allowed us to wake up fresh and ready for the actionpacked
day which lay ahead of us.
ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS
Surprisingly enough for such a small little town, Kittila
has a large variety of accommodation options ranging
from self-catering chalets through to five-star hotels.
Why I say surprisingly is because this little town
actually shuts down during spring and autumn season
and turns into somewhat of a ghost town. We opted
for Sokos Hotel, which was built in 2008, and was a
lovely five-star hotel.
WEATHER
This is important. When we arrived we were getting
comments like “you are lucky that the weather is so
good”. Well, yes, if you consider fluctuations between
-15 degrees and -19 degrees good then “ja well no
fine” for us mere mortals here in South Africa.
We were informed that the week before our arrival
they had a storm and the temperature was -38
degrees.
It is important to note that we went during the
last week of January where we had a small amount
of sunlight through the clouds from about 10:30 am
to about 3:30pm. During December they have no
sunshine at all!
The down side of having such “good” weather was
that we never got to see the aurora borealis, more
commonly known as the Northern Lights.
WHAT TO WEAR
Now, this is really an important issue, but surprisingly
enough not too difficult to organise. There is quite
often a misconception that you might need to go on
an expensive shopping spree.
That is not the case, and this is what it takes to keep
warm:
• First layer – a good pair of thermals (long Johns
and vest).
• Second layer – jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt.
• Third layer – snow suit which was hired for the
INCENTIVE VE DESTINATION
Cross country in a snow mobile. Reindeer safari.
group.
• Feet: Two pairs of socks, one of your own and one
provided.
• Shoes: Nothing but snow boots – again we hired
those for the group.
• Gloves – two pairs, inner and outer.
• A balaclava is a good option to add to the final
designer look, but a cap by any other name is a
must.
• Finally, the scarf is also an essential accessory.
ACTIVITIES
I am a world-class adrenalin junkie and there is not
much that I have not done, or so I thought until I
arrived in Finland.
There is an enormous variety of things to do, from
the traditional saunas and spas which you find in almost
every hotel, to an array of outdoor activities which
includes skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing,
reindeer safaris, husky sleighs and snow mobiles.
REINDEER SAFARI
When we were told that we were going on
a reindeer safari, we had no clue as to what
this day would turn out to be. We suited up
in our snow gear for a day with the reindeer.
After a hearty traditional lunch at the reindeer
farm, we were whisked into the Sami kota (a kind of
teepee made out of reindeer skins) and the reindeer
ceremony began.
In solemn silence, our group sat around the fire
somewhat nervous about what was going to happen.
Our host, dressed in traditional Sami clothing,
began a ceremonial chant and dance. The ritual ended
with a “baptism” where each member of our group
was “baptised” with the holding of the antlers over
our head and getting charcoal stripes on our faces.
Reindeer farming is one of the main aspects to
traditional Sami livelihood. For the farmers, their
income is based on a combination of things: berrypicking,
reindeer farming and tours. On this day, we
were given the novel opportunity to witness how their
Vol. 9 No. 4 2009
incentive
incentiveworld.com
41
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