March 29th

Today we woke up at Katla Hotel to a landscape covered in snow. The students continued the work with collecting information on the local sustainable tourism. We were divided into three groups, each going to different locations.

First group went to Lindarfiskur, a local charr farm, located in the middle of the huge lava field. This family run business use glacial water filtered through the lava in their fish tanks. The second group went to Skaftárstofa, a visitor center of Vatnajøkull national park. We were introduced to the possibilities for tourists and how they work with promoting sustainable travel behaviour. The last group went to Iceland Bike Farm, but we had to meet the representative at the school, because the road to the farm was closed due to erosion. It is a family run business where they use old sheep trails as biking routes. At all locations the students asked critical questions and had interesting discussions regarding sustainability with the company representative.

After gathering the group we drove on to the glacier lagoon with a spectacular view to the Vatnajøkull glacier and floating icebergs. The last stop of the day was in Hali, where we met representatives from  Glacier Adventures. They told us about how they use tourism to increase awareness of climate change and how this affects the glaciers of Iceland.

In the afternoon we finally arrived in Höfn where the students met with the host families and spent the rest of the evening with them.