BOTANIC GARDEN, TURF HOUSES, HORSE RIDING (Day 9)

It was wet and VERY cold last night. Our first stop was the Akureyri Public Parkand Botanic Garden (Lystigardurinn), the most northern botanical garden in the world. It began as just a park in 1910. It was small but quite lovely. It even had a special Icelandic plants section, although most of the plants are considered common (such as strawberries) or weeds (dandelions) in the rest of Europe.

We continued west, back across the top of the country.

At the Glaumbaer folk museum, we visited several turf houses from the early 1900's. Thick slabs of turf (sod) hung over fences, drying in the strong wind. A rock base supported a wall of turf which rested in wooden frames. The floor was dirt. Inside were displays traditional farm tools such as a wooden dung mill (used to grind dung to spread on the fields), whale rib sleigh runners, horsehair ropes, and 'cow shoes' used for transporting bovine during winter.

Near Varmahlidth, we signed up for an excursion on Icelandic horses. The Icelandic horse is a pure descendant from the Viking horses imported 1,100 years ago. They are quite impressive little creatures. First, while only being large-pony sized, they have weight-carrying abilities like a horse. Also, they live a lot longer than normal horses. The oldest on record lived to 56, and they are still fit for breeding at age 25. But most exciting was that they have five gaits (whereas most other horses just have three). We got to experience the tolt, a type of running walk (just slightly slower than a trot) that was sooooo smooth it was almost like the horse was on wheels, not bouncy little legs!

We were told this was a trip for beginner riders. That was perfect for me, especially since I wasn't used to the English-style saddle and stirrups. After wrangling us up some horses (I got Cleopatra and Ron got Dolkur), Jotis gave us a basic lesson of how to ride. Then we were off.

Things started out ok... easy trail, slow pace, etc. But very quickly it turned into a much more advanced tour including fording several rivers (one was so deep we had to take our shoes out of the stirrups or they'd get soaked) and climbing steep ridges. One girl even turned back because it was too difficult for her. We were allowed a short break in the picturesque scenery while the horses ate. Two sheep dogs from a neighboring farm ran out to greet us. We continued on and after three hours, we reached the waterfall of Reykjafoss.

Less than a mile away from the farm, several of the horses spooked and reared up... including mine. While everyone else was able to stay on, unfortunately I was not. I hit the ground hard on my back. Fortunately all the horses calmed immediately so I was able to climb right back on. We arrived at the farmhouse a short while later.

After taking care of the horses, we were fed kleinur (rye doughnuts) and chocolate cake with black currant tea. I was QUITE sore from the whole ordeal. We learned that tomorrow began the large roundups of all the wild sheep that mill about all over the country.

Tremendous winds, rain and damp shoes forced us to take sleeping bag accomodations inside a youth hostel at Saeberg instead of camping. Not to mention my back (and a bruised knee) much appreciated not having to sleep on the ground for a night! It was finally a very quiet and warm night.

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