Fireflies in Nichinan, Tottori, Japan

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Land of the midnight sun

Here we are in the land of the midnight sun, just after the summer solstice. These days of seemingly endless sunlight are especially dramatic here at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall on the south coast of Iceland. The famous waterfall is less than a two-hour drive from Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital city. Intrepid explorers, hopefully, kitted out in good traction shoes and raincoats, can explore the walkways behind and surrounding the raging walls of water.

The peak of Iceland’s famous midnight sun occurs in the days around the summer solstice when the sun reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky. This time of year, the sun never seems to set here, delivering up to 21 full hours of sunlight and 3 hours of twilight. Iceland experiences the long days of midnight sun between mid-May and mid-August. Then the days become shorter, with the entire country plunging into a dark polar night around the winter solstice in December.