The Land of Ice and Fire: The Icelandic Experience

Photography by Utshaho Gupta

At the time of the ELEx selection, there was one trip that caught the attention of everyone. STEM in Iceland. This trip was not only the most expensive trip out of the list, but also the one of the farthest, and the most unique. On this trip, one would go around the country with a bus; visit countless breathtaking views; and learn about the unique geographical circumstances, such as the fact that Iceland sits on the edge of two tectonic plates or how approximately 90% of the housed population in Iceland is powered with geothermal energy.

In terms of activities, on Day 1 of the trip, the students arrived at Reykjavik, and they were met by the friendly faces of their tour guides, Neil and Nick. Huge shoutout to them since they were really flexible with the students and the different amounts of sleep everyone got. After changing into Icelandic appropriate clothing, the group went to a cafe that had an old Viking ship that was used for pirating in the past. After that, the group went to what their first impression/encounter was with the volcanic environment that Iceland was living in. Afterwards, they travelled to a waterfall, got some photos, and then they could start resting for the following days. They really were dying for some sleep, since over half of the students were knocked out from the travel day they had just endured!

The next day started off with a visit to one of Iceland’s national parks, which had a completely frozen-over river! Following this landmark, our students and teachers visited an active geyser, which erupted every few minutes. Another really nice thing about the geyser was that they had really good food, and that the chefs made a killer burger for when you woke up late and jetlagged. After this, they went to a tomato garden, to learn more about how Iceland uses its geothermal advantages for agriculture, and also to learn how everything is put together and how agriculture works in such a foreign and unique environment.

On Day 2 of touring, the students went to their second natural wonder of the trip, visiting a glacier by the name of Sólheimajökull. This glacier was particularly interesting, since it was actually suffering from global warming by a significant amount, and a fair amount of it melted away during the past year, which sadly was a telltale sign that the glacier would not live for much longer. However, the group was still able to explore it whilst the natural beauty was still with us. After this, students and teachers visited another waterfall with a very nice view, and it also included a very long staircase for people to climb for better views for better photographs. To conclude the day, the students and teachers visited a national museum, a museum that contained artifacts from when the Vikings were still around hundreds of years ago, along with their interesting innovations, such as fish skin shoes. The tour guides had organized a scavenger hunt throughout the museum, where groups of students had to take a selfie with certain objects and show them to receive a prize of traditional Icelandic candy. Soon after, our group had a very nice dinner at their cottages, which included dishes like seasoned spaghetti, and they also were able to see the northern lights that night!

On Day 3, everyone woke up, and the hotel breakfast that day was very, very good. This day was the most educational out of all of the days, with the group visiting several museums during that day. They first visited the Lava Centre, a museum dedicated to educating individuals about the volcanic history of Iceland and its geographical significance. Students learned about previous eruptions, the intensity of these eruptions, and also how many people’s lives were affected, along with how the eruptions really happened. Following this, the students bought lunch from a grocery store on the way to their next destination, a geothermal power plant. At this power plant, students were given a lecture on geothermal energy and how it works, along with how geothermal energy is harnessed to Iceland’s advantage, and also learned about how much impact it really has on the daily lives of Icelandic locals. For their final stop before resting for their final touring day, they visited a national historical museum, where the students learned about Iceland’s political history, and they learned about major political events that occurred in the past, such as the fight over fishing rights with the UK, and also how they had the first democratically elected female president in the world.

On the last day, the students were really able to have fun and cool off. For their first stop, our students stopped by a snowy field-like type of place, where they had their first snowball fight. Chaos ensued, and even teachers were caught in the crossfire of stray snowballs. After the snowball fight, the students and teachers were taken to Blue Lagoon, a spa/resort in Iceland, for some quality rest. They all cooled off, took some photos, and enjoyed a free round of refreshments. However this resort was unique in the way that it was naturally heated by Iceland’s volcanic environment/geothermal energy, and it had no artificial heaters for most of the lagoon. After the relaxing spa session in the lagoon, students visited more visually appealing landmarks for the rest of the day, before going back to their hotel for the final night, and then flying back the next day. The travel day back was smooth. To sum it all up, one student shared, “This trip was a mix of like sad yearning nostalgia and I’m having the best time of my life.”