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Reindeer Hunt, East Iceland

Day 1 Roadtrip to Egilsstaðir

By Tatiana RagsdalePublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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After two weeks in Iceland, my final week was spent in the Eastern Mountains with my Workaway host and a few of his friends hunting reindeer. My host had been waiting five years for this and finally, this year, he won the lottery to hunt reindeer.

Ari walked up to me and asked, "Tati, we are going reindeer hunting the last week you are here. Do you.." He didn't finish his sentence before I immediately jumped in and said yes. I had no idea what to expect and, of course, I didn't think I would be apart of "the hunt." I thought I'd just be that chick that joined for the car ride and would go out and do my own thing while they were out hunting. Luckily for me, it didn't work out quite like that.

My host had two friends from Britain and a friend from home to join in on the hunt. Friday evening, everyone arrived and by Sunday, we were packed and on the road.

One squishy truck, five people, and eight hours later, we finally made it to the cabin. I was so glad it was over. When I say it was a squishy ride, I mean it was a very squishy ride. I had the joy of sitting in the middle and was able to put my legs up. However, it didn't change the fact I had two tank-sized dudes sitting on either side of me.

When we finally arrived at the cabin, there was enough time for the boys to make it out to do some geese hunting, which, by the way, is the only place in the world you can hunt pink-footed geese in the mountains. I had no intention of sitting in that truck for another two hours. I decided to stay behind and explore the area while they went out to get some geese.

In their absence, I danced around the cabin naked. Jokes. To be honest, it was nice to have some alone time, but there was no naked dancing. I unpacked the food, claimed my room, then went out for a walk to check out the area.

The cabin was located next to a small, man-made forest with some short walking trails. I found it funny the moment I entered the forest my senses immediately screamed, "Bears!!!" I stopped and thought, "Wait. I'm in Iceland. There are no bears. Wow, Tats," and continued on.

There were three trails in the park. I interlaced all three to make one big loop, only taking me about an hour. Along the way, I had never seen so much diverse fungi in such a small area — mushrooms, mushrooms everywhere, in all different colours and sizes. I had many questions. I wished I had and an expert in fungi with me to tell me what was what.

Continuing on the trail, it led up a hill to a large clearing. Of course, right where the trees meet the clearing there's a fence. I debated hopping the fence so I could walk to the top of the hill, but decided against it. I wasn't sure how happy the farmer would be if there was a tourist walking through his property. They probably got enough of it already. So I turned back.

The rest of the night consisted of eating and sleeping. The boys didn't get back until almost 1 AM. However, they were successful. They ended up with five geese, but they were hoping for more as they went so far.

The Brits kept bragging about how amazing the place was and how they got to see the Northern Lights. I was slightly envious, knowing I probably wouldn't get to see any. However, my little adventure was done. All in all, it was a great day.

Tomorrow, the boys go out and attempt to get a reindeer while I get my hike on.

solo travel
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