On the day our ship arrived in Ísafjörður, Iceland, Tom and I took a shore excursion to Dynjandi Falls and had a taste of Suðureyri. Even though we had seen a waterfall in Iceland the day before, this trip was totally different and very enjoyable.
We started by meeting our guide at the bus. He told us his name, Úlfur, but it took me until the end of the tour to figure out what it was. He said it meant “wolf” in Icelandic, so I looked up how to spell it when I got back to our stateroom. I can’t spell anything that is said in Icelandic just by hearing it. Icelandic is the oldest version of a Scandinavian language, closest to Old Norse. As such, it seems harder to figure out than the other related languages.
Our first tour destination was Dynjandi Falls. I expected something like the falls yesterday, with an easy, paved walking trail beside it. Was I every wrong! Dynjandi Falls is a series of waterfalls and terraces that fall 330 feet down the side of a mountain. The water flows swiftly, joining the fjord which flows into the ocean. It is a beautiful and spectacular site.
The first few hundred feet of the trail are handicapped accessible, but after that it gets challenging. The path to each waterfall gets steeper as it goes up. There are seven named waterfalls in Dynjandi: Hæstahjallafoss, Strompgljúfrafoss, Göngumannafoss, Hrísvaðsfoss, Kvíslarfoss, Hundafoss, and Bæjarfoss. I’m not sure why each part has a name, but they are clearly marked on signs next to the trail.
Tom and I both climbed all the way to the top area of Dynjandi Falls. We did not climb to the top of the highest fall because it took rock-climbing skills that we do not have. But we made it the rest of the way, scrambling up stairs and rocks, and sometimes slipping on loose rocks. The climb was worth it, with the view of Dynjandi Falls and the fjord beyond it.
When we got back to the bus, we had a snack waiting for us. This shore excursion included “A taste of Suðureyri.” The little fishing village of Suðureyri decided to keep its economy alive by combining fishing with tourism. They run bus tours in the summer that bring tourists to town to taste the locally-caught fish. Their tourism company, Fisherman, provided tasty treats for us all afternoon. The first was the snack at the bus: tuna sandwiches, apples, and water. They were not Icelandic apples – you can’t grow apples in Iceland.
After our snack, we climbed on the bus for the trip to Suðureyri. Once there, Úlfur gave us a walking tour of Suðureyri. The town only has 278 people, so the number of tourists on the three buses in town just about doubled the size of the town. The town tour itself didn’t take long. We stopped at the harbor to look at some fishing boats. Then we walked to the Fisherman factory where they process the fish that are caught. We were able to taste some of the traditional dried fish, very chewy.
Our next stop was supposed to be a factory tour, but they stopped doing that with Covid. Instead we stood outside the factory and had warm cod cakes. The cod was covered with a potato batter that was delicious. I must be acquiring a taste for fish, at least when it is very fresh and prepared just right. Our final stop was the Fisherman Cafe, the only restaurant/bar/bakery in town. Some people ordered some of the local beer while others sampled Brennivin, Icelandic vodka. The cafe was serving smoked salmon with pita bread as a taster. Tom and I also sampled some carrot cake from the bakery.
The sampling of the different kinds of fish offered in Suðureyri was interesting. After the sampling was done, we got on the bus and headed back to the ship. Because we still had a couple of hours before the ship was sailing, Tom and I walked around Ísafjörður. Our primary destination was the 3D crosswalk.
Ísafjörður only has 2,800 people but they love to have tourists visit. They welcome cruise ships and are trying to make their town very tourist-friendly. In fact, they were supposed to have four cruise ships in port the day we were there. Two of them had to change their itineraries, or it would have been very crowded. 10,000 tourists in a town of 2,800. Crazy!
The 3D crosswalk is one of the things they are doing to attract visitors. It is the basic zebra stripes but painted so that it looks 3D from the right angle. Pretty cool. We also walked around checking out the shops. The bakery had closed early because it ran out of baked goods. The one souvenir shop we saw looked like locusts had come through, most of the shelves picked clean. But it was still fun to see the town and check out a few shops.
Our visit to Dynjandi Falls was definitely the highlight of our day. It is a spectacular series of waterfalls and we were thankful to have time to explore it and view it from high and low.