TL;DR Drone crash on far side of Aldeyjarfoss, at the bottom. Very difficult retrieval spot.
Hæhæ, r/Iceland!
I'm here on vacation with my mom as Iceland is the last major place on my mom's bucket-list before her cancer spreads too far for her to travel. The trip so far has been AMAZING. The weather the last week has been so incredible, we've seen tons of puffins and even a mated pair of wild arctic foxes out hunting. We've done the entire Ring Road plus all of the West Fjords. The frequent disability parking spots combined with our disability parking card has made it so we can see sights that we wouldn't otherwise have the physical ability to get to from the regular parking lots that are full of other tourists. The Icelanders have been kind, helpful, and fun to hang out with. You guys have a great country and I can't wait to visit here again with my partner.
My only regret is my crashed drone! While I'm sad to be out the money, I'm more sad I don't have the footage on the microsd card, and I'm even more sad that we won't be able to use it for the rest of our trip to see sights that my mom isn't physically capable of getting to. But I'm the most sad of where I crashed it and having littered in a place so beautiful and natural. I am SO SORRY for that. I've tried hard to not be a crappy tourist and in this one area, I've failed 😭
A few days ago I was flying around Aldeyjarfoss (most beautiful waterfall we've seen so far!), getting close in to a small cave-like area on the bottom of the opposite side of where you park. My last proximity reading was an obstacle 2m away when suddenly the drone flipped and landed upside down on the rocks inside of that cave-like area. I should have been more cautious and relied less on the proximity sensors and more on the actual camera. Since it was upside down, I couldn't relaunch it and so it's still sitting there today.
I've attached photos of the spot, and where I think someone could cross to the other side to get to the spot where the drone is. I think it would require a strong person with good water shoes, a safety rope, and one or two people on the shore to hold the rope. I'm neither strong enough, have the right equipment, nor have buddies to help me. So I'm posting here in case anyone out there thinks they are up for the task and wants a free drone.
Thank you for having such a wonderful place to vacation to, and please don't try retrieving the drone if you can't do it safely!!! A free drone is not worth broken bones!
by sinskittles