Following my zodiac tour of Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon, I spend an extra hour or so walking around to soak everything up. Boat tour notwithstanding there is still a lot to see — depending on the direction of the tide, icebergs actively float in or out at the mouth of the bay. These hunks of ice crackle and crunch as they brush past each other, sometimes breaking off into smaller pieces. There is so much activity.

That’s my rental car in the foreground — I snag a spot close to the water:

You can see the geography in this photo — there’s an enormous glacier in the distance and as chunks break off the edge they float through the bay. I happen to be here as the tide is going back in, so these icebergs are slowly making their way back towards the glacier wall.

It’s surprisingly entertaining to watch. It’s like tortoises running a race; these chunks of ice very slowly inch ahead, nudging each other forward an inch at a time.

Okay, time for a Rorschach test — what does the ice formation below remind you of? I see a bunny with its ears prominently on display.

This is the entrance to the glacier lagoon — if you don’t go on a boat tour, it’s a great place to take in all the action.

See that boat below? The same company that runs zodiac tours also has amphibian boats to take visitors around these icebergs. They don’t go all the way up to the glacier wall like we did, but it’s another good option for seeing the lagoon.

I hop in my car and drive across the road to a black sand beach right on the ocean. I’m here at the wrong time of day — if you visit while the tide is going out, icebergs floating out of the bay often get beached on this shoreline, like this:

(image via)

But since the tide is going back in during my visit, the beach is nearly clear of all ice except some leftover small pieces. I make the most of it.

It glitters like a diamond:

I get back in my car to drive onward to the next glacier lagoon — Fjallsarlon is just a few minutes down the road — but I’m barely out of the parking lot before I pull over again to admire views of Jokulsarlon one last time from this vantage point:

Okay Erica, time to put the camera down. The light is fading and I still have to get to Fjallsarlon glacier lagoon.

… And here is Fjallsarlon:

Fjallsarlon is much smaller but also less crowded, especially at this hour. You can take boat tours here too but they’ve finished for the day by the time I arrive. In retrospect if I had to pick which glacier lagoon is better for a boat ride, I’d go with Jokulsarlon because the scale is just enormous. But definitely stop at Fjallsarlon too because how often to you get to appreciate natural beauty like this in person?

I love the flair in this next shot. The sun is moments away from dipping behind that ridge.

And about ten minutes after I’ve gotten here, the suns. The whole place looks so different without direct light:

In case you missed it yesterday, here are the video highlights from these glacier lagoons:

And that recaps a couple of hours of glacier fun. This is must-see if you visit Iceland! Even if you’re based in Reykjavik, it’s worth the very long drive to get here. I took some great video on this day which I look forward to sharing at the end of my Iceland posts.