And I went to Finland!
I planned to move in Europe for one year and do a European diploma called “Higher European Diploma in Tourism” (HEDTOUR) in partnership with a French school. This diploma is composed of four months in a university and an internship in a tourist structure during 13 weeks. I chose Finland because I wanted to explore an unusual destination (which I would never have gone on my own!). I have been studying four months in the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi where I met amazing people. So, to do my training course, I wanted to stay in Finland and finally, I had the opportunity to go to Lapland Safaris Luosto. One of my friends has been there 2 years ago and made me wants to go there too, to discover this amazing place.
Luosto, in the middle of nowhere
Luosto is a really peaceful place to live. It is a small location where you just have to cross the road and you can be lost in the middle of “nowhere”, surrounded by the silence and the serenity.
As a small holiday resort, you can find two hotels and log cabins, Lapland Safaris office (offering wide range of safaris for tourists), a Ski resort with slopes, and many kilometres of cross-country ski trails. Luosto is close to the reindeer farm Kopara, two huskies farms and the Amethyst Mine. It is quite easy to reach it by car/bus with only 1h30 from the Santa Claus’ Village and the city centre of Rovaniemi.
Luosto is absolutely the perfect destination for nature’s lovers looking for tranquillity, especially by a wonderful sunny day in the snow-covered swamps. If you got luck you can catch some Northern lights in the dark night or watch a beautiful pink sky at 1 or 2 pm in the afternoon during winter time!
My work as a trainee in Lapland Safaris
As a trainee I was like an assistant for the guides in Lapland safaris. We were 3 French girls there, in charge of the French tourists arrival every Thursday and Sunday between December 2013 and March 2014 taking care of them (reviewing the activities on an individual program, picking the keys up of the rooms and giving them the equipment). We had also the mission to be the English-French interpreter during safaris, translating stories and rules.
Actually, I was in “expedition” almost every day helpping the main guides. My favourite one was the snowmobile safari tour to the reindeer farm. Indeed, when you go to the farm, you enjoy a ride in a sledge pulled by a reindeer in a caravan way. After that, you can learn a lot about reindeers in Lapland next to the fire in the Kota sharing a really good tea with tasty cardamom bread!
One of my friends who have been with me in this adventure says to me:
“You can take a man out of Lapland, but you cannot take Lapland out of a man” (from a Finnish saying).
In fact, I start to trust her. Every single day I have one of my thoughts remembering a moment of my trip in Lapland and I hope I can come back to live again the magnificent of Lapland.