While on snow mobile tour two days ago I noticed something extraordinarily amazing. When I drove up a hill, I suddenly saw the sun fully above the horizon and could feel its warmth. It was the first day in 3 weeks that the sky cleared up, and the first time in 5 that sun rays were lighting up the trees and warming our faces. I hadn’t expected the sun up for another week so it was a big and very nice surprise.
Since then, the sun has been the main source of joy for all of the staff living here in Kangos. Everyone has been talking about it and how much they loved to see it shining through the windows once again. Yesterday, many people in the village were out for a walk to enjoy the hour the sun is visible. People working at the shop used the backdoor to hang outside for a minute and enjoy the view.
We gain sunlight for 10 minutes per day, making the difference is noticeable on a daily basis. The sky is glowing red and pink for 6 hours a day now, which makes for beautiful reflections on the fresh snow. The sun and the moon rise at about the same time on opposite sides of the horizon, which makes that your feeling of day and night changes depending on the direction your are looking in.
In the last few weeks there has been a lot more guiding than we had in the beginning. The lodge is almost fully booked now and people are very eager to go out on activities. Many of the guests we have are such nice people and it’s a lot of fun taking them on tour. Most of them are eager to learn about Lapland’s culture and nature. Some like to do alternative traveling and outdoor activities, for others it is the very first time they travel into nature and hence everything about it is new.
My personal favourite days are the longer tours. When you have a full day, you can take the guests out further, make them lunch outside and make them feel like they truly experience the wilderness. I’m looking forward to my first overnight, when we take them into our wildernis camp without electricity or running water.
Days can be long and hard but it’s very rewarding to work with satisfied people. All of us have been connecting to the guests and have kept in touch with some of them after they left. If they come and hug you after you’ve been out with them the whole day or smile and tell how much they’ve been enjoying themselves, you just forget about the hardness and love the job.
Lost in the Hills 