June 9,2025
The travel to Finland was one of the most challenging that I have experienced. What was suppose to be 18 hours ended up being over 30 hours. But as I was approaching Helsinki a beautiful sunset greeted me even though it was midnight!!!
After a couple of hours of sleep i headed out on and adventure to Nuuksio National Park to explore via a fun off-road buggy. Finland’s land mass is over 60% forest with only 10% populated so the park was the perfect place to explore Finland. The park is where the locals go on the weekend to enjoy nature. They even have a several wood sheds and fire pits so people can have fires to keep warm and roast sausages. We hike a few miles in the quiet of the park it was so peaceful.
Next we headed to the Reindeer park where I got to interact with 5 incredible reindeer. As you can tell from the pictures feed them was the highlight of the day. They are so gentle and each one had a unique personality from the shy Isabell (the white one) to the grumpy old man of the heard who was very hungry!
After feeding the reindeer it was time to feed me. We went inside a traditional Finland hut and cooked their traditional sweat bread Snobrød on a stick. Just add a bit of jam and this was a very yummy treat.
All too soon it was time to head back to the hotel. Perfect timing as it began raining and rained through the evening.
I feel so blessed to experience a Best Day Ever….so far. What a great way to start this adventure.
Tomorrow I join the group and travel to Longyearbyen to begin the search for polar bears!!!
