Iceland, the land of fire and ice and the destination for Wildfire Explorers’ first Explorer Belt Expedition in July this year. 2nd July 2015 saw the culmination of over a year’s planning and training as eleven Explorers, four Leaders and four family members departed Edinburgh for Reykjavik, our base for two days’ acclimatisation and pre-expedition preparations.
Fast forward to 14 July, location Selfoss, southern Iceland, the post-expedition rendezvous location for Explorer Belt teams and the rest of the party and base for post-expedition de-briefing. Among the achievements: more than 350km travelled (nearly half on foot), many Icelanders met, a geothermal swimming pool swum in by at least one Explorer every day, traditional Icelandic food sampled, dormant volcanoes ascended and an island visited.
The Wildfire Explorer Scout Unit in Reykjavik
To complete the trip: three days at Ulfljotsvatn Scout Centre where we cycled and canoed and experienced the Ulfljotsvatn fly which at times made the Scottish midge seem quite tame.
A challenging but hugely enjoyable seventeen days.
Story provided by Sue McLeod, ESL at Wildfire ESU