One of groups that travelled out to Chile almost 2 weeks ago, accompanied by our expert astronomer, Francisco Diego, also had a very successful visit the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal in the Atacama Desert. Run by the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), visits to the observatory are normally strictly controlled and so the fascinating visit by our group was a real privilege and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. One of our other groups, accompanied by expert Andy Green, is due to visit the VLT next week.

Exclusive News from the ground

We’ve now received an emotional and moving report from Gabriel Barok, the local organiser of these great tours to Easter Island to view the total solar eclipse.

Explore group on Easter Island

As he safely sees our groups to Easter Island’s airport for the long flight over the Pacific Ocean back to Santiago in Chile, he reflects on some of the most memorable few days of his life.

Gabriel flew out to Easter Island two weeks before the eclipse to ensure that everything was going to be just right for our groups. He spent his days on a reconnoitre of possible eclipse viewing sites and in the days leading up to the eclipse Gabriel, along with our expert astronomer, Francisco Diego, visited the local meteorologist to learn about cloud behaviour on Easter Island. In fact, so dedicated were they to their cause that they often visited the meteorologist as many as 5 times on the same day!

After two days of fierce storms, the sky cleared on the day of the eclipse and Gabriel and Francisco decided to take the group to the quiet seclusion of Rano Kau volcano, a place that their exhaustive research had shown would provide an ideal eclipse viewing location.

Gabriel describes the moment, ‘We divided the groups, Francisco took one group along with the delicate telescopic equipment and I guided 24 trekkers to the top of the volcano to arrive 10 minutes before the darkest border of the moon touched the most clearest sun; thanks to the Explore eclipse sunglasses we could enjoy the most wonderful feast of a never seen dying light and growing deep emotion. At 14.08 came the most spectacular and unexpected performance of nature: a deep dark blue sky with the darkest black hole and a crown of flames surrounding it. Sighs, tears and shouts all along the hill of the famous mythological crater behind us sculpted an eternal moment, for ever.’

After the eclipse our groups returned to Rapa Nui, the island’s capital, where they enjoyed a local curanto feast followed by dancing and music. The spirit of the eclipse, Mother Nature and the music all came together and the group danced into the night.

When is the next total solar eclipse?

For those of you who weren’t able to make the journey to Easter Island, or who made the trip and have a yearning for more, then the next total solar eclipse will be in Australia in November 2012. Keep an eye on our website in the autumn for a chance to book Explore’s trips to Australia to view the next total solar eclipse.

It is now under 2 months until Tim, Lucy, Jo and me walk 100 kilometres across the South Downs.

When I first agreed to take on this challenge I thought: “100 kilometres? Pah, no problem, that’s just walking 1 kilometre over and over again. That’ll be no problem. Anyway, it’s on the South Downs, so it’ll be downhill from Petersfield to the coast.”

I was wrong on every point.

So far the longest walk we have done as a team is about 35 kilometres. The first 10 kilometres really is just like walking 1 kilometre over and over again. After that your body starts to object.

At 20 kilometres your body starts to REALLY object. At 30 kilometres my body was (quite literally) starting to fail. A muscle that I don’t think I have ever used before (on the back of my thigh) intermittently started going into spasm. Other members of the team found hips seizing. Lips were (I’m not exaggerating) a shade of blue due to the cold. And I wont go into the gruesome details of the ruptured blisters on feet.

So, I am now not even contemplating the pain we will have to go through at 50 kilometres, 70 kilometres…

As for the South ‘Downs’? Presumably this is a name given by some marketing board so that it doesn’t deter ramblers from walking there. Really they are the South Ups. You start by walking up a steep incline – and you admire the views across the beautiful countryside. And you think – this is fine, nice level walk to the coast.

No.

Actually you walk off the top of the nice beautiful ridge, into a valley. And then, you walk up the next hill that appears to be vertical. Those hills that have the decency to be only a ‘steep’ gradient go on for miles and miles. Until you become convinced that at some stage someone will come along and tell you that you should have oxygen to walk at this altitude.

The day after training walks, it is difficult to move. Knees ache from the impact of walking downhill. Walking at all is a chore, walking at pace is impossible. I have had blisters on my feet constantly for the past 8 weeks.

I hope I’ve made our training sound like a real sob story. Of course, it isn’t. Because, I’m choosing to do this walk, and after each training session, I get in a car and drive home. I get a glass of water from the tap. I put some Compeed on my blisters. I have a hot bath to soothe my aches. If my thigh muscle doesn’t get better – I’ll drive to the doctor and be seen that day.

When someone in Africa walks miles to get water, they don’t get in a car to go home. They carry that water miles home. If their feet are blistered the wounds go untreated. If they need a doctor? There may not be a doctor for them to see.

This is why we are doing the walk, to raise money for a charity that helps people like this all around the world. They provide services where they are needed. Clean water to refugees in Uganda. Providing shelter and sanitation to those affected by the cyclone in 2008 in Burma. Helping impoverished farmers in Mexico get a fair price for their crop.

Please give whatever you can afford.

Sponsor us

This isn’t about the terrifying/stupid (delete as appropriate) walk we are doing. This is about supporting people around the world who need our help. People who don’t have the luxury to train for walks at the weekend.

Read more about the team’s walk on the Explore website

For the last three weeks, Joanna Lumley’s Nile series has been running on ITV, where she explores the longest river in the world from sea to source. The first two episodes saw Joanna encountering classic Egyptian and Nubian culture and hospitality.  (catch up with them all on the ITV player here)

Explore’s Nile Cruise boat – the M/S Doma moored in Luxor

Many tour operators offer Nile Cruises, but no one does it quite like Explore, with a choice of Nile Cruise boats, and the chance of seeing not only the main highlights but getting some real local experiences too. But where Explore are truly different, is that we don’t just stop at Egypt.

Ethiopia: Lake Tana

Episode 3 saw Joanna journeying from Khartoum in Sudan to the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia. Making her way up the Blue Nile by plane to the beautiful city on Bahar Dar on Lake Tana (one of the many sources of the Nile), then up into the Simien Mountains where she saw the incredible sight of Ethiopian girls training for the Olympics, and also the unique Gelada Baboons which exist only in this area of Africa.

Ethiopia: Simien Mountains

Explore offer 4 different tours visiting the unusual holiday destination of Ethiopia – including Blue Nile & Lalibela exploring Bahar Dar, Lake Tana and the spectacular Simien Mountains, as well as the astonishing rock cut churches at Lalibela. But if the Mountain scenery in the program took your breath away – why not try our Simien Mountain Trek? Dramatic views, Gelada baboons and an ascent of Ethiopia’s highest mountain await you.

]]> http://www.exploreblogs.co.uk/2010/04/27/joanna-lumleys-nile-episodes-1-3/feed/ 0 http://www.exploreblogs.co.uk/2010/04/26/tropic-of-cancer-bangladesh-laos-vietnam/ http://www.exploreblogs.co.uk/2010/04/26/tropic-of-cancer-bangladesh-laos-vietnam/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:29:36 +0000 admin http://www.exploreblogs.co.uk/?p=956 Last week we were sobusy sorting out the Volcano induced flights crisis that we didn’t manage to do a blog about the Bangladesh to Burma program. If you missed it too, you can catch up with it on BBC iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s5wzp/Tropic_of_Cancer_Bangladesh_to_Burma/

Bangladesh

If you are inspired to spend time in Bangladesh, Explore are one of the few tour operators in the UK market that visit this remarkable country. Visiting Dhaka and the Ganges Delta in Bangladesh, through the tea plantations of Darjeeling and mystical mountain state of Sikkim to the magical Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, our unique journey ‘Inside the Hidden Kingdoms’ gets you off the tourist trail like never before.

Laos & Vietnam
In the final episode of this epic journey, Simon Reeve follows the Tropic of Cancer through the remote northern region of Laos just to the south of the tropic (due to the Chinese authorities not allowing him and his crew a visa). But his disappointment is short lived, as Simon discovers the treasures of a little country ravaged over the years by war. Even this remote jungle covered area is not immune to the effects of globalisation, as he stumbles upon a massive building project funded by the Chinese. A ‘Vegas’ style casino and hotel resort in the middle of the jungle! (Watch this episode on iPlayer if you missed it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s7glt/Tropic_of_Cancer_Laos_to_Hawaii/ )

You can practically follow in Simon’s footsteps from the romantic city of Luang Prabang nestled on the banks of the Mekong, stop off at friendly hillside villages in northern Laos, pass through National parks and a primate sanctuary in Vietnam on the way  to the iconic Ha Long bay in Vietnam on our ‘Bangkok to Hanoi’ tour.

Follow in Simon’s footsteps on a trip across Thailand, Laos & Vietnam

Starting off in the Rann of Kutch, he goes in search of the shy Indian Wild Ass. You can explore much of this region on our Village India tour where you get to discover much of tribal Gujerat.

Gujarat Crafts

Simon then takes time to consider the decline of the tiger situation and also spends time with a beautiful Indian elephant. You could encounter both magnificent creatures in parks nearby to the one Simon visited (Satpura). Our Tiger Trails & Temples Tour visits Ranthambore, Bandhavgargh and Kanha National parks – all classic ‘Kipling’ country.

Tiger spotting

Lastly, Simon spends time in fantastic yet often misunderstood Calcutta (aka Kolkata). You can find out for yourself what it is like on the tours ‘Kolkata to Amritsar’, ‘Bengal to the Malabar Coast’, ‘Sikkim & Singalila Trek’ and ‘Inside Hidden Kingdoms’, journeys which promise to show you much more than the usual tourist highlights of Inda…

Kolkata

We interview our Egyptian tour leader Arafa Omran and the Operations Manager of the boat Saleh Rabei to get to the bottom of what makes a holiday on the Doma so special…

So, Saleh, Arafa, there are many Nile cruise ships on the Nile – why is the Doma special?

Arafa-The best thing about the Doma is it can only take 24 people. This means only the Explore group on board which means privacy – not like the other big noisy cruise boats which take up to 300 people on board. While on Doma, it’s our boat, we control the itinerary which means we can get to some sites before the big cruise ships turn up and be the only group exploring places like Edfu temple.

Saleh -The boat is also locally owned and staff are all from Luxor. This helps to employ local people and gives the customer the real Egyptian life experience.

At Explore our aim is to help people to “get off the beaten track” – how do you manage to do this in such a popular destination as Egypt?

Arafa- With Explore you do the same like what other travel agent do but in a real way not in a touristic way! For example, when we go to the Valley of the Kings, we take a donkey there rather than a coach.

One of my many favourite experiences with Explore is a trip to the Nubian Village.  We use a motor boat to get to the first cataract in the river Nile among the small islands. (Most of them are declared as a national park and birds use them as a station during the migration seasons. You can see more than 400 different kinds of birds in different seasons!)

Then we leave the tourist areas far behind and get off the motor boat to walk around a Nubian Village where we can see the real local life (We are the only tourists there).        Sometimes we are lucky enough to visit to a Wise Man called Haj Mohamed before visiting a real Nubian house. After welcome drinks we take a tour with a local guide who tells us all about the Nubian people.

After this we have a traditional meal and also have the chance to get a henna tattoo from a young female member of the family.

Saleh – And on board the Doma, our chef is local so he cooks all local food which completes the Egyptian experience. One of our meals is Koshary (very popular local dish consisting of macaroni, lentils, rice noodles, onions, hot sauce and garlic). We also do Falafel which is again traditional Egyptian food.

What is life like on board the Doma?

Arafa- This is a typical day sailing from Kom Ombo to Esna Lock
Breakfast while sailing in the morning and by 11:00 am we arrive at Edfu. While sailing people can do many things – some of them just enjoy sitting in the sun to try to get a tan before going back home, some read books and others just enjoy the sailing, and watching the daily life of Egyptians on the banks of the Nile. You can watch the birds, the daily life of the farmer and their daily activity and people fishing in the Nile with the same way the ancient Egyptians used to do 5000 years ago.

We get off the boat to visit Edfu Temple before resuming our journey back on the boat and having our lunch while sailing to Esna Lock. Some people like to cool themselves by jumping in the Doma pool, or just sitting in the bar with a drink listening to music or just playing cards, backgammon or dominoes.

After dinner we might have our Galabia Party with everybody dressed with this long traditional Egyptian garment and some funny make up. All the guests and crew get together for a fun party with games and dancing in the bar.

Saleh – Life on board is very relaxing, and customers can take advantage of our book corner, TV, bar, sun deck and the small pool on board in between the sightseeing. Guests really gel well with each other and the crew and feel at home straight away.

Why is cruising the Nile such a good way to get close to the culture of Egypt?

Arafa – Did you know that 96% of Egypt is desert, while only 3.4% is cultivated land – and this, as well as most Egyptian people is found along the banks of the Nile?
While sailing you will see the real Egypt. Watching the river banks with its cultivated land and the farmer working in it. See the contrast between the Desert and the Nile. Watch people fishing, swimming in the Nile, bathing animals like camels or horses, or just using the Nile to transfer products or people locally.

Thank you to Arafa and Saleh, who both look forward to welcoming you onto the Doma this year. To find out more about the boat, its facilities and the different tours you can do on it, take a look at our M/S Doma page.

I’ve had some excellent news: One of my best friends, whom I don’t see all that often because he lives in The City, saw my first blog, funnily enough, and asked jokingly if he could come to Kili with me. I said he could and should and he couldn’t quite believe his ears.

After some um-ing and ah-ing about whether he could justify to his girlfriend about dipping into his savings he decided this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he simply couldn’t miss out on, wrath from a woman scorned be damned. We’ve always said we should do an Explore trip together because we both have inquisitive minds, enjoy active pastimes (when I can be bothered to get off my rump) and, like any sane human being, enjoy a jolly good holiday! I was looking forward to this anyway, of course, and I’ve never had a problem travelling without knowing anyone beforehand because you quite often have more of an opportunity and more motivation to make new friends ([waves at Angela and Greg]), but right from the beginning I wondered who would be able to appreciate my efforts if I simply came back and told people about it. Now I will have someone to reminisce with over a beer in the comfort of a cosy pub and I’m rather pleased about that. My friend, Stitch (don’t ask), is as enthusiastic as a dog with a bone and that just adds to the anticipation of the trip and makes preparations much more enjoyable – his enthusiasm truly is contagious.

Decent new walking boots are still on my wish-list. I’ve been a little tardy with research, so I’m still undecided on what I’d like to get. There are some great review websites with very detailed descriptions which I find a little overwhelming. I’d usually just pop into my local outdoor activities equipment retailer (am I allowed to say “Millets”? It would have been less of a mouthful…) and grab some that fit me well enough. Some authors of the aforementioned websites would probably turn in their graves, were they dead. The research continues…

Talking of research, I have started reading a book about Kili (“A trekking guide to Africa’s highest mountain” – Henry Steadman – find it in our Amazon Bookstore page 6) and it is comprehensive and also a little terrifying. It’s good to be informed, or so I’ve heard, and I do like to know a little about my destination before I get there. It is sensible to know, preferably in advance rather than with hindsight, how to keep clear of offending the locals: Perhaps with a seemingly innocent gesture; eating with the wrong hand; or kissing their wives. It doesn’t matter how crazy that may seem to some of us, I guess it’s just polite to know what not to do. The book has brought to light what I already suspected, but had been in denial about: that climbing Kilimanjaro is tough. It does also say that it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do in your life! Now we’re talking!

I was pleased to find out, and meet, the Tour Leader who will be leading the departure I’m on. I only spoke to her briefly, but it was great to meet a veritable Kili veteran. I do, however, wish I hadn’t mentioned that I used to process Tour Leaders’ expenses when I worked in the Finance department, she may well have multiple opportunities to get her own back on my over-zealous red pen… I also discovered that it is the height of silliness to smoke on the mountain – of course it isn’t against any rules – it can simply incapacitate you. The last thing I want is to say that I couldn’t make it to the top because I was craving a cigarette. How ridiculous would that be? How much would I kick myself for spoiling such a colossal event just because of a smoke? Best pack the nicotine gum, just in case…!

My birthday has come and gone with all that this usually entails for me: Excessive drinking; partying; and generally over-indulging and under-sleeping. Obviously this is all great stuff for the imminent half marathon I’m running. Perhaps I should have considered entering into one that wasn’t in the same month as a stag party, my birthday and two of my close friends’ birthdays. Still, despite my social whirlwind, the training hasn’t been neglected and I’m aiming for around the two hour mark… Fingers crossed! The Trailwalker challenge I mentioned in the previous blog has been confirmed now too. Explore has a team of four to take on the 100KM in 30 hours. (And a cheeky plug, blogmaster willing, click here if you’d like to sponsor us.) I’m also looking at running the London 10KM the weekend before the Trailwalker – I’ve heard it’s quite a scenic and interesting route. I think I should squeeze a couple more events in too, to keep the old training motivation ticking over…

I still haven’t read the dossier for this trip. Perhaps, now that I’ve received all of my official paperwork from Explore, disappointingly handed to me rather than landing on my door mat of a morning (I guess it would be a waste of a stamp to send it to my house though), I’d better swot up somewhat. Maybe I will have read it by the time I write next month’s blog…!

The weather in London dawned fine on Sunday the 19th July and, despite the best efforts of a “yet again closed for engineering works” Victoria line, I got to Heathrow in time for my flight to Spain to join Explore’s ‘On Foot in the Pyrenees’ tour.  At the departure gate I spotted one or two people that I thought might be on the trip (walking boots are usually a good clue) but, of course, met all 15 of my fellow travellers plus Henri, our tour leader, once through into the arrivals hall at Barcelona airport.  The group then travelled direct to the small village of Esterri, which was the first of our two bases for the week.

The trip has a number of walks in and around the Aigues Tortes National Park.  The first two are on some of the lower slopes of the hills then we moved base to Espot and spent time higher up in the mountains in the national park itself.  The weather throughout was beautiful; fine, bright and sunny every day, but it was certainly warm at the beginning of the week.  The adage that “only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” was probably very apt.  Although, to be fair, the group did consist of six non-British nationals so maybe it’s not just the English that are happy to go hiking in the heat!

The walks were all very enjoyable and the scenery stunning.  Our first day’s walk saw us in the Vall d’Aneu and at one point we walked through an abandoned village that had, apparently, been inhabited up until the 1960’s or so.  The population of a number of the mountain villages has been dwindling over the years so it would be good to see sensitively planned and managed tourism help keep the area alive and vibrant.

The Aigues Tortes National Park is a great natural asset and a wonderful place for walking and various winter activities, and the wider area is a stunning part of the world.  I think most of the group, at one stage or another, felt quite envious of Henri knowing that, for a short time at least, the area was his “office”.  The walks on days 4 and 6 of the itinerary took us to some wonderful mountain lakes that were icy blue and no doubt icy cold.

I did venture to put my feet into a stream during one walk and lasted less than 10 seconds.  I was completely out-classed by one of my fellow travellers who waded about for a number of minutes, but then I don’t mind admitting to being a bit of a wimp!

The trip had a couple of rest days so we were able to undertake optional activities such as kayaking, white water rafting and additional walks or, as in my case on one day, relaxing with a good book.  The accommodation we had in both Esterri and Espot was good, with both hotels having nice outdoor areas in which to have a drink after a good day’s walk.  Although, I should mention that in Espot the step up to the terrace from street level was somewhat challenging at the end of a 1,000m descent or a 3-km route march back from the national park (the latter of which, I hasten to add, was purely voluntary as it was part of the optional day we had at the end of the week).  On most evenings we ate out as a group but one does has to be mindful that the Spanish eat very late and, whilst extremely good value financially, a 3-course meal (with bread and wine as part of the inclusive price) eaten no earlier than eight o’clock in the evening doesn’t always mean a good night’s sleep!  (Especially given as we didn’t have the energy to go out and party until midnight to give our food time to digest.)

Overall, the combination of a well thought out itinerary; a fun and capable tour leader, and a great bunch of travelling companions made for an excellent tour.  The walking was fairly strenuous in parts but I’d thoroughly recommend that people dust off their boots, tone up their fitness, and go and enjoy what is a very beautiful part of Europe.

Ngaire Drew

Ngaire Drew took part in our ‘On Foot in the Pyrenees‘ tour in July 2009.

It’s not been all just hard work for us here in La Gomera, on Sunday WoodVale organised a fancy dress party for all of us rowers to let our hair down – and Team Explore did that in style!  We went as exploding handheld flares, which involved Christmas decorations on our heads and shower curtains.  All the teams made a great effort with their outfits and I must admit there was an unusally high number of men dressed as women – not quite sure what that says about ocean rowers!

But on Monday it was back to work as our boat was due to be re-scrutineered on Tuesday and there was still a fair amount to do.  Despite the sore heads we got it all done and passed on Tuesday and at long last we were allowed to launch Explore.  Getting her off the double trailer was no mean feat, there were a few dodgy moments, and then Annie and I were allowed on when she was actually lifted into the water.  However even this had a few problems, half way through the lift one of the other crews said there were no mooring spaces in the marina and we shouldn’t launch.  So Annie and I were stuck on the boat mid lift while everyone frantically ran around to find us a space – that was an excellent definition of being left in limbo!  A space was eventually found and the lift continued, just before we hit the water Rachel Smith (who did the last race as a female pair so was very fitting) christened the boat with a bottle of cava.  By the time we’d found our mooring space and got her secured it was dark, so we obviously drank the rest of the cava and went out to celebrate!

If you would like to find out the full story behind Annie & Mel’s epic rowing adventure across the Atlantic, and why we are involved with them, you can find out more at www.explore.co.uk/atlanticrowers. You will also find details about how you can get involved and help them achieve thair other goal of raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

“WAF! The dogs are barking…ready to take me on the adventure of a lifetime.
I have selected my team and placed the harnesses on them. They are so excited and thrilled to go they just don’t want to waste a second! I step on my sled, hold on steady, release the anchor and I’m off….All of a sudden it is completely silent. I hear nothing apart from the soft panting of the dogs and the runners on the snow.  It takes a few breaths to comprehend the feeling of freedom and exhilaration as I pass the trees beside me and immerse myself in Europe’s last wilderness…

Experience the beautiful wilderness

The first day of our tour is informatory and instructive to learn about a few important details such as how to handle the dogs (so they don’t run off without you!), how to correctly put on their harnesses, very importantly how to use the break and to never let go of your sled (you don’t want to be running after your dogs and sled! Especially, considering they can run even faster than 30 km an hour!).

Learn to dogsled

We all get our teams ready for take off and start our adventure to the lake cabin. We learn to balance on the sleds in the curves and corners, use the breaks when going down hills and through forest trails arrive at luongasjarvi lake. From here you can see the sauna and the lodge where we will be spending a few days.  We stop and unpack but not before we give the doggies a treat and tell them how good they have been!

Improving your dogsledding skills

We make a fire in the sauna and in the cabin to heat things up before a well deserved dinner of reindeer meat is served.  And of course it’s not only a feast for us, the dogs outside get dinner too!

On our second day we are all a little more confident! We pack a day sack and get back on our sleds. Today is devoted to driving around the pretty area and make it to the Torne River which, is the river where the ice blocks for the ice hotel come from. At the end of January the sun is back after not showing herself for 3 weeks. We are lucky with nice weather and enjoy a simple meal and hot wilderness coffee on our homemade fire! When we return by the end of the day to the lake cabin we get a lesson of ice fishing! Super fun when you see the fish through your own drilled ice hole looking at your bait! Hmm fish for dinner anyone?

The sun just peeks above the horizon

Our next day is spent mushing towards our next wilderness cabin, Jakala.
On route we even get the chance to see moose and reindeer. Don’t stop! The moose might have calves which they like to protect… Unlike in Alaska we don’t have bear spray with us! Not to worry, you get to see moose up close and personal in the moose park later on in the week!! Upon arrival at our wilderness cabin we first take care of our dogs, un-harnessing them and getting them settled and even give them a snack before we unpack our own bags and heat up the cabin and sauna. Moose stew is waiting with some mashed potatoes and a nice glass of wine!

Learn about reindeer and Sami culture

Early morning we feed our doggies and scoop up their poop. Checking up their poop is very important! Ahem, I won’t expand on the topic…I’ll let your guide do that for you! Today we get to mush towards a Sami settlement on our last day of mushing! It’s a great day of variable trails, mostly on an easy route, which can however change at any time depending on the weather conditions! We arrive in the afternoon and are greeted by our Sami hosts, Per Nils and Britt Marie. Eager to give us coffee and tell us stories we sit by the fire place and enjoy a homemade Sami dinner, before we have the option for a traditional sauna with a well deserved cold beer!

Bonding with the huskies

We say goodbye to the doggies today and take our last pics with them!
From the Sami settlement, Ovre Sopporo we head towards the exciting Ice Hotel! The hotel is constructed of building blocks of ice and snow taken from the Torne River and decorated by magical ice-art created by artists from around the world. But before heading to Jukkasjarvi to see the Ice Hotel we get to meet Foppa, Tuva, Mooses, Hilma, Tage and Ture at the Moose Park!! We get to learn about these incredible animals from Lars Bjork!

At the Icehotel

A husky safari holiday is something truly special. You learn about yourself, you learn about the dogs and you learn about the wilderness lifestyle! You get the opportunity for one week to have an insight into a world which is so different from the ordinary.  I think it is an absolute MUST of things to do in your lifetime…”

If you would like to join us for a husky safari in Lapland, check out the dates and prices for our Lapland Doglesd Safari.