This installment of our advice column comes to you from our Icelandic-American, Mr. Kelly Hughes; a man whose no stranger to the Land of Fire and Ice. Spread across 39,817 sq. miles of spectacular landscapes and progressive cities and villages, this small island nation sits in the middle of two tectonic plates; where the North American plate features a terrain of fiery volcanoes, while the Eurasian plate is known for its 269 icy glaciers. Iceland is noted for its retainment of the world’s oldest recorded parliament (‘Althing’) still in existence, founded in 930 by 39 local Nordic chieftains.

Disembarking from our motorized outrigger boat, we crossed over the wooden pier spanning the crystalline turquoises waters of the cove and into an island of colossal karst rocks and cliff walls. Just slightly beyond the white sand beach of verdant Pangabangan Island where we landed we encountered one of the most remarkable sights we’ve come across in all of our island-hopping adventures.