Trip Day 16

Wednesday August 23

After a good nights sleep with the curtains open and the sky above us we went to breakfast at 7 am. The little walk from the cabin to the lodge was nice. Number 9 was not too far away and it made us hopeful that again we would be lucky with the weather.

Breakfast buffet was plentiful as always with the grainy flatbread etc. Here are all the berries which are growing wild. I was told that those bigger orange color ones are Cloudberries. 

Wikipedia says: native to cool temperate regions, alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest. This herbaceous perennial produces amber-colored edible fruit similar to the blackberry.

At 8 am there was a choice to go on a nature walk. Our bus took us. Stephen introduced us to our local guide Piia when we arrived at the head of the Juutua Trail and off she lead us.

The trail was easy to walk on and sometimes there were these cute information posts. 

This bridge went over a river (don't remember the name) which was full of water and rapids. There was a sign on each side of the bridge that only 4 people can be on the bridge at the same time.

On the other side of the bridge was a shelter. Piia explained that you could have real fast weather changes. A sudden snow storm could kill you if you were not prepared. Finns like their outdoors. You were not supposed to sleep here but it was obvious that the group of young people we found here deffinately had slept here. They were rolling up their sleeping bags.

For inclement weather/darkness there were these lamps along the whole trail.

Forests look so different here with large stones inbetween the trees and very low growing vegetation. 

Piia stopped and told us about Finnlands' berries. The lingonberries, the cloudberries, the blueberries etc. All are growing in the wild and are not cultivated if I understood it right. The Finns need harvesters from other countries (Poland, Ukraine etc) to come to do that so the preserves can be produced in the factories. That was a big problem during the pandemic.

If I recall right the cloudberry season was over but the lingonberries are not quite ripe. They looked so perfectly red on the top but turned over they were still white.

All the roaming reindeer belong to somebody. In winter it is more difficult for them to find food. Piia said they like the lichens which are often found on tree trunks, branches and twigs as the bark provides a stable place to reside to collect needed sunlight, rainwater and materials from the air. They grow on healthy trees, as well as stressed or otherwise unhealthy ones. These hairy things are difficult to photograph.

James and I loved the hike. It ended at the Siida Sami Museum where we met Stephen and the rest of the group again. Piia had been great, full of good knowledge and fun. 

At the Sami Museum we had a new local guide but I can't remember her name. The Sami and the Scandinavian languages are not easy for me.

The museum was very well done but there was so much to see. The young lady guide talked a lot about her family, that she did not learn the Sami language from her parents. They thought it was useless for the children to learn it. But now there at been an awakening in the Sami tribes and an effort to not forget about their roots. It is always helpful to understand something when you don't just get a learned lecture but one from the heart and experience.

No way I can repeat even a little bit or explain all these pictures. Sorry. 

Except ... we were wondering why the shoes all had the tips come up and curl. Just fancy?  We asked her. No. They could just hook the front of their boots into the skies and get going. Wished they had a ski with a boot to show that.

Lots of info about the wild animals too. We had free time to look on our own but there was so much too see. 

We all had lunch at the museum cafeteria which, of course, was buffet. 

At about 1 pm the bus took us to a Reindeer Farm. After an introductory by the owner we were taken into an enclosure to feed some reindeer. They were retired males. They had been castrated to be calmer and trained to pull sleds but the owner had decided not to do that any longer. With snowmobiles the reindeers were no longer needed to pull sleds and he didn't want to do it for tourists.

We learned all about the antlers. All males and females have them. The males to defend their harem and the females to defend their babies. That's why they loose them at different times of the year and when they regrow them, their antlers turn always out the same as the previous one. When the Sami find an antler they know from which animal of their herd it was. 

The antlers are very sensitive when they have the velvet on and the reindeer were very careful not to bump into us.

He explained how each person has their own sign on these wooden samples on the fence how they snip the reindeers ears to identify the ownership. He has two children and they each of their own sign too.

Then we were invited into a "Kota". 

It was very cosy in there with the fire going.

We were offered tea and coffee in the customary wooden cup with a homemade sweet bun.

He explained the meaning of the Sami flag ...

... and how he made the cups. They are made from burrs on trees. The very left one is one his father made about 60 years ago. It has a handle instead of a loop to stick your finger in. With heavy gloves you couldn't do that and it doesn't make sense  when you see that in a souvenir shop. The right wooden piece is how the cup starts out from a burr when he makes it.

We were also led into their gift shop with everything homemade by him and his wife. I would have liked to support them but we already have too much "stuff" in our house which needs sorting out. Sigh. It was very pretty though.

And the property was pretty too.

The house on poles is a refrigerator and even still had some dried fish in it.

Time to go back on the bus.

After a little rest in our cabins it was time for the "home hosted dinners" OAT always arranges on each of their trips. This time we were devided into two groups. Some went to a single man who could only have 6 guests. We went to this couple Kati and Juha who could accommodate 12 of us.

They welcomed us outside their house, which they explained to us they built themselves mainly. They had bought the large property, then collected used material starting with buying 14 windows somebody else was selling. It is an incredible house, very individual and with a comfortable feeling. Even though I asked whether we could take pictures and they heartily said yes I was too shy to really do it. The kitchen with 3 old stoves was incredible. 

First Kati showed us her studio. She was an artist painting on porcelain. She told us that she tought students for many years already how to do that. She even had her own kiln. 

I think these were examples for her students but in her house she had some outstanding pieces.

A large table was laid in the sunroom. Everything was homemade for the dinner. For the flatbread we even got the recipe given to take home. With the homemade pea hummus a very nice appetizer. 

I had already taken the napkin out of the ring before thinking to take the photo. The ring is a piece of reindeer bone. They have such skinny legs.

We were so busy listening or talking that I also forgot to remember what exactly we had. The reindeer meatloaf was great especially with that gravy. I remember that they had collected the mushrooms and probably the berries themselves. 

We learned a lot from them about the life in this area of the world. They had several saunas and Kati was keen about using it and having a cold bath every night. Brrr. Just the thought of it...

Alltogether another great day.