Reindeer, Dogs, and Snowmobiles ~ Northern Lights Village, Pyha

“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. “
– Native American Proverb

Welcome to Northern Lights Village Pyha! What an amazing two night stay Laura and I had at this resort, about a 90-minute ride northeast of Rovaniemi. I had seen this resort a few times when I was doing some research for this trip, and they have three locations. I was trying to find a place we could get to once in Rovaniemi so this seemed like a great choice, and the reviews were all very good. We booked a two night package with a cabin which was very spacious. Two bedrooms, one bath, a sauna, and the living room / dining area had a fireplace. All our meals were included, use of snowsuits, mittens and boots if you wanted them, as well as a reindeer sledge ride, dog sled ride, and our transfers to/from the airport. We added in an aurora snowmobile excursion on our second night.

The reindeer ride was peaceful and relaxing. It’s two people to each sledge, and they have one person leading a group of about 4-5 sledges. We learned the reindeer can each pull about 350kg. The reindeer do a sledge ride one day and rest the next. It was about 20 minutes or so, which was the perfect amount of time. The reindeer roam free for seven months in the summer and they typically return on their own once the late fall sets in, but if they don’t they can track them with the GPS collar they wear to bring them back to the farm. We also learned reindeer shed their antlers once a year, and they grow large until about 7-years old, then they start to get smaller. They grow in a similar pattern each year so it’s easy for the herders to get to know them. There are no wild reindeer, they are all owned by the Sami, and each one is tagged either on their ear or with GPS. They can be stubborn animals, and move at their own pace. They cause about 4,000 accidents a year in Finland, and we learned they don’t salt the roads in the winter since reindeer love salt and the reindeer would all wonder to the roads for a feast.

After lunch came the dog sled ride. I thought we each had a sled driven by an experienced driver… nope, its two people each sled and you are given a crash course how to break, help uphills, and the arm signals the leader will use to “stop” and “slow down”. You also learn to watch the dog lines for it needs to be tight and not drooping between the dogs. Laura and I were in the lead sled and I drove first. It took me a bit to relax, and I probably made the poor pups work harder for the first 5 minutes as I may have been breaking a bit more than needed. I did get the “over the shoulder stink eye glance” from one of the lead dogs which they told us they will do if they are working hard and want your help. Sorry! Through the woods we went, then the leader pulled off to the side and told us to keep going and we were running free around a nice big loop all on our own. Once we were around the large loop it was Laura’s turn to drive while I got to enjoy the scenery and take some photos. As we came back to the farm, we saw a number of dogs running on the property behind the fence, frolicking in the snow and barking at their “friends” who were pulling us on the track. They have over 80 dogs at different ages, including some puppies we got to pet. They participate in sled races with some of their pack, and recently competed in one that was 500km over two days. Their goal was to have a healthy pack for the race and they really don’t “race” until the final kilometers when they know the dogs are still in good shape towards the finish.

Dog sledding through the Finland wilderness

We ended our night on a snowmobile ride to search for the northern lights. I had no problems letting Laura do the driving as I hate driving my car at night so I didn’t think I’d enjoy driving a heavy snowmobile. It was a bit chilly out, so I wore my full snow suit under the snow suit they gave me. Now I know how the Pillsbury Dough Boy feels! It was too cloudy for any northern lights, but we had a fun time for 3 hours driving through the woods of Finland in the night. Sitting around a campfire we learned quite a bit about Finland and how the government and the people go to great lengths to protect their environment, and it shows. This was a great way to end our time at Northern Lights Village Pyha.