Finland: Huskies & Reindeer

Among the activities offered at the resort are Husky Safaris (dog sleds) and Reindeer Safaris (reindeer sleighs). We enjoyed both, but the dog sleds were by far the most fun.

Huskies

Friday, 21 February 2025

The huskies live to run. If they're not running, they're usually barking. As soon as you begin to let up on the brake, the dogs take off.

We each had a turn to ride and drive.

After the ride is over, there's "meet and greet" time with the dogs.

Reindeer

Saturday, 22 February 2025

The reindeer are semi-domesticated. In the spring they are released to roam wild through the woods. In the fall they are rounded-up and returned to their owners for the winter.

The reindeer sleighs were set up in a line - two people per sleigh. We were surprised to see how small the reindeer are.

The tour guide, in traditional Sami dress, prepares a sleigh.

The guide leads the whole procession of sleighs.

The reindeer have peculiar hooves. At first we thought they had some sort of special horseshoe, but their split hooves are adapted to grip ice and snow, and the two halves click against each other as they walk.

A closer look at their feet.

All bundled up for a sleigh ride.

An impressive rack. Both male and female reindeer have antlers. They have the largest antlers in the early years, dwindling to a spike in very old reindeer. That's the opposite of the white-tailed deer we're familiar with.

Finland: Northern Lights

 Friday, 21 February 2025

The Northern Lights alarm woke us up at 1 AM for a nice display of the aurora borealis. The light show continued for about 1 1/2 hours.

The view was better outside, but you definitely can see the northern lights without leaving the warmth of the igloo.

All these photos were taken with an iPhone 16 Pro. They were mostly 2-second exposures using a tripod. I bought the camera specifically for this trip - it just happened to come with a phone.

A Winter Break in Finnish Lapland

We traveled to the far north of Finland in February, hoping to see the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis) from our glass igloo, as well as to enjoy winter activities. Ironically, we left just as the eastern U.S. was experiencing an Arctic cold event that saw below-freezing temperatures as far south as Houston, while Finland was having temperatures at the other extreme - getting above freezing for some of our time there.

Our journey started with an overnight flight from Washington-Dulles to London-Heathrow. From Heathrow we flew to Helsinki, and our final flight took us to Ivalo, arriving about 6:15 PM. The photo shows the Finnish landscape north of Helsinki shortly before sunset.

The Ivalo airport is small, but had great amenities.

We stayed in a glass igloo at the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, a half-hour drive south of the Ivalo airport. Each igloo has a sauna and shower at the entrance and a bathroom in the igloo.

Igloos at night.

You use a sled to carry luggage between reception and the igloos - it's about a 1/4 mile (400 meter) walk.

A huge reindeer sculpture is lit up at night.

Some of the large wood pillars in Reception and Restaurant have fanciful carvings.