Sami Experience

Your Sami Experience will include opportunities to learn about reindeer farming, sample the Sami culture and cuisine, a visit to a moose park, and an introduction to the summer life of Lapland’s husky dogs.

Your Sami Experience break is based at the Davvi Arctic Lodge, deep inside the Arctic Circle and on the edge of a vast unspoiled wilderness that stretches into the far distance. The hotel is located at the small town of Karesuando, on a fellside on the Finnish side of the border with Sweden.

Your break includes full board at the Davvi Arctic Lodge, which you reach after a flight from The UK, followed by a two-hour minibus transfer through the summer landscapes where the Sami dwell.

Sami traditions are steeped in a mythological past and their philosophy centres around living in harmony with nature. In the traditional Sami religion, both living beings and inanimate objects were thought to have souls. A priest or shaman, called a noaidi, acted as an intermediary between the spiritual and material worlds. He would consult with the dead while in a trance induced by beating on a magic drum and performing a special kind of chanting called juoigan (yoik) in Sami. Yoik is the traditional Sami music.

The Sámi national dress, or gakti, though instantly recognisable and predominantly red, yellow and blue, actually differs from one area to another, thus identifying where the wearer’s family comes from. The Sámi national dress also reflects the vivid, glowing colours of the autumn leaves, a spectacular natural display.

Reindeer Herding (2hrs)

Your Sami Experience activities include a two hours spent with reindeer farmers, learning the secrets of their way of life. You will meet some of the reindeer and learn a little about them from their Sami owners. There will be an opportunity for photographs, before you try your hand at lassoo throwing, followed by some hot sausages cooked over an open fire.

Sami Interlude (3hrs)

Your break also includes a Sami interlude, when you will meet some local Sami people in a traditional lavu (large family tent) where you will be able to enjoy some reindeer meat cooked over the fire and served with homemade bread and coffee. Throughout your visit, you Sami hosts will talk to you on subjects such as their local life, traditions and ancestry. Your Sami interlude day will conclude with a tour around the family small holding, which provides a range of artefacts an information on the history and culture of the Sami people.

In Search of the Moose (2hrs)

During your Sami Experience break, you will also make a visit to a nearby moose park at Vittangi, where you will meet the tame elks Foppa, the big bull, and his his mates ant the two twin calves, born in May 2009! You get to learn many things about the moose and watch a short film about the wildlife around Vittangi. Don´t miss a fantastic opportunity to experience moose really close up.

Husky Encounter (2hrs)

The final ingredient of your Sami Experience break will be a visit to a husky camp. While these wonderful animals are famed for their hard work in winter pulling sleds through the snowscapes, you will discover that they are trained during the summer too. And after a coffee round the fire, you will be able to experience summer husky walking, attached by a belt-like contraption to a team of huskies as they pull you along through the summer landscapes.

Mountain bikes are available to hire throughout your stay and a wide range of additional optional activities are also available.