After my forays into Scandinavia in the summer and autumn it
was with a sense of great anticipation that on the day of my 26th
birthday I travelled up to North East Finland in late January. My very helpful
(and fun!) work colleague, Amy, was travelling with me and luckily had prepared
me in advance for our adventure. I’m known in the office for not being hugely
practical and ‘outdoorsy’ so Amy had helped to kit me out with all my cold
weather clothing, including thermals, snow boots, head torches and other
essentials that one needs when travelling here!
The first thing that struck me when we arrived was, of
course, how cold it was - the kind of cold that I had never experienced before
– cold that freezes your eyelashes and you can feel in your lungs. Over the
course of our week here though, I discovered that given the right clothing you
can easily be outside without feeling it too much, and you almost get used to
the biting iciness that hits your face as soon as you head out the door. Unlike
the UK, the cold is not at all damp and there was little wind chill when we
were there so it was easy to get accustomed to once kitted out in your snow
gear.
Our first port of call was Nellim. The last time I had been
here was in the autumn so it was wonderful to see Lake Inari, previously viewed
reflecting the trees in its shimmering surface, completely frozen and covered
in a thick frosting of snow. After getting kitted up Amy and I headed down for
a walk around, keeping an eye on the sky of course. We saw nothing but stars
that night, but got to experience the deep snow in all its wonder and the pitch
black, albeit cloudy, sky dotted with stars was fantastic.
The next day we got to go out on snowmobiles for the first
time which was hugely exciting and one of the real highlights of the trip! We
were taken out by Jouko, owner of Nellim who lead us to Muotka, the new
accommodation they had just bought. I have to admit that I was a little nervous
at first, but soon got the hang of it and found it to be great fun – there’s
something remarkably exciting about whizzing across the snow. That evening we
got to once more head off on snowmobiles out into darkness to one of the nearby
Aurora Camps. Here we warmed ourselves by the fire and waited for the Lights to
make an appearance. We had almost given up hope and were about to head back
when a streak of green light split across the sky, shimmering and dancing
against the inky black backdrop. It is something I’ll know I will remember for
the rest of my life as it was a truly incredible feeling to gaze up at the
Arctic sky and witness the Aurora in all her glory.
The next day we made our way to Menesjarvi, but first
stopped off to spend a few hours with a Sámi Reindeer herder. This was a fantastic way to get to know how
the Sámi people make
their living and we had a lovely afternoon in the wilds. After being driven via
snowmobile-pulled sleigh into the forest we came across the reindeers in their
natural habitat where we had the chance to feed them . The best part was when
the herder called them in and they seemingly appeared like magic through the
trees, lured by the sight of the hay and the call of the herder. We then sat
around the fire and got to ask questions about the life of a reindeer herder
and chat about living in Lapland.
When we reached Hotel Korpikatano in the afternoon we were
warmly greeted by the hosts Anne and Timo. Timo was kind enough to teach us all
about photographing the Northern Lights and offered a great introduction to
this phenomenon from someone who was born and raised in this part of the world.
That evening Amy and I strapped on some snowshoes and made our way to the
nearby frozen lake to practise our photography (and walking!) skills. I can’t
say that I was particularly skilled at snowshoeing but it was great fun
nonetheless.
The following day we arrived in Inari, the centre of Sámi Culture in the area.
After visiting the fascinating Sámi
Siida Museum, and then enjoying a reindeer pizza (delicious!) we spent the
night at the Kultahovi Hotel in Inari where after dinner we sat in their lovely
bar and restaurant area and chatted about our adventures! The following day was
then spent in Saariselka where we snowmobiled for a few hours. It was just as
much fun this time, despite a near miss with a sign post!
Dawn Rawlings
