Aurora Adventure Short Break

Dear Nikola

Happy New Year – hope it’s a good one for Baltic Travel!  Apologies for the delay in getting back to you following our trip to the Wilderness Hotel Jutuaa in December but we’ve only recently moved house and Xmas/New Year was pretty hectic.  Anyway here are my reflections on our trip.

Our December break in Finnish Lapland at the Wilderness Hotel Jutuaa was amazing, and as my wife Lin said,  was one of the best and most enjoyable holidays we’ve ever been on.  We stayed overnight on the Sunday at the Renaissance Hotel at Heathrow, close to Terminal 3.  We got a good-value package comprising a comfortable room, parking at the hotel for five nights and return Hoppa tickets to and from the terminal.   We’d already checked in the day before so just had to do a bag-drop before proceeding through security without any difficulty. 

Our Finnair flight to Helsinki was 20 minutes late taking off, which caused us some concern because of the relatively short transit time for our flight from Helsinki to Ivalo, but fortunately we had tail winds so in fact landed on time.  Our bags had been booked through to Ivalo and the transit arrangements at Helsinki were much simpler than I anticipated.  I had expected that we would have to be fingerprinted at passport control but the border staff didn’t seem interested and we passed smoothly through to meet up with Peter and Sheena Leonard at the departure gate for Ivalo.  Another straightforward flight to our destination and having swiftly retrieved our baggage we soon linked up with Inari transfer staff.   (At this point I should like to pay tribute to Finnair – their check-in procedures all went smoothly, the planes were comfortable and the communication good;  in particular the cabin crew were all so welcoming, friendly and helpful – having flown to various parts of the world during my fairly lengthy life they were definitely one of the best airlines I’ve experienced).

We loved the Wilderness Hotel Jutuaa from the moment we checked in.  Our Arctic room was in a cabin about 75 yards away and was very comfortable and warm with an excellent shower.  The restaurant and bar areas were both well-appointed and spacious with a pleasant view down to the river.  I didn’t know what to expect from the food point of view but it was excellent – reindeer meat, lots of fish and clever combinations.  The breakfast buffet was extensive – yoghurt, fruits, berries, eggs, juices, croissants, cold meats etc; lunch always hit the spot, particularly the soup and the three-course dinner offered both meat/fish or vegetarian options.  While as I expected alcohol wasn’t cheap, the wine suggestions for each course were spot on.  What was really helpful was that near Reception there was a board with the following days activities and timings on it and the names of the groups who were participating in each of them.   So as leader of our group I just had to look for ‘Phillips’.  Before moving on to the activities I must mention the hotel staff who were fantastic – whether serving in the bar, working at Reception or waiting at table they were all so friendly and helpful and always smiling; nothing was too much trouble.  And their command of English was uniformly excellent.

On the first evening before dinner we went down to the store to be kitted out with our arctic clothing.  This comprised a warm full length shell suit, a balaclava if you hadn’t brought your own, mittens, socks and boots.  Staff were on hand to help with sizing.  Allied to the merino wool base layers, synthetic mid-layers, a Guernsey pullover, glove liners, inner socks, a snood, a balaclava, a beanie and a padded hat with flaps, which I’d brought with me,  I was fully protected and never felt cold during our time undertaking activities.

So to the activities:

• On the first morning we went to the Reindeer Farm where we were greeted by a Sami lady in traditional dress; she gave us a brief introduction before demonstrating how to feed the reindeer with lichen, which we all did.  We were then free to wander round the enclosure taking photographs as we wished.  Finally, we went inside where there was a fire in the centre.  We were provided with a welcome hot juice drink before our guide told us more about the Sami culture and how reindeer fitted into it.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit which was an excellent start to our Lapland adventure.
• In the early evening of the first day we went to a nearby cabin for an introductory talk on the Aurora Borealis which was really helpful as a prelude to our Aurora Camp later in the week
• The next day was full on.  First up was husky dog sledding which once I’d got the hang of the braking system was actually easier than expected – well at least neither I nor Lin fell off nor did I get left behind by the dogs! I quickly learnt not to release the brake too quickly!  It was a really enjoyable activity.

Next up in the late afternoon was the snowmobiling.  It was dark for this excursion which if anything was harder than the dog sledding, mainly because the track was icy and rutted so we were bouncing around quite a lot; it was actually smoother to drive on the snow to the side but for the most part I felt obliged to stay on the track!  It was most exhilarating anyway and again we survived without any mishaps!

Finally, after dinner we went searching for the Aurora Borealis.  Our guide on his snowmobile pulled us behind him on a line of sledges as we sped out over the ice on the frozen Lake Inari where a wigwam-shaped tent awaited us.  In the centre was the base of a fire and our guide demonstrated how to build this up by cutting strips of a log.  He then lit this and soon we had a very welcome source of heat.  During our vigil, which required our guide and one or two of us to be outside, we were again fortified by a delicious hot berry juice drink.  The chances of seeing the Aurora weren’t actually that good because there was a lot of cloud cover but we got lucky. After about an hour there was a short break in the cloud and we rushed outside to see a magnificent swirl in the skies above us.  Although this appeared to be white to the naked eye for some of us,  cameras picked the ghostly green glow in spectacular fashion.  A little later we had another viewing as the clouds parted for a short while.  We felt privileged to have seen such a display.  As we returned to the hotel we reflected on what a great day we’d had had.

• Our final full day was less demanding – or so I thought!  We had a free morning so ventured into the small settlement of Inari and enjoyed browsing in the well-stocked local store.  Souvenirs of our trip were purchased ! After lunch in the darkness of late afternoon we participated in our final activity – a snowshoe trek.  I wasn’t sure what to expect and had visions of attaching tennis-racquet shaped objects to my feet!  However, in reality the snowshoes were much narrower than that and had sturdy metal grips underneath.  Our splendid and informative guide took us to a remote part of the woods which had an almost magical feel, not least because there was total silence cushioned by the snow. Our guide didn’t make it easy for us.  I fell over more during this activity than any other as I endeavoured to get my balance right as she led us up and down slopes in quite deep snow. In the depths of the woods we had a break and were pleased once again to be sustained by cups of warm juice.  It was all great fun and we returned to Wilderness Jutuaa in high spirits..

Our final night was graced with a five-course feast with accompanying wines and was a fitting finale to a wonderful stay.  We returned home the following day agreeing that the trip had far surpassed our expectations and that it had been an ideal prelude to Christmas.

Thanks so much Nikola for suggesting such a splendid holiday to us and for all your help in the planning stages.  We really appreciated it and would fully recommend Baltic Travel to anybody thinking of travelling to Scandinavia and Lapland in particular.   I’ve attached one or two photos  (possibly in two emails) to give you a flavour of our trip which we shall always remember.

Oh my goodness Daina! I am completely blown away by both the hotel and the people.

We had an amazing time and neither of us wanted to leave!

I will definitely be returning.

The Northern lights gave an amazing display both while we were at the Aurora camp on my birthday, then again when in the glass roof cabin the same evening. It was quite wonderful ??.

Thank you so much.

Kindest regards

Penny

Hi David,

Thank you so much for your email.

Everyone at Baltic is amazing and they all really do go above and beyond to get the very best for all our children. The service is exemplary and I know the wishes are in good hands!!

I think this sounds great, I have passed onto the relevant department who will be in touch to discuss.

If you have any thoughts or questions in the meantime please let me know.

Best wishes

Holli