Icelandic Sheep

I kept hearing that Iceland has more sheep than people. I can't confirm if that's really true or not, but we did see a lot more sheep than people.

They have very strict livestock importation laws here. Their sheep, horses and goats are all exclusively Icelandic, pure breeds for almost a millennia. Most are left to their own devices for much of the summer, and they have developed into small, hardy creatures.

We spent the night at a farm outside of Hofn. Every place we stayed was very simple, but impeccably clean and tidy.

Like almost all the houses we saw in Iceland, there was a mound of earth built up around the house For insulation. Some had lines of hedges and some were built or buried into the hillside. Our farmer hosts, Gurun and Magnus, were gracious and cooked us a Super hearty dinner of cod and root vegetables in their cafe that used to be the cow barn. Their property went right up against a glaicer, and their was a great network of walking trails close by.

And this is a fantastic thing to have in the backyard:

Several times a day, new lambs were being born. Most sheep give birth to two or three lambs at a time, and the pasture and barns were filled with tiny little bleats.

Everytime I crouched down to take a picture, Victor would come barreling over to say hello.

It's loads of fun to watch the new lambs discover their legs. They will suddenly spring up in the air, twist around, stumble and chase each other.

I also met a rather intrepid goat kid.

But for me, the lambs really stole the show.