Trails of Wilderness

WORK/PROJECT: SEEDS volunteers will be working on environmental oriented tasks within this project in the East of Iceland in cooperation with the Wilderness Museum. We will construct walking paths and mark the hiking path. Furthermore we will clean up and beautify the area.  The working plan is 8 hours work day, from Monday to Friday.

While we help to preserve the local environment, we will explore the surroundings of the location and enjoy free time activities arranged in cooperation with the local host. 

ACCOMMODATION: Volunteers will stay at a hostel and mountain chalet; volunteers will sleep on mattresses on the floor and in bunk beds. Volunteers need to bring their own sleeping bag.

Volunteers will be provided with food and be in charge of the cooking themselves. We will share the different duties of cooking and cleaning.

Please remember to bring some traditional or typical food from your home country for the international evening.

LOCATION: Laugarfell is surrounded by beautiful nature. In the rivers Jökulsá and Laugará are many beautiful waterfalls. Many of weren’t named until the last century, as they are far from civilisation. From the hostel are good walks and one can relax tired bones in the hot pools afterwards. 
In the river Jökulsá í Fljótsdal are about 15 waterfalls, big and small. “No other river in the country has as many, as it runs for 600m in only 30km,” writes geologist Oddur Sigurðsson. 
The naturalist Helgi Hallgrímsson says about the rivers Jökulsá í Fljótsdal and Laugará:
"There are to be found some of the most magnificent and beautiful waterfalls in the country, along with diverse rock formations, as basalt, móbergsfell, pools and moorland with small pools/puddles. The land is all green".

In the Laugarvallardalur valley is to be found a natural shower which falls into a comparable natural pool. This is one of the few places in Iceland where one can take a warm natural shower in nature. The pool Laugarvallarlaug is placed about 7km north from the Kárahnjúkastífla dam. One can only go there in a four wheel drive car. No one visiting will be disappointed by this pearl of Icelandic nature.

Snæfell (1833m) is the highest mountain in Iceland not under a glacier and the mountain and the area around is within Vatnajökull glacier national park. It can be seen from far off and on a good day the view from the top is magnificent. Snæfell is a bit conical in shape, as it is a volcano which hasn’t stirred for ten thousand years. It was formed in the later part of the last ice age and is the youngest volcano in the Eastern Fjords of Iceland. Because of the height of Snæfell the top is white with snow and it has a white snow cap all summer long. On it are several small outlet glaciers.

LANGUAGE: English will be the language in the camp; basic conversational skills are needed.

TERMINAL: Closest international Airport: Keflavík/Reykjavík (KEF). Bus station: Central Reykjavík (BSÍ).

SEEDS organises the “minibus option”, a shared transport from Reykjavík to the camp site and vice versa. Apart from being cheaper and more convenient, it allows volunteers to meet fellow campers and have a relaxed trip, while stopping on the way for interesting and tourist sites.

EXTRAS / SPECIAL REMARKS: Participation fee EUR 150.

Please note that the fees are to be paid to SEEDS on arrival in either Euros or Icelandic crowns.

Volunteers should have a motivation for working outdoors, and need to be flexible and motivated to work in all the diverse tasks connected with the project.

Please bring warm winter clothes, overcoats, scarves, gloves and hats as part of the project/trips takes place outside and the weather can be cold or rainy.

Place of extreme beautiful natural surroundings with opportunities to hike and discover it by foot.

Age: 18+