A super early morning start to fly out to Ivalo. Arriving groggy eyed, we got our rental car and headed down the road for our first activity: Husky Sledding!
The first step was to get properly suited up, turning all four us into Michelin men/women. Once we were all bundled up, we had to quickly leave the hut as we were seriously overheating, this was something that we got to experience many times over next few days. Shortly after cooling off we got to meet our doggies for sledding. Robyn and Maxine went together, whilst Harriette and Mish took another. Our favourite huskies were called Asterix and Rum! After a quick briefing, we set off… It was a lot of fun and a great way to start our Arctic adventure.
We spent most of our time in Saariselkä, with our first night and nights 3,4 & 5. As the second night was at in a Kelso Igloo (This is a log cabin with a glass igloo attached to it) at the Arctic resort in Kakslauttanen. The igloo cabin was pretty awesome but unfortunately the whole resort was VERY touristy (they arrive by the bus load) and dampened the mood a bit… But the girls had a beautiful night under the starts, unfortunately without the Aurora Borealis.
At the resort we went on a reindeer sleigh ride. It is definitely a lot calmer than the husky ride, and at a much slower pace. We learnt a few things about reindeer. They grow their antlers every year, and as they grow them out, they are covered in fur whilst they grow as this provides blood to the antlers to grow them out. Once they are fully grown out, the fur falls off. They shed their antlers once a year, seasonally, and fascinatingly, a reindeers antlers are like fingerprints, totally unique - and they grow back exactly the same every year.
Whilst in Saariselkä, we got to do some really cool things. These included:
- Going on a snow mobile ride, on one of the coldest nights we were there. Actually there was a low temperature warning whilst we were there (colder than normal), with the temperature dropping down to -28oC (but feels like -38oC). The ride was spectacular as we had an open fire dinner (sausages) and we got to see the Aurora Borealis! That made Harriette’s day!
- Lots and LOTs of tobogganing down the hill. The town has a dedicated hill to toboggan down, and the girls loved it. They just kept going down, and down and Down again. The cold does not seem to affect them when they are having fun.
- Cross-country (Nordic) skiing. The girls got their first taste of cross country skiing. And they really enjoyed it. Once we got the first hour under our belt, they really got into the rhythm of it. And it’s a great way to see the magical white countryside.
- We even had a “pool” day, as one of the nights we stayed at a hotel that has a fun pool area that we could go to and it was a fantastic escape from the COLD weather!
Along the way we have gotten to eat some reindeer. It seems that a popular dish is sautéed reindeer with mash (lots of mash). We all quite liked it! Very quickly we also realised that the sun would not rise whilst we are here, not once. This time of year is called Polar night. But that does not mean that it is night the whole time. We got a few hours of “twilight” each day, and this was a saving grace as it is hard to imagine how it would be with constant darkness otherwise!
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