice is legal. 

Animal rights activists, for good reason, find the procedure cruel.  I agree.  The worst part is the foals that are birthed are sent to the slaughterhouse, because the farmers have no other use for them. 

I needed some comic relief after that talk, so I visited the toy section of the co-op that carried just about everything one would want.  These guys (see below) are members of Iceland’s rescue team, the largely volunteer crew that keeps quite busy when a volcano is erupting on Iceland.  During the previous eruption two years ago, there were numerous rescues, because many inexperienced and unfit hikers ventured out on long hikes to see the volcano, but didn’t bring water with them (Idiots!) and couldn’t make it back. 

This time, while we were in Iceland, another volcano was erupting (we saw it from a distance while on the road), and the authorities were cracking down on the sightseeing tourists, making it as inconvenient as possible for the casual, inexperienced hiker.

(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)

Missing from my trio of rescue team heroes was the female lifeguard, in a package complete with her lifesaving buoy and paddleboard.  She was on a different shelf, and I neglected to take a photo of her.  Darn; the photo that got away.  I regret skipping that photo op, because I wanted to be a lifeguard when I was kid growing up in Long Beach, California.  She brought back good memories of my summer days on the beach.

Leaving the blood mare conversation behind, we were off on our drive to the Snaefellsness Peninsula.  On the way, we stopped for a visit to a greenhouse to learn about the challenges of growing plants, flowers, and produce in Iceland.  The couple who owns the greenhouse and a café rely on heated groundwater from deep beneath the surface for its daily operations, and much of what they raise is grown hydroponically. 

The lunch afterward was so fresh and delicious!  We started with a beautiful salad of just-picked greens topped with edible flowers, and was then served this delicious curry soup and fresh-baked bread:

Continuing on our drive, we passed through several fishing villages and stopped at the Bjarnarhofn Shark Museum, where we learned about fishing for Greenland sharks and processing shark meat. 

Hakarl, aged shark meat, is a national delicacy.  It takes between 4-6 months to process and is traditionally consumed with Brennivin, at one time the only hard liquor found in Iceland and often referred to as “Black Death.”

We had the opportunity to taste Harkarl, first with a piece of rye bread, next, by itself, and finally, with liquor.  Most of our group either passed on the opportunity or couldn’t get past the first taste.  I get it; the smell was bad, and the taste was horrible.  I wanted to see if I could handle tasting the shark meat all three ways, so I forged ahead.  I’m not sure what was worse, the shark meat or the liquor chaser – definitely an acquired taste I had no intention of acquiring.

By the time we got to Stykkisholmur, I was ready to leave blood mares and aged shark meat behind and go for a nice, refreshing walk.  It was a beautiful afternoon, and this little fishing town was calling our name.  The walk around the harbor and up to the lighthouse was joyful!

Following our group dinner at the hotel, the beautiful evening was beckoning me for another walk.  It was lovely to be able enjoy Iceland’s long summer day well into the evening.

Next up: Scenic Snaefellsness (Part 2)

Note: If small group travel is of interest to you, I highly recommend Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). Although Bruce and I travel together, they do not charge a single supplement for those who travel on their own. Singles also get their own room at hotels. If you book, you can get $100 off your trip by providing my name and customer number (Elaine Krugman, #3018126) as the person who referred you. I will also get $100 off future travel– a win-win!