Common Dangers in Iceland

It is prudent to be prepared to avoid the dangers common to a foreign country. We thought we were well along; after all, we have become familiar with that wonderful website www.vedur.is , where we can learn about the weather, what is predicted for today and for coming days, and about those nice little tattle-tale earthquakes that help us keep in touch with the secret, inner workings of volcanoes (after all, Eyjafjallajökull erupted in May 2010 and Grimsvötn in May 2011, so, what's up for May 2013?). In any case, we really want to avoid getting gritty volcanic ash on our rental car (not covered by our damage waiver!) and, especially, getting washed away by a sudden jökullaup (usually a really BAD experience!).

We also bookmarked http://www.vegagerdin.is/english/road-conditions-and-weather/the-entire-country/island1e.html , where we can learn about current road conditions and the weather affecting them,  where driving is easy vs. where you will can get stuck in deep mud or side around on snow or ice, which roads are impassable or closed. Presently, roads along the perimeter of Iceland are passable, which is nice ‘cause that is where we are going.

We learned a lot about Icelandic food from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_cuisine. We learned about the yummy stuff, the “WOW” stuff, the every day stuff and the “they eat that?!?!” stuff. We learned the Icelandic names for many of these foods and how to tell hákarl (HOW-karl) from skyr (SKEER) from hangikjöt (HANG-ee-shurt) from piparkökur (PIP-ar-kur-kur) (it’s easy, actually).

We were feeling rather well prepared, and then, just a couple of days before we were to leave for Iceland, Sheila found even more, quite unexpected sources of danger.  Here is how a previous traveler in Iceland describes her experiences:

"Iceland: land of fire and ice, trolls and elves and killer sheep.  All of which are as much a reality today as they were thousands of years ago.  Just ask any road worker standing next to a broke down backhoe, who will bequeath the information that the machines have been tampered with by the elves, who obviously do not want their homes destroyed by road construction. 

The sheep I can only explain by the idea that perhaps after years of isolation they began to entertain themselves with some pretty sick games.  Sheep in Iceland are not the passive creatures you encounter in other areas of the world.  Icelandic sheep only pretend to be so.  Then when you are so close to them as to be almost past them, they begin a mad dash for the road – and directly under the wheels of your bike. “
--From “Iceland: a stormy motorcycle adventure”, by Sherrie McCarthy

 Adventures galore await us!