Day 5

Although the fear had not completely left my body yet, we got up when we heard the other group members rumbling about, which was usually around 7 even though breakfast would generally have been announced to be at 8. After breakfast we broke up our camp. Luckily it had not been raining, so our gear was not wet, although it was quite damp. In fact, I had tried the days before to leave my sports jacket on the tent to dry, but unless it was in direct sunlight, the jacket would leave a dry spot on the damp fabric of the tent. Breaking up camp was also a task Willem and I managed to perform without arguments, but it was clear that we were not complete pros yet, since we left money, a telephone and two flash lights in the side pockets of the inner tent, but to our great relief we retrieved everything (without damage) at our new campsite, obviously in the last tent to be erected.
After driving back along the river to the main road, we stopped at the skogarfoss waterfall that we could pass behind. Since this was still part of the golden circle, there were again many tourists. Thereafter we stopped at another waterfall with stairs to the side so we could walk to the top. It took us a while to make it there, because we were stuck behind an Asian bride that was walking up as well, with big dress, vail, photographer and all (even a groom). It seemed like a bit too much hassle for me on my wedding day, but clearly the décor for the pictures was beautiful.
After lunch we went to a view point at the Dyrholaey along the main road around the island. There was a rock with a window in the shoreline, a lighthouse and a view of a long strip of beach, which was of black sand and despite the sunshine at that time, completely deserted. It is also home to a large colony of puffins. Apparently it was very funny that I erroneously called them penguins, but somehow that’s what I believed they were and I my defense they do look like a penguin-hybrid. They have wings and can fly, but not very elegantly, because their wings are also used for diving deep into the sea (I rest my case). Anyway, we managed to see a few fly by, but the breeding season was almost over and since the eruption of Eyjafjalljökull in 2010, the number of puffins in this colony had severely declined.
We then continued our way to the next campsite, we would pass areas with steep and rugged hills on one side of the road and seemingly endless stretches of plains with washed out sand and rivers meandering through it on the other side. At another point it looked like we were surround by sponges about as far as the eye could see. Turned out that this was moss covering lava fields. Apparently, unlike many other volcanos, the ones on Iceland do not provide fertile soil for plant life and only this particular type of moss would grow on it. The organic moss layer then provides the basis for all other flora (and fauna) on the island. You are not allowed to damage these moss fields, except for one part where we could feel how incredibly soft it is to walk or even lay down on this moss. It used to be used for matrasses as it is soft, it dries quickly and bugs won’t live in it.
Our campsite at Skaftafell was close to the main road around the island, so it was a bit bigger and also attracted a different type of tourist than our previous campsite. While Thorsmörk was on a 4-day hiking trail and was mostly visited by hikers that had the smallest tents possible, would eat astronaut food, and would be very happy to take our left-over food, the campsite in Skaftafell was mostly visited by slightly less adventurous people that had rented a car or that would even have a range of motor vehicle-based camping solutions. I was for instance already surprised that one of our group members had taken an electronic toothbrush with her for this trip (mind you, I did not even manage to charge my phone during this trip), but at this campsite we even had a girl come up to us to ask if any of us had a hairdryer.