The travel plans of 70 Germans who were going to drive around Tunisia were diverted after the protests there. They decided to come to Iceland instead, crossing the highland on modified jeeps.
The Icelandic highland in winter. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
“Instead of driving in sunshine and 30 degree heat [°C; 86°F] in Tunisia, the travelers ended up here in snow and three degrees,” Jón Baldur Thorbjörnsson, managing director of ISAK, told Fréttabladid yesterday.
At the time of the interview he was in the highland valley Kaldidalur serving as a tour guide for the German tourists’ 11-vehicle convoy.
Thorbjörnsson rents specially equipped Land-Rover Defenders which are suitable for winter highland tours. The group drove across Kjölur towards Langjökull glacier. “This is the largest group that has come to the country to drive in modified jeeps,” he said.
They encountered a lot of snow in Kaldidalur, Thorbjörnsson said. “It has been a fun hassle. People were getting stuck and dragging each other out of the snow. They have also derimmed one tire and had to let the air out of the tires down to six pounds [of pressure].
“They’re all tire salespeople and a new perspective on the business opened up to them,” he concluded.
