Ingólfshöfði Puffin Tour
Puffin Tour. Hay cart ride across Hofsnes Sand Flats, and hiking and history and bird watching in Ingolfshofdi Nature Reserve in southeast Iceland.
The tours to Ingólfshöfði have been conducted by the family in Hofsnes since 1990 when the farmer Sigurður Bjarnason had given up traditional sheep farming and had time to try new ways to make a living on his farm. His son Einar Rúnar Sigurðsson started to help his father soon, and then Einar’s wife, Matthildur Þorsteinsdóttir, and their oldest son Aron Franklín. Today the trip is normally done by Einar or Matthildur (Matta) or their sons, Ísak and Matthías.
Cape Ingolfshofdi is an isolated headland on the coast half way between Skaftafell in Vatnajokull National Park and Jökulsárlón ice lagoon. This historical nature reserve is home of thousands of nesting seabirds, like puffins and great skuas. The cape is named after the first settler of Iceland, Ingolfur Arnarson, who spent his first winter in Iceland there in the year 874 AD. To get to Ingólfshöfði we cross 7 km of waters, marshes and sands in a tractor-drawn hay cart. The drive takes about 30 minutes each way, so we spend about 1 1/2 hour hiking around the cape. The circle we hike around the nature reserve is 2-3 km long. In the beginning we need to walk up a steep sand slope, but then it gets more easy, mostly hiking on flat grass land and we make many stops along the way. We don’t recommend that people participate in this trip unless they can do this hike.
A ride on tractor drawn hay cart to the base of the cape, and then guided 2-3 km walk to learn history, enjoy the views and nature, and see the birds. The tour is conducted by a local person from the farms in the vicinity.
The tour starts from the parking 2 km south of the main road at the farm Hofsnes. We use a hay cart pulled by a tractor to cross the marshes and sands, and after about 25-30 minutes drive across the Hofsnes Sand Plains we park at the base of Ingólfshöfði Nature Reserve. Then we do a guided hike up to the cape and about 2 1/2 km circle to the bird colonies on the east side of the cape. We share the history of this place with our guests, and of course spend ample time in the presence of the calm and friendly puffins. The nature reserve is also the home to the protected bird great skua, and while they are maybe not as friendly as the puffins, we will go safely through their nesting ground by keep being in the group.
Be careful to bring good outdoor clothing for this trip, the area is exposed to winds and rain, and sometimes sand storms. Perfect trip to try out your waterproof outfit and gloves and hats in those conditions, but on the other hand, sometimes it is possible to wear shorts and t-shirts on the trip. The Icelandic weather is included in the Ingólfshöfði Puffin Tour. We do not provide protective cloths, so if you book in advance be careful to be equipped for any kind of weather, since we will not cancel the tour unless there are very strong winds. Rain and some wind is fine, and the puffins like that kind of weather anyway.
The classic hay cart tour to Ingólfshöfði Nature Reserve that has been offered since 1990 in southeast Iceland
- Difficulty:
- Easy
- Duration:
- 2 klukkustundir og 30 mínútur
- Price From:
- 10.000 ISK