After visiting the famous mud pots of Hverir, the day tour off the L’Austral continued circling Lake Myvatn on the Ring Road. The next stop was the unpronounceable Skutustadagigar Pseudo Craters or “fake” craters. These Pseudo craters were formed over 2,000 years ago when molten lava ran over wetlands and the shadow lake. Water under the lava boiled with such vigor that the steam broke through the thick lava, exploding and throwing molten magma up into circular scoria craters. Thus most of the islands in Lake Myvatn are pseudo-craters.
I thought they were underwhelming and it was so windy on the craters that a person could barely stand without being blown over.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Iceland scenery
sheep corrals in Iceland
map of Lake Myvatn, Iceland
Even though I will never be confused with a die-hard birder, or “twitcher,” I do enjoy seeing an unusual bird and Whooper Swans were swimming in Lake Myvatn.
The Whooper Swan is the largest bird in Iceland and the only swan found here. Adults are white but head and neck may be colored reddish by bog iron, and they spend summers in lakes, ponds and marshlands. Most Whooper Swans migrate to the British Isles and Ireland in autumn, and breed all over Iceland.
Pseudo Crater map – Skutustadir, Iceland
Pseudo craters – Skutustadagigar in Lake Myvatn, Iceland
Skutustadagigar Pseudo craters in Lake Myvatn, Iceland
There are bathrooms, souvenir shops and restaurants at Skutustadagigar. The Tauck Tour group was taken for lunch in the community center across the road. We had requested no fish and were served three slices of what was called, lamb steak. I can only describe it as dried out lamb pot roast that was completely inedible. Everyone else that ate fish was served a pinkish color trout. However, the two people sitting with us didn’t rave about that either. Happily, a tasty homemade tomato soup was the first course with bread.
Whooper Swans on Lake Myvatn, Iceland
Whooper Swans on Lake Myvatn, Iceland
ducks on Lake Myvatn, Iceland
Guide Lisa purchased a different kind of bread for Tauck Tourers to sample, Hverabrauo or Rugbrauo, famous in this area of volcanic activity. It is a rye bread or type of molasses bread. The dough is placed in a covered pot, wooden cask or even a milk carton, and baked in the ground for 12-24 hours near a geothermal spring. Probably an acquired taste…
clouds of steam in Iceland’s volcanic terrain