Eyjafjallajökull Glacier, one of Iceland's mightiest volcanoes, began
erupting around midnight on March the 20th.
This is the first time
the volcano has erupted since 1821-1823. This eruption has many of the same
characteristics as the last eruption - it is a stable eruption with a
small lava flow. Whether or not the eruption goes on for nearly two
years as the past eruption did, only time will tell.
Luckily, the
eruption is not underneath the glacier itself, but just off to the side
of the ice field. This avoids the glacial meltwater floods that
otherwise might cause trouble in the farmlands below the glacier as
happened in the 1800's.
Iceland Rovers offer various tours to visit the eruption,
Eruption on Fimmvörðuháls Volcano Tour to the beautiful nature reserve of Þórsmörk just below the eruption. In Þórsmörk an easy hike up to the top of Valahnúkur will give us an amazing view of the eruption only a few kilometers away. The lava is now flowing into the valley offering views of lava fighting glacier rivers and ice.
For those who want a
little more adventure we are offering the
Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Eruption on Snowmobiles. In this tour we will go up to the
edge of the Mýrdalsjökull Glacier on a 4x4 super jeep and then cross the
glacier on snowmobiles to get as close as possible to the eruption.
Our popular day tours,
Eruption via Mýrdalsjökull Glacier 4x4 Tour and
Volcano View Bus and Super Jeep Tour, both go a similar route taking you through the southern lowlands of Iceland to the Mýrdalsjökull Glacier. The tour then crosses the Mýrdalsjökull Glacier to reach the col of Fimmvörðuháls and get up close to the eruption for amazing views. The main differences between the tours is that the
Eruption
via Mýrdalsjökull Glacier 4x4 Tour is driven as a 4x4 Super Jeep tour all the way from Reykjavík while the
Volcano
View Bus and Super Jeep Tour uses a bus to transport you to the glacier where the Super Jeep awaits.
There are many many pictures of the eruption inside the tour galleries.
Please email us with any questions at
icelandrovers@icelandrovers.is.
Watch this video taken on one of our tours: