Nature

Either lots of ITN subscribers have been to Iceland or they’ve got plenty of spare time isolating at home, because we got the most submissions ever for an essay, this time on the topic “I See Iceland.”
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(excerpt from the winning entry)

"... I smiled a lot in Iceland.

"How could I not, in a land of sprites, trolls and 'hidden people'? The latter, it is claimed, may invite humans for a chat and pancakes. Road builders, fearing repercussions, divert around elf stones. 'We try to accommodate,' said one. ..."

Near the Hardang er fjord in Norway, a hiking bridge across a canyon and above the Vøringsfossen waterfall opened on Aug. 21. The 154-foot-long footbridge includes 99 steps, as one end is at a different elevation than the other. The higher end of the bridge is near the Fossli Hotel (www.fossli-hotel.com). Amenities at the top of the falls, including new paths and lookout points, will be added in 2021.

Leaving from Reykjavík, Iceland, the “Eyjafjallajökull Super Jeep Tour,” operated by Arctic Adventures (+354 562 7000, adventures.is), takes guests to the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, which last erupted in 2010, while also visiting Gígjökull Glacier and Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls.

The tour, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., includes pickup and drop-off at each guest’s hotel or certain other locations in Reykjavík plus a driver, a guide and a picnic lunch. Offered year-round, it costs $290 per person.

7-day, 6-night “moderately easy” trek in northern SCOTLAND. Departures Aug. 6 & 22, 2021. Group limit, 8. Highlights: Cross Pentland Firth from Inverness to Orkney/ferry to Rousay Island for walks to Midhowe Broch (fortified tower), Faraclett Head/Mull Head/Old Man of Hoy sea stack/Neolithic village of Skara Brae/Ring of Brodgar. From £1,795 (near $2,238) per person, double occupancy (ppdo). Single supp., £435 ($542).

13 days, 12 nights. Departures April 14 & May 6, 2021. Group limit, 18. Highlights: Drive from Heraklion to Malia for Minoan Palace ruins/see white-sailed windmills on Lasithi Plateau/Byzantine frescoes at Church of Panagia Kera/Minoan palaces of Zakros, Knossos/wine tasting in Peza region/boat ride to ancient Lissos/Monastery of Agia Triada on Akrotiri Peninsula/ancient Eleutherna. £3,935 (near $4,906) ppdo. Single supp., £580 ($723).

An armed group, believed to be a Rwandan separatist militia, killed 12 rangers and injured six people in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on April 24. According to a government official, the militia ambushed a group of Congolese being escorted through the park by the rangers. 

San Rafael Waterfall, at nearly 490 feet the highest waterfall in Ecuador, disappeared in late February after the Coca River, which fed it, diverted into a sinkhole upstream believed to have been created by a series of landslides earlier in the month. Naturalists do not believe the waterfall will return naturally. It was a centerpiece of the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve, a national park in the Amazon rainforest.

Taal, a volcano on the Philippine island of Luzon, erupted on Jan. 13 and continued to erupt over multiple days, sending ash thousands of feet into the air. The eruption, which occurred only 45 miles south of the capital, Manila, forced more than 70,000 people to evacuate the surrounding area and caused flight cancellations at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. No major injuries were reported.

White Island, a volcano off the north coast of New Zealand’s North Island, erupted unexpectedly on Dec. 9 while tourists were exploring it. Nineteen people were killed and more than 15 others were injured. Some of the visitors were cruise passengers taking part in an excursion from Royal Caribbean International’s Ovation of the Seas, which was docked in Tauranga, the city nearest to White Island.