Ranua

Tue 12 Feb 2019

Ranua Wildlife Park

Today we would be driving to Ranua wildlife park from Rovaniemi, about 1 hour away (80 km). In winter, the wildlife park only opens at 10am, so we departed from our apartment at 9am to arrive just in time for opening. The entrance fee is EUR 15 per adult.

Ranua Wildlife Park

It was still cold today at -15C so we spent only about 1hour 45 min outside before taking refuge in the souvenir shop. The animals that we saw today (which was our target) were the Pallas cat (didn't get a good view as the lone cat was sleeping quite a distance away), lynx, wolverine (it was active and walking around in the large enclosure), polar bear and grey wolf.  We were told beforehand that we wouldn't be able to see the brown bear as it is hibernating. Other animals that we saw were musk ox, reindeer and great grey and hawk owl.

lynx

wolverine

grey wolf

pallas cat. try to find it

musk ox

polar bear

We bought some souvenirs here which is cheaper than at Santa Claus village before making our way back to Rovaniemi and that was the end of our winter adventure in Finnish Lapland. We would be heading back home tomorrow morning.

We managed to get what we targeted for - Northern Lights for 3 times on 2 nights, husky and reindeer safari. It was freezing cold throughout our 8 nights and daylight hours were short so our activities were limited to only one activity per day. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our trip to the winter wonderland of Finnish Lapland. Thank you Finland for the experience!

Rovaniemi Part 2

Mon 11 Feb 2019

As soon as we arrived back at Rovaniemi from Lompolo village, about 2.5 hours away (200 km), we checked in into our apartment near at 12 noon. We had booked a one hour reindeer safari at Raitola, located near to Santa Claus village for EUR 119 per person at 2pm. Our airbnb Rovaniemi apartment cost RM540 (about EUR 116) for 2 nights and is located near to Ounasvaara forest.

bedroom

kitchen

living room

view of Ounasvaraa forest from our apartment

After having lunch at our apartment, we went to Raitola farm, about 15 minutes away. There was another big group with us, so this felt less private than Rami's huskies in Kittila. A note of caution - we thought we would be able to 'drive' the reindeer sled, just like the huskies sled; however at Raitola, the guides actually walked together and pulled the reindeer. A reindeer was assigned to each sled, with 2 adults sitting in each sled. So if you're looking for navigating a reindeer sled, try someplace else.

Raitola farm

guide pulling the reindeer

guide pulling the reindeer

Anyway, our guide seemed caring towards her reindeers and explained to us about herding reindeers in Finland. We were also given the chance to feed the reindeers with lichen (like algae) which they really loved. We were told that each reindeer behaved differently; some do not liked to be touched and some were okay. Our reindeer - Aloo (it sounded like that) was a sweet boy, so we could pat him. All the reindeer pulling sleds at the farm were males as the females were pregnant / taking care of the baby reindeers (calves).  Both male and female have antlers. However, the antlers are more important to the males as those with the biggest and most beautiful antlers win over the females.

our reindeer sled

Aloo let us pat him

feeding lichen

Raitola reindeer farm

We finished the reindeer walk after about 1 hour. We were told the distance was about 7km. We were then  ushered into a building with a fireplace and given berry juice and cinnamon buns where the guide told us about reindeer herding.

After the reindeer safari, we stopped by Santa Claus village again intending to buy souvenirs, but most of the shops were already closed at 4pm. So we made our way back to our apartment not before stopping at the supermarket to buy provisions for dinner today and tomorrow.

No luck tonight as there is no Northern lights show.

Lompolo, Finland

Fri 8 Feb 2019 - Mon 11 Feb 2019

Today we would be driving to Lompolo from Kittila, about 1 hour away (58 km). We would be staying at an airbnb cottage (RM1273 for 3 nights or EUR92 per night). The cottage is located in a small village - Lompolo with a lake and reindeer farm next door. It also provided free snowshoes, kicksled, ski equipment and sauna. For the 3 nights we stayed there, it was just doing winter activities on our own. There is also a ski track behind the cottage for cross country skiing. For groceries and fuel, we bought a 3 day supply from Kittila as there is no shops or petrol stations nearby.

Lompolo cottage

living room

bedroom

kitchen

snowshoe

ski equipment

kicksled

ski track behind our cottage

fairies route for snowshoeing

fairies route for snowshoeing

us snowshoeing

fairies route for snowshoeing

fairies hut on the fairies route

fairies hut on the fairies route

frozen lake Lompolojarvi

frozen lake Lompolojarvi

trees by the frozen lake

frolicking on the frozen lake

reindeer farm next door

On the first night we were fortunate again to experience the Northern lights, but it was much fainter than the first one we saw in Kittila. It was definitely dancing though.

faint aurora at Lompolo

faint aurora at Lompolo

faint aurora at Lompolo

It was so cold that the water pipe was frozen. We had to call the owner and help came from the neighbours to heat up the pipes. We got back the water supply by the evening. Prior to that, we boiled the ice from outside to get water and we even cooked our instant noodle with it!

boiling the ice from outside

enjoying instant noodle with a view

After a 3 night stay enjoying the winter wonderland of Finnish Lapland, we made our way back to Rovaniemi, about 2.5 hours away (200 km).