Sweden - Sámi & Reindeer

Saturday 5th of March was our travel day to Sweden. Europcar luckily had the car ready for us by 3pm. Originally we were told 7pm, and we really didn't want to drive 270km in the dark and snowy conditions. We picked up our little VW Polo and managed to stuff all our bags into the back and set off. The roads were covered in hard packed snow most of the way, but it was surprisingly easy driving. We arrived at the Reindeer Lodge in Jukkasjärvi, near Karuna just after dark. 

We were staying in one of five idyllic cottage with a wood stove to keep warm, and access to a log cabin for food preparation and separate buildings for showers and bathrooms. The facilities are run by Nutti Sámi Siida, a family run Sami company who organize experiences based on Sámi culture. They offer this special lodging close to reindeer so there are opportunities to interact with these lovely animals. We fell asleep to the crackling of the wood fire, just delightful. 

The next morning we started the day learning about the relationship between the reindeer and the Sámi people who are an indigenous people who inhabit Sápmi, the areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. We learned the term Lapland is regarded as offensive and often used as an insult by others, so we will use Sápmi going forward. Sadly the story of their treatment, including loss of land, culture, language and overall way of life is very similar to Native Americans and other indigenous people. Traditionally the Sámi were semi-nomadic reindeer herders, following the reindeer as they migrated during different season. Climate change is significant enough even this far north that the reindeer's winter food source is impacted, and the reindeer were starving so the reindeer encounter and the lodging is source of income used to provide supplemental food for the family's reindeer herd. 

After fun feeding the reindeer, with promises for more interactions later we headed out to visit the Ice Hotel. Since 1989 the ice hotel has been creating an entire ice structure with rooms and hallways for people to use overnight. There are rooms with the standard bed of ice and deluxe rooms magnificent sculptures made by artists from all round the world. We had a wonderful few hours looking at all of the rooms, now minus the people who had spent the night sleeping on a bed of ice! We had considered this option, but decided the cost of $500/night too much for a cold night! We did finish off the visit with a drink at the ice bar, including glasses made totally of ice.

We returned to the cabin for a quick lunch, then started our reindeer encounter. Our guide, a young Sámi lady also called Sara picked us up along with several other guests from the Ice Hotel. We enjoyed a 30 minute snow mobile ride through the snow covered forest - and then realized we were back at the Reindeer lodge! As promised we were able to feed the reindeer again - that experience never gets old - and had the opportunity of reindeer sledding. This was a bit different to the dogs, we knelt or sat on a sled, and then with much whooping and hollering, ran round a large circular track. The reindeer started out fast and then slowed to walk which is more their natural pace. We finished up sitting in the lávvu (a tent structure similar to a teepee) with a large fire, and Sara talked about Sámi life while she prepared a traditional meal of flat bread, fried reindeer meet and lingon berries. It was a fun experience and we really enjoyed getting to know Sara and hearing her stories. 

Sadly we left the reindeer on Monday the 7th and headed 120km to the town of Gällivare to meet Lennart owner of the Sápmi Nature Camp where we were staying for the next three nights. Lennart grew up in a reindeer herding family, and wanted to to create sustainable tourism that doesn't threaten the reindeer and the herding, but instead shares knowledge about Sami life – both past and present. Little did we know what an amazing experience we would have over the next three days. We drove 70km to the camp, which offers a personal off the grid glamping experience for a few guests. Our lávvu had a full size bed, a wood burning stove for the day and automatic heater for night and solar powered lights. It was incredibly comfortable experience and we loved getting the fire going in the morning and nights and just sitting there together.  

We quickly learned Lennart is an incredible chef, and he provided three fabulous meals every day. The meals included fish, moose or reindeer, all caught and prepared by Lennart. Even Sara eat a little of the moose and reindeer, instead of staying strictly vegetarian. Meals were cooked and eaten in the log cabin, all very cozy along with fascinating conversation with Lennart. After a walk down to the lake for some sunset photos we enjoyed a very comfortable first night, and determined the lávvu stayed warmer in 24F temperatures than our house in Dallas!

Tuesday we drive about an hour west to Stora Sjofallet national park. The views were incredible, and we were lucky enough to see a moose mother and calf on the lake. We learned that the hydro electric dam built starting in the 1970's destroyed a large area of the reindeers traditional summer grazing - sadly even a renewable energy has impact. We returned to camp late afternoon and met James (UK) and Anna (Czech Republic) who were the other guests for the next two nights. After another fabulous meal and more great conversation we all rolled into our lávvus for the night - we could get used to this level of luxury, and very impressive given the whole camp is off grid!

Wednesday the 9th of March was an incredible day. We started off with the unbelievable experience of spending time with the reindeer herd belonging to Kenneth who is Lennart's brother. The reindeer need to be kept in pastures and fed supplemental food to ensure they survive the winter. Traditionally the reindeer would dig in the snow to find lichen, but climate change has caused warmer temperatures that melt the snow during the day and then freezes into ice at night. The reindeer can't smell the lichen through the ice so can't get enough food. It is very expensive to feed the reindeer all winter, and visits like ours helps provide income for the feed. Sara helped Kenneth feed the 300 reindeer. The bucket of feed was much heaver than it looked, and Kenneth said he uses about a ton of food with the two daily feedings. It was a magical experience just to stand and watch the reindeer, as well as listen to the musical sound their hooves made in the snow. 

After our unforgettable experience, Lennart had one more treat in store for us - a wood sauna and wash. First he showed us how to drill a hole in the ice and pump the water. Next the water had to be carried to the sauna and the hot water tank filled, and the wood fire lit. Two hours later we were ready! We sat in the sauna for a while enjoying the view of the lake, then it was time to jump and roll in the snow - we were threatened with a restricted breakfast if we didn't try this Sámi tradition. No pictures of this cause we held hands and ran out, rolled and ran back inside - plus we were naked!  It was surprisingly refreshing, enough that Sara who typically doesn't enjoy sauna's did it twice! After the snow jumping we washed up in the sauna, using the very hot water now heated by the wood fire. It was a perfect way to end an amazing day.

Thursday morning we sadly said our good byes and headed to our next location. More about that in the next post!

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