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Latesano-Wilderness-Journey

DAY 1 – INTO THE WILD

After a morning of sorting your kit and introducing you to the area, you will be transfered to the head of the truly wild Lätäseno River along an old road constructed by the Germans during World War 2. This is a pretty rough and infrequently used road, so be ready for a bumpy ride!

Even during this brief journey, you will notice the landscape changing as the forests decline and we go ever-deeper into the arctic tundra. We will sleep in a wilderness cabin close to the roadhead and prepare, there, for the coming days. That evening, there will be time to get a first insight into fire-making so that the warm flames can greet us on return from a swim in the glistening river. This is an amazingly relaxing place to simply enjoy nature - a world in which Mother Nature still rules, golden eagles fly overhead and elk disappear over the horizon into the distance.

DAY 2 – SURVIVING IN THE ARCTIC

Since this product is build around one of the great wilderness rivers of the north, we will spend a little time preparing fishing equipment the traditional way and then using it to (hopefully) source the ingredients for that evening's meal. This day's lesson on the art of building fires will be the first of many and we will also work together on cleaning and cooking the fish and collecting some wild herbs to eat with it. For those with energy to spare, an evening hike to find a desert of natural superfoods, will be on the menu.

DAY 3 – NEVER ENDING WILDERNESS

Today will be a day of getting to grip with the fundamentals of navigation using both modern tools (compasses and GPS units) and natural signs and clues. Some of the rapids en-route require earlier experience, and we may have to be prepared to carry our rafts and kayaks.

DAY 4 – REACHING THE PEAKS AND CROSSING THE BORDERS

As you weren’t far out already in the latitudes of 68’ North, today we take our journey even further, all the way to the Barent’s Sea on top of Norway. En-route we`ll learn basics about compass and reading terrain maps. The Arctic Ocean, separating Europe from the North Pole, contains the world largest cod population, and is well-stocked with haddock and capelin, making it incredible popular place among shermen. We’ll get on the mountain bikes and conquer some of the Norway’s most picturesque, yet demanding tracks. In the valleys in between Alpine peaks, there are many trails, old forest tracks and construction roads which you can use, and the regions is scattered with hiking trails in the mountains. Thus it can be di cult to navigate on these unmarked trails, and the obstacles on the narrow paths won’t make it any easier. You are surely to appreciate having your newly acquired orienteering skills at hand.

DAY 5 – NIGHT IN THE BILLION STARS HOTEL

The day has come to put your survival skills into action. We’ll set o for a hike until we join the local herdsmen, and follow their footsteps by participating in the eldest occupation in Lapland – reindeer husbandry. Currently, reindeer are the only semi-domesticated animal which naturally belongs to the north. Reindeer need extensive, undisturbed areas around the year, hence you can be assured, where the reindeer is, there’s tranquillity. It takes little to realise how important it is for this wonderful animal and his herder engaged into this lifestyle, to keep the wilderness quiet and unspoilt. It is their land we wander on, without wanting to leave a track behind. After nding a perfect spot for the night, and learning how to make a shelter against rain, sun, wind and insects for the night, we surely know to take everything with us the day after. While catching some food for the night and enjoying the sunlit nal night, it’s easy to understand the herdsmen. This is their home that has remained unchanged for the centuries, and so it should stay. The skills you have acquired are the ones inherited from the herders, and still come at hand in order to survive in the Arctic.

DAY 6 – BACK INTO CIVILISATION

As we reach our van waiting for us by the road we left it some days before, you may feel that while all looks familiar, the world is no longer the same place. It’s the connection you made with the nature, and the disconnection with the civilization. Much later you realize your smart phone is still o , and it may as well stay so.

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