continued… At the base camp, the tour group got back into the regular bus for the return trip to Reykjavík. They passed an aluminum factory. While Iceland did not have aluminum ore deposits, it did have abundant and inexpensive electricity. And a lot of electricity is what was needed to process aluminum. So they bulk shipped in the ore, processed it, and exported it. Apparently, aluminum refining generated a significant amount of revenue for the country.
They stopped at the Hraunfossar and Barnafass waterfalls. They weren’t single waterfalls, but a collection running out from under the lava fields. Apparently, the smaller falls were Hraunfossar and the bigger ones above them were Barnafass. Here were some smaller falls (Hraunfossa) by the river leading the bigger falls.

The main waterfall area (Barnafass) was beautiful. According to the sign, the name meant “Children’s Waterfall.” The legend behind the name was tragic. According to the story, there used to be an arched bridge made of stone over the river. On Christmas, two of the children who lived nearby skipped church and went to play on the arch, instead. They fell off and drowned. The mother had the arch destroyed.







