Hiking in La Palma

Tyler and I are not resort people. We are not joiners and we are not the kind of people who make friends quickly or easily. So it was very off-brand for us to decide to spend Christmas at a resort last year. Normally we try to find a remote island cottage with no neighbors and proximity to sand and sun. These are hard to come by in Europe in December. The previous year we researched “where is the hottest place in Europe in December”. We came up with The Canary Islands, Spanish islands off the coast of Western Sahara. It was a fantastic destination but it wasn’t exactly hot, hot. The food was amazing and we hiked in paradise but the weather was unpredictable. We only braved the sea once. Contrast this to our previous Christmases in Mexico, Hawaii and The Caribbean where we lolled around on the beach and snorkeled crystalline waters. La Palma was beautiful but windy, cold, rocky and formidable.

This past year we realized we wouldn’t be finding our winter island paradise in Europe so we pivoted in the opposite direction. We said “Let’s do to Finland!”. Lapland in December is not for independent travelers because it will kill you. You will freeze to death in the dark and be dead and your frozen body will be eaten by wolves. We knew doing our own thing was not going to be an option. So we did the thing we’d never done before; we booked a resort package… DUNDUNDUN!!!

We chose Nellim Wilderness Lodge based on an exhaustive internet search. Plus they had the Aurora bubble we really wanted to try! We chose a 4 day package that included snowmobiling, dog-sledding, snow-shoeing and a visit to a Sami reindeer farm. We had two nights in a hotel room at the lodge and then two nights in the bubble.

We spent a couple of lovely days exploring Helsinki before heading north to the great unknown. Helsinki was a fun city with great food, interesting architecture and a plethora of holiday charm. Fortified with a fun new winter hat purchased at an open air market, we headed off to the great white north.

We went in blindly not really knowing what to expect in terms of climate, landscape and overall “resortiness”. Our tiny plane landed in Ivalo and we found the person that was supposed to pick us up among the representatives from the 3 or 4 different resorts, one of them claiming to be the “Official” Santa’s Village. After waiting a short while, all of the remainder of the Nellim guests made themselves known to the driver. There was a middle-aged American couple, a middle-aged gay couple from England and a mother and her teen-aged son, also from England. Little did we know that these folks would become very familiar faces over the course of our stay. That’s resortin’ for ya!

At around 2:30 pm, just as the sun was setting, our driver escorted us to the van and we headed off to the resort. I snapped this first picture as we pulled out of the parking lot.

The quality of light was completely alien and there was a hushedness in the air that was almost palpable. As soon as settled into my seat I got really sleepy, finding it hard to stay awake on the 40 or so minute ride. In fact, everybody grew quiet and most began dozing soon after we got on the road; collective narcolepsy had overtaken the van.

Upon arrival at Nellim we were ushered into the main lodge and offered a late lunch as each group got checked in. The lodge was about as quintessential “rustic wilderness cabin” as you might imagine complete with animal skins, vintage skis, dusty taxidermy woodland critters and plenty of log cabin flair. Plus it was Christmastime so there was décor in the form of tinsel, lights and Santa tchotchkes. Lunch was served buffet style with a hearty mystery meat stew (later we learned it was reindeer, which was served in some form or another at nearly every meal), bread, salads and cold-cuts.

A woman in fancy traditional Finnish dress came over to check us in and give us waiver forms for all the dangerous activities they were going to let us do. We were also offered the opportunity to rent an “aurora phone” from the lodge, a tiny flip-phone that the staff would text whenever there was an aurora sighting.

After dropping our bags in our room we headed over to the equipment building and got fitted with snowsuits, boots, balaclava and gloves that we were to keep for the duration of our visit. Temperatures normally hover around zero degrees F during peak winter but throughout our stay it averaged around 30F, the lowest reaching 14F. We were extremely lucky with the weather. It was cold enough to feel “extreme” (at least to this California girl) but never painfully cold when we were all geared up.

Snow gear and aurora phone at the ready we headed to out lodge room to relax before dinner and the first evening’s activities. Soon after we started unpacking, the aurora phone beeped. With great excitement we ran outside to see what we could. People had gathered on the porch of the main lodge and stared into the sky in amazement. We joined them and I looked up and didn’t see a thing. That is until I saw a thing: A nebulous, undulating light shimmering in greens and purples. Watching there with the people gathered together it was like watching a fireworks show in slow motion with both hushed and shouted “oohs and ahhs”. The lights were showing in a couple of different parts of the sky, dissipating quickly and reappearing in another spot. Eventually the show slowed and the people dispersed.

I tried to get a picture. Stupid me neglected to learn how to use my DLSR camera before arriving and turns out you really need a tri-pod as well and some special lighting stuff. I spent way too much time dicking around with my camera instead of just experiencing the actual event. Once I realized I wouldn’t get any kind of perfect shot I was able to let go and live in the moment. We would see the lights two more times on the trip but they were never as strong as on that first night. This was the best I could do. Not too shabby, right?!

And so began our resort holiday. It reminded me so much of summer camp. We had our bunk assignments, we all ate together in the canteen three times a day, we consulted the schedule posted daily to see which activities we were assigned to and with which guide, we assembled and answered roll call when meeting for activities and the staff were a young, attractive international group who were all dating each other in some combination or another.

Here are some of the highlights and odd moments that stuck with me.

• Dogsledding day was amazing. I could not believe the casual freedom they gave us. Our guide basically showed us how to work the brake on the sled and instructed us to follow him. Before we even know what was happening we were in our own sled with a team of 6 dogs and off to the races! That would NEVER happen in the U.S. Never in a million years. It’s one of my favorite things about Europe. Personal responsibility means something here. It was exhilarating. I had to pee about an hour in and had to find the bank on the frozen lake for a little cover and try to pee while wearing an enormous snowsuit while everybody waited. I did not fall over or wet myself so I count that day well spent.
• Dining with the nice couple from Texas. We avoided politics but did talk about rodeo and too hot saunas.
• The daylight was a persistent blue/gray moving into inky blackness at about 4 pm each night. Anytime we weren’t actively moving or eating we’d get so, so sleepy. If we weren’t kept busy and on a schedule I imagine everybody would sleep all day and night. The human hibernation instinct is real!
• Enjoying Last Christmas on heavy rotation in the dining room all week and then to wake to the news that George Michael had died on Christmas day. I wanted to share my grief with somebody but was too shy to strike up a conversation with the 50 something gay couple that were there for fear of being presumptuous.
• Finally moving into our aurora bubble for the last two nights. It had grown cloudy by then so we never saw the lights from inside it but it was magical nonetheless.
• Being in the dining room when an aurora was sited and everybody’s little phone went off. A young boy running into the room shouting “aurora alert! aurora alert!”. Everybody leaving their dinners and rushing outside.
• Johnny the guide from Manchester by way of Sydney where he met his Finnish girlfriend who was also working at the resort. He took us out on to the frozen Lake Inari for a bonfire and his hands were painfully wrecked from having to start fires, cut wood and handle a white-hot iron tea kettle all season. He explained the difficulties of starting a fire in -20 degree weather.
• The young couple from Hong Kong who were super excited about their ongoing journey; a stay at the official Santa’s Village which turns out is most popular with Asian tourists.
• Taking the big bus back to the airport at the end of our trip and being greeted by elves hanging from the road sign for the airport, representatives of said Santa’s Village. Five more or so were working the inside of the airport, stealing hats, making mischief and chortling in ridiculous voices to delight or irritation of all.

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