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This holiday is a very “hands on” introduction to dog sledding and a great option if you are short on time. What better way to enjoy the amazing nature and the pure fresh air of Fell Lapland than in the company of your own team of Siberian huskies?

During this holiday you will stay in a combination of cosy log cabins and wilderness accommodation.  The area surrounding Muonio in Finnish Lapland is truly beautiful and spectacularly wild.

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“Firstly, thank you very much for organising an extremely memorable trip. The hosts at Muonio were very helpful and kind. The accommodation and food was superb. The area was lovely – just what I was hoping for – some real wilderness!” Mary Miller – December 2010

Day 1: Flights, arrival and introduction
You’ll fly into Kittila Airport in Finland where a taxi will be waiting to take you to your accommodation, just over an hour away. Dinner will be served in the restaurant and you’ll need a good night’s sleep before tomorrow’s excitement.

Day 2:  Training preparation and departure
This morning, you’ll be transferred to the husky farm just outside Muonio where you’ll meet your guide and the charming huskies. You’ll be kitted out with warm winter clothes and learn more from your guide about the forthcoming safari.

Everybody drives their own husky team of approximately 4-6 huskies and, once the sleds are loaded and you’re thoroughly briefed on how to handle the sled, you depart.

The route winds through the snow covered forests and over frozen lakes close to the PallasYlläs National Park. During the safari you will stop for a picnic lunch by a campfire (weather permitting). In the afternoon you will arrive at the wilderness cabin where you will stay overnight. Everybody mucks in helping the guide to feed the dogs and prepare dinner.

You will have travelled approximately 25-35km.

Day 3:  Husky safari (approximately 30-50km)
After breakfast your safari continues through the beautiful winter landscape. The route will take you over the frozen lakes with amazing views of the snow covered fells. You will cover around 30-50 km today so you’ll be ready for a hearty dinner when you arrive at the cabin.

Day 4:  Husky safari to Muonio
After breakfast in the cabin you will start the safari back to the husky kennels, arriving in the afternoon. By now you should be nicely in tune with your team and eating away the kilometres. The distance covered today is between 30 and 50km.

On arrival at the kennels you will help settle the dogs and say farewell to your canine trail partners. Be prepared to shed a few tears, it’s tough!

Farewells completed, you’ll be taken back to the cabins at Sarkijarven Majat for a welcome hot shower in your cabin before dinner.

Day 5:  Departure

Tourism in Finnish Lapland has become the main income source of employment and income replacing traditional industries such as forestry.

Development from a period of extractive industry to an industrial society has come about quickly. In 1950 the largest part of Lapland’s inhabitants lived in rural areas and more than half the workforce worked in forestry and agriculture. Today 65 % of the workforce is in the service industry, 22 % in processing and 10 % in primary production.

This huge growth in tourism and service provision has been developed in conjunction with a long-term sustainable tourism plan with one of the primary objectives being to maintain nature in its natural state while guaranteeing the traditional way of life. Much of this has been achieved along with membership of EU development programmes, aimed at diversifying sources of livelihood, effective usage of resources and to increase export.

Approximately a quarter of Lapland’s 100 000 strong workforce was unemployed in 1997. Promoting entrepreneurship, ongoing re-education of the workforce and development of the educational system to suit the needs of enterprises is continuing.

The target is to diversify the sources of livelihood, increase the value of refinement production and develop new enterprises particularly in the area of tourism. National measures as well as EU-programme measures support this objective. We embrace this philosophy, employing local activity providers and using only locally owned hotels. In this manner we help to maintain jobs in an area where unemployment was, until recently, very high. Additionally, the use of local suppliers ensures that the tourism spend filters through to local economies via the tourism multiplier effect.

This holiday is based in a remote area of Lapland where the effects of rural to urban migration are keenly felt. Tourism is providing a vital source of income and employment to the young people of the region. We utilize locally owned accommodation throughout this trip. The initial base is in an historical building which has operated as a family run business for decades. The accommodation is couples with a small holding and there is an emphasis on subsistence farming from the family. Much of the food that they served is produced within metres of the cabins. Where their own supplies to not reach their requirements food is locally sourced and thus the economic benefits are spreads more widely amongst the community.

This holiday utilizes wilderness cabins which are situated amongst pristine wilderness. There is no electricity of plumbing to these cabins so their impact on the area is limited. Water and wood supplies are responsibly sourced and managed from the surrounding land. All waste is removed from the cabins and the environment and the group sizes are tightly controlled to ensure that the impacts of visits are lessened.