Category Archives: Lapland Nature

A description of the various nature phenomenons in the Finnish Lapland such as Northern Lights and Midnight sun. Descriptions of animals, birds and fish but also of flowers and trees that are to be found in the Lapish nature.

Polar night or Kaamos and Midnight sun for the first time

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The polar night is a phenomenon above the Arctic circle that means the sun does not rise above the horizon for an amount of time depending on how near the north pole the place is. In Rovaniemi the polar night, or kaamos as the Finns call it, really do not exist because the sun rises around Christmas time for a couple of hours during the day time. But still people use to call the time around Christmas and New Year the kaamos time. As my friends heard I will stay in Lapland during winter time they asked me how I would cope with the kaamos. After I experienced my first kaamos winter I really have to say, it was no problem at all. On the opposite, I found the kaamos quite exciting with the blue shine all day long, only with an exception of a couple of hours of light yellow sun shine in the middle of the day. You get the feeling of real arctic moments then. It is an relaxing feeling as you are surrounded of this blue atmosphere. It the weather is really cold, as it usually is at that time of the year, the blue light turns out to be even somewhat deeper.

The changes from summer lights to winter kaamos and on the other hand from kaamos to light again happen faster up in the north of Finland than in the south. The fact is that on March 20th and September 22th day and night are the same length in both south and north of Finland. Still in Lapland there are these periods of kaamos and the Midnight sun in the summer, when the sun does not set in the night at all for a period of time. The length of the time of the Midnight sun is depending on how near the north pole the place is; just the same as the fact about polar nights. In Rovaniemi region the Midnight sun period lasts from June 6th to July 6th.

These two pictures are from the polar night.

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This picture on the other hand is taken around midnight during the period of Midnight sun in Rovaniemi. It is amazing when you can stay outdoor all night and you have no problem to see in front of you because the sun is shining all the time. It is a well known fact that the Lapish people take advantage of these light summer nights and they do not sleep very many hours per night. During the winter and kaamos time they on the other hand sleep more hours.IMG_2218

 

 

My first Rovaniemi autumn

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As I arrived in Rovaniemi in September 2006 it was all new to me. I had never been that up north in my home country Finland. In September the beautiful “ruska” time was going on. Ruska is when the leaves on the trees turn from green to yellow and red before they finally fall off. I walked along the riverside of Kemijoki near my apartment and took a lot of pictures of the phenomenon with the yellow and red colored trees and the red colored ground. Where I used to live before the “ruska” never seemed to be as bright as it was here in Lapland. I just loved and enjoyed it now. The yellow color is the color of happiness and well-being and it appealed very good to my mental health. I got a happy and warm feeling inside.

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As you walk around on Ounasvaara hill there is the possibility to meet a reindeer and the chances to meet one when driving your car along the roads are also big. You have to be aware of that and look out for the grey, or sometimes even white, animals. They move very slowly though. They are not like the quick footed deer in the south of Finland, who just without warning jump out from nowhere in front of your car. Once as I was driving my car I met with a sleeping reindeer on the road! And it did not even bothered to move away as cars drove by! No wonder there are so many killed reindeer during the dark time of the year. There are also elks in this part of Finland, but I have not seen many of them during my stay here.

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