The king of the forests makes himself scarce

In Kittilä the Airbus coming in for a landing. Quickly, the passengers disperse in the Finnish Tundra. The small town is considered the gateway to the North. From here, travel to the North Cape start to the Lofoten Islands or deserted block-houses. We want to explore Finnish Lapland, the scores in the Winter with snow-Shoe tours, ice fishing, and Christmas magic in the summer.

Our first Stop is Levi, a small town on the 531-Meter high mountain, Finland's best-known winter sports centre. Early in the season to race in the Alpine Ski world Cup are held here. In the summer, the place looks sleepy in a pleasant way. Village and mountain seem to be well-equipped for the winter hustle and bustle that begins in October. While you wonder what to do here, one is overcome with the desire to Discover. And so it draws us to the summit of Levi, the covers every hour in the drizzle, the clouds, to Shine again in the light of the sun. A Museum about the culture of the seeds. The indigenous population of Scandinavia maintains, even today, is largely a life style oriented to the needs of Reindeer. There are Norwegian, Finnish, Russian and Swedish seeds. Together a close-to-nature life, which has led in history, rarely conflict with each other.

for perch, pike and trout

The car is in the infinite reaches of space, the best vehicle to discover the beauty of Lapland on your own. Luosto is also located at the foot of a hill, a Fjells. Luosto in the summer is still quieter than Levi. The Fjell is only 500 meters high, but in the Finnish flat country, the survey appears to be enormous. The coniferous forests thin on the mountain quickly, and soon we will wander through areas with blueberry bushes and admire again and again bizarre Lichen. On the summit of the fells Cairns defy the steady Wind. Endless forests light up in different shades of green. Wind-shaken and well-recovered, we sit in the evening in the log house by the fire, a bowl of hand-picked blue berries in front of us, a reindeer skin under the feet, the crackle and the scent of pine everywhere.

the next day Erro picks us up Fisk – a friendly man in rubber boots and brown hat whose Name tells what he does best: fishing. His Pick-up loaded with kayaks, fishing equipment, tents, Axes, mosquito spray. At dusk we will start the Tour in the forest. The Road surface switches to gravel from Asphalt, the roadway narrows to a narrow path. Only on the banks of the Kemijoki river, the forest thins out. Except for fishermen only moose here, of which traces remain in the soft soil. Erro shows us where the Angel can cast and how fast we should move. He always has the right bait. Soon we pulled pike, perch and trout. The Kemijoki river is a salmon was once a rich river, but since the power plants have been built to the South, no longer come up the salmon river.

enlarge map

Our fishing, we can prepare late at night in a typical barbecue hut, tastes great. Erro demonstrated how to RUB the fish directly over the fire frying: On the inside neatly with salt and pepper, it is put longitudinally on a wooden skewer and then into the flames. For Dessert there is coffee from a battered tin pot, and Pulla, a traditional Finnish pastry. On the long way back to Luosto we peer in vain for moose. A king you can't see all the days, noticed Erro hilarious.

reindeer are occasionally on the streets. They act wild, but almost without exception, Sami breeders. Almost the whole year, they move freely in the forests, in spring and autumn, they are driven together. Although the summer is not over yet, browsing already four reindeer on the big pasture of the Jakkola-Farm – early comers. You were too lazy to look it yourself food, says Anu with a smile, and feeds the animals with Lichens.

No Northern light lucky

Together with her husband, Anu the Farm deep in the forest to a large clearing. Anu asks in the Kota-hut, which looks like a big witch's hat. In the middle of an open crackling fire, where we shared the dark and tender reindeer meat from their own production, roast, fresh mashed mashed potatoes and cranberries, a classic dish of Lapland. But first, we cook a Sami soup with mushrooms, collected by Anu in the forest around the Farm.

We follow the course of the Kemijoki river, Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland, which had to be rebuilt after the destruction in the Second world war. The young city acts as if she was still in search of an identity. Maybe she has found this as the home of Santa Claus. However, although the white bearded holds also in the summer the yard, are we to others interested in Northern lights, we want to see. Because you can get lost in the woods on the mostly unpaved roads, we engage for the nighttime Northern lights excursion with a guide. At midnight Mayya Kucherova leads us to a small hill, 200 meters above the tops of the endless coniferous forests.

we Drove up through the uniform and pot levels of the forest, we are now on a rolling survey, at the same time, the only clearing far and wide. Here must be a the banks been says Mayya, and declared that with the last ice age As the ice sheet wegschmolzen, when the country started to lift, due to the lack of load. Little hills grew, while in the Lower lakes were formed.

year-round solar winds

the Northern lights were also observed in the summer, she says. Because the solar winds are available all year round, so it needs only the darkness to the light-emitting phenomenon. It is dark in the late summer, but the sky is nothing to be worried. A solid blanket of clouds has formed. The sparse scattering of light from Rovaniemi remains in this night, the only illumination in the sky. We spend a Grillhytte, in one of the sympathetic gabled houses, which are always open to anyone for a relaxed night session with BBQ sausages and cocoa, while outside the clouds are getting denser. At some point you can't see, not even the scattered light from Rovaniemi, the Northern lights.

And yet it remains a fascinating Finnish adventure. In particular, as the king of the forests shows quite unexpectedly, at the foot of the hill. With proud Antlers of a moose stands in front of us, seems to bow briefly, and then disappears silently in the thicket.

The trip was supported by Kontiki.

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 14.03.2019, 18:17 PM