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Distant Volcano
Lichen Covers the Lava in SummerSparse Arctic Beauty
Keflavík, Iceland is located about 50 km west of Reykjavík. It is where the international airport is located, so visitors to the country will always get to see Keflavík first before Reykjavík. Keflavík is also home to a NATO base run by the US as well as a few corporate fisheries. But for the most part, Keflavík is a vast, ancient lava flow covered with lichen and delicate Arctic flowers. It's landscape is harsh and unvarrying. As far as the eye can see there is black lava, from the far horizon to the sea. In the distance there are volcanoes and if one looks carefully they will see geysers of steam rising from cracks in the earth.
When I first arrived in Keflavík I wondered what I had done by coming to Iceland because it is a lot like landing on the moon, all rock and sky. I imagined that the whole country must look that way because there was nothing else to be seen with naked eye other than the sea, huge icebergs floating in the distance.
The second time I went to Keflavík was when I noticed how beautiful it was. Though I have not seen everything by far, I am fairly certain that there is no other place like this one on earth.
