RSS feed from Icelandreview.com
Icelandreview.com on your mobile (Nokia)
A foreign tourist was reported missing in the volcanic canyon Eldgjá in the southern highlands on Saturday afternoon after she failed to return to her tour bus. The driver waited for about one hour before notifying the police and continuing the tour.
Ófærufoss Waterfall in Eldgjá. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Search and rescue were sent to the area shortly afterwards. However, the search was called off at 3 am when it turned out that the missing woman had been on the bus all along and even participated in the search for herself, mbl.is reports.
Before reentering the bus after the stop at Eldgjá, the woman had changed her clothes and freshened up, resulting in the other passengers not recognizing her.
According to information from the Coast Guard, a helicopter was ready to be sent to the area to assist with the search but the plans were put off due to foggy conditions. Around 50 people participated in the search on vehicles and by foot.
Chief of police in Hvolsvöllur Sveinn K. Rúnarsson told mbl.is that the woman was innocent of the mistake; the people on the bus hadn’t been counted correctly. She didn’t recognize the description of herself and “had no idea that she was missing.”
It isn’t often that people who are safe and sound are reported missing in Iceland but a similar incident occurred in 1954 when an extensive search was carried out for a young girl in a red coat who had been berry picking with a group of people but didn’t return with them. Or so they thought.
People searched for the girl for hours until it turned out that she wasn’t missing at all but had participated in the search herself. The misunderstanding was based on a false description of the girl’s clothing.
ESA
This year’s free English-language travel guide Around Iceland has been released, the 38th year in a row. The guide is also published in Icelandic and German and is distributed in 100,000 copies to the country’s most frequented tourist destinations.
more
An international group of divers recently traveled to Þingvellir National Park in Southwest Iceland to explore this unique diving destination. A Polish guide, Michail Zinieuricz, who works for the DIVE.is, led the team of North Americans and a French couple.
more
Iceland’s northernmost island is no longer one island. In a recent surveillance excursion to the Kolbeinsey, the Icelandic Coast Guard discovered that the island is now divided in two.
more
Iceland is among the top five OECD-countries where immigrants help to boost the economy and increase nation-wide production by approximately 1 percent, according to a new report from the OECD.
more
The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
more
REVIEWS
amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
more
Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
more
){kind=link}