Travel Photo 216524

Sep 7, 2017 8:35am

Trek camping - find a dry spot and try as much as possible not to disturb any moss... respect the moss! In all seriousness, the Icelandic environment and especially the plants and moss are extremely sensitive. Our guide explained that it can take a decade for a footprint to fade from the moss. In some cases it is unavoidable to walk or camp on moss, but in many cases it can be avoided. In five weeks travelling round Iceland we saw dozens of people jumping ropes and climbing sensitive areas off the path for photographs - and even more frustrating are the influencers on instagram who post pictures I know were taken behind ropes or off paths - only encouraging their 300 k followers to do the same. These people should respect the wishes of Icelanders and the restrictions/fences/paths/ropes; otherwise Iceland's most visited areas will be just a criss-cross of brown tracks. If they can't respect the places they visit, and the nature they claim to revere, they should stay at home....