Visit to Mývatn

Mývatn means "place of the dwarf flies", it must be said, during summer, there are many annoying flies, which have the knack of getting into your mouth or nose. Ah, nature, so mysterious! The place is 5 or 6 hours from the center of Iceland to the north. Mývatn is not only visited for the artificial lake that is in there, but by its geographical composition, since in the area are several craters and volcanic formations. Another place of interest is Dimmuborgir, a place where there are precisely interesting lava formations.

In the lagoon, you have to make a prior reservation on its website (especially in times of greater influx). There is a bar inside the lake, so my recommendation is that you pay for your drinks before entering the lake, they give you a bracelet and you don't have to go back to your locker for your wallet. The visit depends on your tolerance to the heat of the lagoon that is between 36 to 40º C., is estimated that you will stay approximately 90 minutes. And yes, once you get to the point of getting raisin hands in your cooking, there is nothing left but to leave.

Another curiosity of the area is its fauna, because being so rich in dwarf flies, there is a large presence of birds, of which fifteen species of ducks stand out. If you are interested in this, there is a place called "The museum of birds", in front of the great lake Mývatn. We didn't exactly enter the place, as it was closed, but it is not really necessary to appreciate the birds of the area, because among the brush and in the waters of the lake, you can see the diversity of species. It should be noted (although I think this is obvious) that they are migratory birds and for being able to see them the best season starts in May.

As an extra piece of information, which we hope will remain as part of the anecdotes of 2020, the Icelandic government granted 5,000 Icelandic krónur to each resident, in order to use it during these summer holidays, to boost the economy as a result of the crisis due to the pandemic (especially in the tourism sector). Many Icelanders, who usually travel abroad on these dates, have chosen instead to travel domestically to different parts of the country. So, to our surprise, the hotel was full! I can't say that most of them were Icelanders or not, but we know that recently they have begun to have an increment of foreign tourists within the island. Government sanitary measures include taking tests at the airport (now antibody tests are also carried out) or mandatory quarantine, but in tourist establishments, social distancing continues (being two meters apart), the use of latex gloves and antibacterial gel. At the time I write these lines, there are 78 people in quarantine and 8 in isolation, out of 50, 290 tests that have been done at the airport (data taken from the covid.is site).

• It is a long road trip, if you want to visit this area, there are different car or camper rental companies so you can get there. You can also take a bus to Akureyri, and from there, to Mývatn.
• In summer, there are many dwarf flies, which can be very annoying when camping.
• To reduce your lodging costs, there are camping areas, which aren’t free, but have toilets, showers and some even have WiFi.
• We stayed at the Fosshotel, I highly recommend it. However, it seems to me that the hotel must be much more cozy in winter..