Iceland, 1: Arrival And First Day

After an uneventful flight from Boston, Icelandair landed us in Keflavik bright and early the morning of June 17th. The plane, a 757, was full, and, I surmised, the invasion of Iceland had begun. We had already done our passenger locator forms and registered for the sinus excavation, so everything from luggage through immigration and customs went smoothly. For the COVID test we had to proceed to another building, outside, and there we underwent the double shock of the prolonged Icelandic nose jab ("Viking up, man!" I could hear the technician thinking) and the cold, wet Icelandic dawn wind. Well, my watch said it was dawn. In eleven days we never saw darkness; nor failed to use eyeshades while trying to sleep. 

All this went so quickly we soon realized our pre-arranged shuttle to the camper rental place would not arrive for another hour and a half. We realized this standing out in the aforementioned cold, damp Icelandic wind, having been evicted from the testing site and told we could not go to any public place until they texted us negative test results. We waited the better part of three minutes before deciding to head indoors to the main terminal arrivals hall, call the camper rental place, have a hot drink, and there await the shuttle. Everyone else on our flight was doing the same thing so we figured it was morally defensible. 

The shuttle arrived after a bit, picking us and another couple up to take us to Lava car and camper rentals, one of many such firms near Keflavik. We had chosen Lava because of the floorplan of the camper, which permitted cooking and eating inside (at the expense of bed size), and the availability of the very small but affordable Nissan NV200 van. Our plan was to tour Iceland these eleven days, camping, doing the circumnavigational Ring Road, led by friend and fellow guide Rickie Stevie. Following Rick Steves' Iceland was among the best decisions of the trip, even if done anti-clockwise and therefore anti-book-wise. For the places he does, he's the best.

We completed the paperwork, threw our luggage aboard the tiny van, began to move in, and then were told the vehicle needed a new set of tires. Indeed, it did, and this required another hour of waiting, watching others check in and drive off. Our difficulties with Lava had begun. And continue. With new tires, we too eventually drove off, to a nearby shopping area for provisions to get us through the next day or so. Then we drove back to Lava to find out how to put the vehicle in reverse. (No instructions of any sort were provided, although the staff were able to demonstrate a variety of procedures). While this demonstration was underway, the driver-side front tire, brand-new, went dead flat, and occasioned another change and another wait. 

By this time, some minor (by our standards) jet-lag had begun to set it, and we resolved to find a campground and hunker down, finishing the move-in, having dinner, and crashing. The closest campground was but a few miles away at Sandgeroi, at the tip end of peninsula, and we found it with relative ease and settled in. Thus ended our first day in Iceland.

Thus attired, we had the whole row to ourselves on the
initial leg from San Jose to Chicago; not so on the
subsequent legs from Chicago to DC and DC to Boston
and Boston to Reykjavik

International departures, Logan

Our plane to Keflavik

Over the North Atlantic

On approach, over Iceland (note crater)

At first we thought OMG it's the volcano; but no,
it's only the Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland's many
national jokes; more anon, next visit

There's the volcano; we'd be visiting the lava flow next day

Our first of, count 'em, three Lava campers

I'll be writing to Trustpilot, TripAdvisor, et al., soon

Our first encampment, Sandgeroi, June 17th

Settling in to dinner

Trying to look brave