Photographing on Iceland at the Margrétarhof
The first days of my trip to Iceland - South Iceland
2- 4 juni 2026Tuesday June 2nd, Travel day
The first day of my adventure for my Icelandic Horse Project. A trip to Iceland. From Bourtange, The Netherlands, I travelled by car to Schiphol. My husband dropped me off at the airport and took care of our animals while I went on this trip. So sweet.I took a plane from Amsterdam to Keflavík, Iceland. My suitcase was a bit too heavy, so unfortunately I had to leave behind packets of stroopwafels and liquorice.I met two cool, kind ladies on the plane and before we knew it we landed in Keflavík. I rented a car with Sunnycars. In my rental car, a Hyundai i30, I set off for my first address near Hella. Google already wanted all kinds of alternative routes, but it seemed wiser to me to follow Route 1, the Ring Road. I stopped at Bónus in Selfoss to shop for some groceries. Around 19:30 I arrived at Árbakki, Hella, where I would spend the first two nights. A beautiful location, birdsong and a lovely view, a very clean and nice apartment.
Wednesday June 3rd, Margrétarhof
Wednesday 3 June, I went to Margrétarhof to meet up with Dutch Anna van Unen and Janneke Beelenkamp, who both work there. I photographed Anna once years ago. It was lovely to see her here again. They showed me the beautiful place where they work, an amazing location with neat stables and great horses. I was allowed to join them for a day. It turned out it was a competition day with two trips to Reykjavík, so that each of them could ride. On the way I enjoyed a typical Icelandic snack, pylsa with Appelsín, orange soda. We looked around the Lífland shop near Selfoss, so much cool stuff. I felt honoured that Anna and Janneke did not mind me joining on such an exciting day. In between, at Margrétarhof, I was allowed to enjoy the mares with foals. I was given a tour of the area where one beautiful view followed another. Reynir showed me a few views that make you feel as if you are in a BBC documentary, where you expect David Attenborough to start talking about the river, the birds and the nature at any moment. Very kind and hospitable.
After two lovely tests (Janneke rode a V1 and rode herself into the B final, and Anna rode a nice, steady V2 with her Dyrjandi), I drove back towards the apartment around 23:00 with a full feeling. What a day.
Thursday June 4th, Hella to Höfn
Day 3 of my Iceland adventure. The day started at Margrétarhof with a photo session with Janneke and her dog Freya, a border collie with a touch of Icelandic sheepdog. We planned that the day before in the car. It would mean a long day, but I could not say no to the chance to photograph my two favourite breeds combined in one dog. Great fun. With a beautiful landscape in the background, this cheerful girl came to life in front of my camera. Her reaction to my sounds was exactly what I was hoping for. For me it is extra special when a dog does a head tilt. She did. A wonderful start to the day.
I said goodbye to Anna and Janneke and went back to the Árbakki apartment to tidy up and pack the car with a bonus stable tour from Hulda. So kind.
In the car on to the next overnight stop. In Hvolsvöllur I took a break to visit Lífland, the Una Local shop with lovely souvenirs and of course a stop at Valdís for ice cream.
I find it funny how travelling solo makes it so much easier to strike up conversations with complete strangers.I ended up talking about knitting with a German tourist in the Una Local shop. During this trip I took a pause for my monthly Zoom call with colleagues, with Skógafoss as the backdrop. Not a bad office. The next stop was Vík, where I found a knitting corner in the Icewear shop. There I spotted a beautiful book about Icelandic sweaters that I think you can only find in Iceland and that has been on my list for a while. Everything there is quite pricey, so I decided to leave it behind. Some lovely buttons I could not resist, and those came with me.
Driving away, I spotted a hitchhiker, a Slovakian student. He joined me for a while and we had a good chat. He was working towards saving up to create more opportunities and also figuring out what really suits him. His workplace is near Fjaðrárgljúfur, an impressive canyon we visited on a short walk, before dropping him off and continuing towards Höfn.
Very quick changes in weather throughout the drive as Iceland is famous for: one moment rain and everything closed in, the next dry and sunny. The landscape and nature made the drive endlessly interesting. Around 21:00 I arrived at the hostel in Höfn.
Inside it was busy. Straight away everyone needed to take their shoes off at the door, there where people everywhere. After hours of driving alone, it took me a moment to adjust to that. But it was a neat room, I had my first chance to transfer photo’s from the past days to my laptop and hard drive. My plan was to go to bed early, but suddenly it was already a quarter past midnight. Oepssss….
Thank you so much, Reynir, Janneke and Anna for your kindness, hospitality and for letting me photograph.