THE SAMI NATION

Readers:  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. To see all the Sami photos click HERE.

Dinner in situ

A quick comment about dinner last night! Lamb from some upcountry farm and great veggies. Look closely at the kitchen makeup. Each thing is unique and fun!

L to R:  Vikki, Inger, Becky, Beth

A Bit of Robert Service in Context

Last night we had a bit of Robert Service; "The Call of the Yukon". We had prepared the poem for when we were here but expecting it to be cold and a little more in the mood. However being here at Engholm Lodge is as perfect a location for Robert Service as anywhere. We shall select another one for tonight.

The Squaw Man

The cow-moose comes to water, and the beaver's overbold,
The net is in the eddy of the stream;
The teepee stars the vivid sward with russet, red and gold,
And in the velvet gloom the fire's a-gleam.
The night is ripe with quiet, rich with incense of the pine;
From sanctuary lake I hear the loon;
The peaks are bright against the blue, and drenched with sunset wine,
And like a silver bubble is the moon.
Cloud-high I climbed but yesterday; a hundred miles around
I looked to see a rival fire a-gleam.
As in a crystal lens it lay, a land without a bound,
All lure, and virgin vastitude, and dream.
The great sky soared exultantly, the great earth bared its breast,
All river-veined and patterned with the pine;
The heedless hordes of caribou were streaming to the West,
A land of lustrous mystery -- and mine.

THE DOGS!!!!

Oh My Gosh! This morning after breakfast we had the privilege to help feed the dogs who were just outside the dining room waiting impatiently for us to finish breakfast so they could be fed. There are 58 dogs, all except one are chained. The lead dog goes around keeping all dogs in their place. It is terrific.

This is how we felt this morning as we were eating breakfast with the dogs waiting and howling for their food!

Regular dog house for each dog.

Lead dog with house pet dog waiting for food. They get theirs first!

Below is a video of the dogs in their habitat at Engholm.  Click on the "play" arrow even if you don't see the picture.

The best of the best....the dogs knowing breakfast is on the way.

All the dog names ready to be harnessed. 

Remember these dogs have run some mighty great races.

 Becky volunteered to assist in the doggie breakfast. She was assigned a pooper scooper and a scoop. She then went around scooping poop while the dogs ate and prepared to p... some more!

Becky finished with a "Moods of Norway" design on her jeans and shirt from the dogs paw prints. Both of which had to be washed asap!! What fun fun fun!!!!

The Sami

We are staying in the Sampii area at the Engholm Design Husky Lodge which is right in the middle of where the Sami people live. They have a Parliament of their own but function under the Norwegian government. We visited their Parliament, visited their museums and have learned so much about these indigenous people. They have preserved their culture and language but function well within the Norwegian society. Many Sami still ranch with reindeer and we had a great time taking photos of the reindeer up close.

The Sami Parliament

Two Sami men

The famous white reindeer and the shedding of winter fur.

Our dinner location at the Rica Hotel near the Sami museum. A sod restaurant. 

A meal of reindeer costs about 60$ US.

KARASJOK - ENGHOLM HUSKY DESIGN LODGE

Readers:  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. To see all the Husky photos click HERE.

Private Driver and Portage

Road trip -- need a car.
Road trip -- need a car for four women and luggage.
Inger and Hertz/Kirkenes have provided:  a VW Passat wagon.  

Great Thon hotel in Kirkenes, great room, great view

Road trip -- car delivered to Thon Hotel and we're off by 10:15 am.  Down the road and thru town to a gas station to buy a map, tho car rental man provided directions in Norwegian to Inger.  We drove thru Finland -- a short cut.  (More later.)

Go this far to a bridge but not over it.  Turn left.  Go to a K-name town and take the road to the right/north.  Go to the second K-name town and find tourist info.   So fun, Vikki insisted we stop at each shop opportunity in Finland to see if there is something for us to purchase. We ended up having a great picnic in Finnland beside a great lake.

Nothing until we found a grocery where we loaded up on snacks. Vikki got some of the great dark chocolate with pear and almond, Karl Fraser.

 Inger called our lodging place and after another couple of "go here's" and "turn there's" we are at 

Engholm Husky Lodge

Here's the link so you can learn more.  Here.

You will see that everything is natural -- floors, shelves, brackets, sink, even the shower mat is inlaid stone.  Furniture made from logs, sod on the roof, bear skin on the wall, mink hanging in the corner, fish eagle feather lamp.  This is how the northwest should look! Luscious, luscious, luscious. We are in awe of the talent and the design.  We met Sven Engholm who is an 11 times winner of Europe's longest sled dog race, the "Finnmarksløpet - 1000 km.-- and his husky dogs. Sven completed the Iditarod 4 times in 1996-1999, once finishing in the top ten!

The home of Willis/Bianco, and on the other side Jacobsen/Kingslien

Dinner here tonight.  Probably a walk to the Karasjok River if the elephant-sized mosquitos are forgiving. The folks here don't swim, they jump in the river for a dip!!! Usually mornings...tomorrow we shall join them! 

Our bedroom

Our Kitchen

Becky and Inger toasting the beautiful site

Wait until we tell you about the  dogs.

KING CRAB AND MORE KING CRAB

Readers:  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. To see all the photos for King Crab click HERE.

The King of Crabs

After saying good bye to the team of terrific's on the M/S Finnmarken, we entered Kirkenes, the border town with Russia and Finland and in the land of the Midnight Sun.

Checked quickly into our first Thon hotel.......VERY MODERN, LARGE ROOMS, GREAT WIFI, WHITE, CLEAN, LARGE. This is creating a large dose of happiness, relaxing happiness.  We had adjusted to our tiny cabin aboard ship but . . . now we find ourselves in a relative mansion.  Life is good.

We had just a bit of time to get registered, walk about town and have a cuppa. We head off to the adventure of the day.... thanks to Inger, we go
Crabbing for King Crabs!

We put these goofy suits on to keep us warm and we jump into this 20'-25' boat with 11 other folks, plus our crew of three. 

Now, today is cloudy, windy, damp and really northwest-like. As the boat sped through the water, spray would come up and coat the riders. We stopped in the harbor at two of the giant crab pots and with electric wenches the crew pulled up the pot and proceeded to toss back the biggest ones (including all females) we have ever seen and kept the giant mondo ones. They said we could eat about 3/4 king crab each. They cut off the legs and tossed the bodies back into the sea.

A wild boat ride down the fjord leads us to the Crab Camp which is on the border with Russia. We enjoy a fabulous dinner of King Crab sitting outdoors under shelter while being observed from a distance by Russian and Norwegian Border Guards. Our guide had many exciting stories to share.

The border between Russia and Norway (also Russia and Finnland) is very tightly controlled.  There is a formal crossing place where Norwegians go to Russia to buy cheap booze and buy back -- at a much cheaper price -- the gasoline they sold the Russians.  The new Russian middle class cross into Norway and Finnland to spend their newly acquired wealth on "stuff."

The shorn hillside between the posts (yellow for Norway and red/green for Russia) is jointly maintained by crews of border guards from each country.  We were advised not to encroach even a tiny centimeter into the Russian side.  Even extending our arms with camera to take a picture could be misconstrued as a violation.  Story:  one woman committed such a violation and, as a result, paid a very large fine and was detained several hours, missing her cruise ship connection.

Lots of Russian language in Kirkenes due to the residence of the Russian allies at the end of WWII.  Kirkenes was occupied by the Germans, bombed by the Russians, and then re-civilized by Norwegians, Finns, and Russians after the defeated Germans fled.

It was a great day and having King Crab again was loads of fun......

TOPPING OFF NORWAY - NORTH CAPE

Readers:  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. To see all the photos for the day click HERE.

AS FAR NORTH IN EUROPE AS YOU CAN GO

Oh my, but this excursion was magnificent.  The North Cape is the furthest distance north you can go and still be in Europe (71 degrees 10 minutes north of the Equator). It has been said, "You are standing at the edge of the world. This is where the world ends."

At the gift shop (even the Top of the World has a gift shop!) we were able to post cards which will bear the postmark of Nordkapp (North Cape.)  We watched a brief film, beautifully done, which showed the promontory area thru all four seasons.  We are here during the Midnight Sun season which begins in May. The film -- almost an IMAX -- had fabulous shots of the Northern Lights, reindeer, flowers, snow, mountains, and snow plows.

We had a great lunch/picnic looking toward Russia/Finnland and out into the Barents Sea.

It has been so very warm...we cannot believe that we have to keep taking off layers of clothing...we are all getting a little tan. Our message from Birger is that Norway experienced 32 heat records today. Aelsund was 93 degrees today which was a record. 

5000 Reindeer dotted the barren landscape on the way to North Cape. We stopped and viewed a SAMI family with a closeup of their reindeer.

This was a most exciting day, the sun shining and clear blue skies, the fact that we are as far as we can go and that we have been here. 

TROTTING AROUND TRONSØ, THE PARIS OF THE NORTH

Inger suggested we do two things, and both ideas were excellent.  First we did some tromping around Tromso.  We got off the ship for a few hours to enjoy Tronsø which is the largest town in the High North and third largest in Norway. Lovely little fishing village with a beautiful white very modern church called The Arctic Church. We walked the village, made plans, did a little bit of shopping, more plans, had a coffee, enjoyed the sun, made more plans.

(Shopping inventory:  Becky bot yarn!  Inger got a great shirt!)

We end our trip on the Hurtigruten as we enter the Harbor toward Kirkenes in the High North Country. It was a terrific trip with special moments that we hope you could share with us. 
We stayed up until midnight to share the "Midnight Sun". 
Wait until the "rest of the story"!

THE TROLLS OF TROLLFJORD

Readers:  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. To see all the photos for Trollfjord click HERE.

Midnight Sun

A day of days. We cross the Arctic Circle, have all kinds of celebrations and historical infomercials for the fantastic arctic explorations by the Norwegians.

Loads of geographical photos that show the change in the topography of the landscapes. NO MORE TREES, MORE JAGGED MOUNTAINS, barren except for bits of green that looks a lot like our NW moss.

It is 11:00 pm and still daylight as we head for the Trollfjord. The skinny skinny skinny inlet that makes Princess Louisa Inlet look like  Commencement Bay.

We could not touch the sides but it was mighty close. It is midnight, clear, calm and stunningly beautiful. The water is light green, clear, and you can see down into it for miles(sorta). The waterfall was a true topper.

Inger was busy taking photos left and right. Hi Birger!

Even if you haven't looked at other pix, don't miss these.  

Here for Trollfjord pix.

FACTOID: Trolls sleep for 1,000 years after their midday nap and before they start throwing stones at the ship!

THE CIRCLE.....THE ARCTIC CIRCLE THAT IS.....

Readers:  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. To see all the photos for the day click HERE.

And What do My Wandering Eyes Perceive?

"The weather is having difficulty deciding whether to go all for proper winter or just to stick to being antisocially cold." said Anita in  the book, MEET ME IN MALMO.

After a beautiful day in Trondheim yesterday in the mid 70's...today dawns (barely at 5:00am) foggy, gray, dank, rainy, typical marine morning. We just left Nesna, Norway and are heading for the "CROSSING"! 

We hear some announcement on the speaker but can't understand it so we rush to the "camp" in anticipation. We realize that we have an hour or so more before we hit the "CROSSING"! This photo is our "Northern Lights" or as close as we can get.....

As we get closer, the fog begins to lift and the sun filters into our view.....at 7.11.40 the MS Finnmarken hits the mark!!! How do we know???? As we look out the window, we see a "globe" built on a small island, Vikingen. 
66DEG 33MIM. From now on we will belong to the same family as 400,000 of Norway's citizen who are members of the world's northernmost civilization. 

CLICK FOR ADDITIONAL PHOTOS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

We hit Bodo right at noon, the sun is shinning and shirt sleeves are  shortening. We stood by the railing as we entered Bodo looking for Inger and Vikki. There they were standing with their suitcases waiting and waving.

Very easy entry for them and quick check-in. Their room is just down the hall from ours and we will be sharing a table of 4 for dinner each night. We are so happy they have finally joined us and all our separate journeys have merged into the fairy tale Birger(Inger’s husband) has suggested.

L to R:  Vikki, Beth, Inger, Becky

 The weather has perked up, the sun is shinning, most of the Europeans are sitting in the sun taking naps....temperature low 70's. We have to rest up, for tonight we meet the trolls at midnight in the daylight!!