Buy a special glass jar with a treasure map in Skaftárstofa or one of the local shops or hotels in the area. Find the turf-house by Hæðargarðsvatn lake, fill the jar with a natural sample of your choosing and design your very own souvenir from the centre of south Iceland.
This unique-to-Iceland tourism concept has been created by the Icelandic design team at HAF Studio, in close collaboration with Visitklaustur.is.
In the turf-house are six drawers each filled with a natural sample that add a strong character to the area;
Sand; The sand is from the Skaftá river að 115 km long glacial river originating from under Vatnajökull the largest glacier in Europe. Skaftá river is our natural driving force and affects our lives almost daily.
Moss; Most of the lava from the 1783 Laki eruption is covered with wooly fringe moss that reminds us of the catastrophe following the eruption and the Mist hardship.
Air; Please feel free to grab fresh air from our municipality. We are proud to say that the air here is not affected by industrial pollution.
Lava; This pumice is from the Eldgjá eruption 934-940, the biggest lava eruption on the planet in historical times. Thousands of rootless cones were formed in the eruption.
Lichen; Beautiful and useful lichens can be found in this area e.g. Icelandic moss and reindeer moss. Tea with Icelandic moss is a great curative for a soar throat and cold.
Wool; Locks of wool were commonly seen on fences around farms when sheep were more outdoors during the winter time. The Icelandic sheep wool is warm, light-weight and water-repellant.
We have great respect for our nature. Please don't collect natural samples from other sites in the area and help us to protect and preserve our magnificent nature in this way.
All samples in the turf-house are sustainable and have been collected with approval.
