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!