I think if we are asked the question, “What experiences are on your bucket list?” many of us would have to see the Northern Lights somewhere near the top. Deep inside the Artic Circle is an optimum destination and few better than the village of Kilpisjärvi in Finnish Lapland.
Kilpisjärvi
There’s still only around 5 hours of daylight in the region, so very soon it was dark. After a 2 hour coach drive through headlight illuminated snowy wilderness we arrived in the tiny village of Kilpisjärvi. The next morning we could see our fabulous glass roofed cabin in the Tundrea Resort, on the edges of the frozen lake (Kilpis = shield, Järvi = lake).
A quick bite of breakfast and then we were off through the snow to our first activity…. meeting a Sami reindeer herdsman and few of his very cute friends!!
Do you know Rudolf…
I know we are always told to leave a carrot for Santa’s reindeer, but trust me if you leave a handful of lichen moss you will have a friend for life. These are wild reindeer but are trained as working reindeer by the Sami herdsmen.
They’re used for transport and pulling sleighs in the arctic tundra. Some like these cute fellas really enjoy meeting the tourists that visit Kilpisjarvi.
Over a cup of hot berry juice our Sami herdsman talked proudly of his reindeer and a few nuggets to be saved for the next pub quiz…. Did you know reindeer’s eyes change colour? In the Spring they’re blue, changing to a dark brown/black by the Winter. Their fur is 2nd warmest, bettered only by that of the Polar Bear
Nighttime Snowmobile Safari
We had time for a spot of lunch and walk down to the lake before it was time for our 2nd activity of the day. First time on a snowmobile would hopefully be followed with our first sight of the Northern Lights. After being kitted out with all the gear we headed out onto the frozen lake with Pekka and Juha, our guides from Kilpissafarit.
Some practice turns zig zagging across the lake and then Pekka turned off and heading into the forest. For the next hour we wound our way through the trees to the far side of Saana Fell. The cloud was still heavy and low, but over more hot berry juice came a crack of green light everybody had been hoping to see. Sadly that was all we saw that night, 2 down only our last night to go.
3 Borders Snowmobile Tour
The first 2 days we had temperatures of a balmy -5°C because of the blanket of cloud. Already it had dropped to -15°C and more importantly much clearer. All my weather and Aurora Watch Apps were saying tonight was the night if the skies stayed clear. Before that we had our 2nd visit to the team at Kilpissaferit for a 30km round trip on their 3 Borders Tour.
We travelled the 15km across the frozen lake and deep snow to a marker point. Here the borders of Sweden, Norway and Finland meet… round around it in 30 seconds and another 3 countries visited, sadly nobody there to stamp your passport!
You could feel the difference in the temperature now bombing across the ice on the snowmobile. Even going up the mountain in the dark last night was warmer. As the last of the sun drifted away we headed back to base and dinner …have you ever driven a snowmobile with your fingers crossed?
Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis
The Aurora Watch apps were forecasting around 23:00 tonight we would have 30% cloud cover. Solar activity score KPI 4.67 meaning around 50% chance of seeing the Northern lights if sky was clear. Our plan was to leave the restaurant and head back to the cabin in plenty of time to enjoy a bottle of rosé as we waited…. The sky had other ideas!!!
iPhone and Camera sensors capture the full spectrum of light that our eyes very cleverly balance out. Over the next few hours the lights got brighter and brighter, dancing clearly in front of our eyes.
The lights gradually dimmed, the cloud thicken a little and we headed off back to cabin and bedtime. We drifted off to sleep very happy that we had REALLY seen the Northern Lights this time. Mrs S is a light sleeper and woke around 02:00 and was watching the stars through the glass roof. Suddenly realised those clouds weren’t actually clouds….”SKELLY they’re back and really dancing!!”
We spent another 2 hours watching this amazing display through the glass, filling our iPhones with magical memories.
Bucket List Life Experience…Done… TICK
