Best of Sapmi Nature summer – 4-day Sami hosted nature and culture experience
Join us on a special 4 day/3 night experience in the middle of the world heritage area. I will take you to some of my favorite places on the river, the taiga forest, and the mountain. I will share my Sami knowledge about this Sami cultural landscape. Our base for the experience will be the award-winning Sapmi Nature Camp, situated in nature right in Unesco’s world heritage area Laponia.
Lennart Pittja, founder of Sapmi Nature
Enjoy 4 days/3 nights in nature and learn more about Sami culture
Suggested itinerary
Included
- 4 day Sami hosted stay
- Maximum 6 guests at the time
- 3 nights of Arctic midnight light
- Stay at award-winning Sapmi Nature Camp in a shared double “room” with comfortable beds, and a wood stove. The camp is totally secluded in nature in the world heritage area Laponia
- Guided tours including pick-up in Gällivare
- All meals during the stay
- Hiking in Stora Sjöfallet and visit Naturrum Laponia
- Canoe the Lule River
- Guided Sami cultural landscape hike – enjoy the taiga forest and experience the Sami cultural landscape
- Learn more about Sami food and help out to prepare our meals
Price, stay in Lavvu Deluxe room
21 000 sek/person
The traditional Lavvu taken to a whole new level. The Lavvu sits atop a significantly upgraded base with timber walls up 2 meters providing extra warmth and a lovely feeling from both the outside and inside.
There is a separate bathroom with a toilet inside your Lavvu Deluxe and the heating is from a wood fire burner, and there is also a fuel heater option.
The interior design and fittings are also of a much higher standard and there are electric lights as well as attractive battery-powered lanterns. Phones etc can be charged from bedside USB outlets.
Price, stay in Lavvu standard room
17 000 sek/person
The traditional accommodation of the Sami people. These tents are versatile all year round including in our arctic winters. While traditional in outlook we have in our standard Lavvu timber floor, a lovely queen-sized double bed, a modern fireplace as well as a fuel heater, and finally lounge chairs.
I am proud to invite you to experience some of my favorite places during one of the best seasons of the year! Summer in Sapmi is exceptional in so many ways. The magical light in summer – at Sapmi Nature Camp, we have almost 40 days AND NIGHTS when the sun is up all hours, creating the unique summer light of the Arctic. All of the migratory birds are here again for the summer – the camp is located in one of the largest nature reserves in Europe, well known for its birdlife in summer and for the vast marshland and pristine taiga forest that holds so much biodiversity.
Campfires, outdoor meals, and the mighty Lule River
This is the perfect time of year to enjoy nature, spend time around the campfire, and enjoy the birdlife, the views, and the cultural Sami landscape. I will show you some of the visible locations of Sami culture and lifestyle that go back at least 7000 years in this river valley. And I will tell you about the reindeer herding that is the foundation for Sami life as I know it. We are guests on the grazing land of Unna Tjeruj Sami Community and I will make sure that the stay will not cause any problems or disturbance for the reindeer or other wildlife.
During the summer season, I cook many of our meals around the open fire and you are more than welcome to help out in the preparation of our meals. And of course, there will be coffee. I invite you to learn more about the Sami food tradition and we will prepare and eat together during this experience.
Our basecamp is the award-winning Sapmi Nature Camp
Our basecamp will be at the award-winning Sápmi Nature Camp – in the heart of Laponia. Here you will find the comfort of a tented camp located in unspoiled nature – all run by local Sami from this area. The camp consists of double ”rooms” in the form of lavvu tents furnished with comfortable double beds and efficient stoves to keep warm no matter the outside temperatures. There is a wood-heated sauna in the camp and there can’t be a better way to round up a day in nature by taking a traditional and relaxing sauna by the mighty Lule River.
Small-scale and Sami-hosted experience – maximum 6 guests at the time
To keep this experience special and personal, I will limit the number of participants to a maximum of 6 people. I will lead this trip myself. The thought behind making this in so a small-scale way is of course that I want to give you a unique opportunity to learn more about the indigenous Sami culture and learn some of the knowledge behind Sami life that goes back at least 7000 years in this river valley.
Featured by National Geographic
Sapmi Nature Camp is featured by National Geographic as one of the world’s most sustainable places to stay if you care about the planet. One reason is of course the comfortable accommodation but even more so, our commitment to sustainability. Sapmi Nature Camp has also been named as one of the 27 best new ”hotels” in the world by AFAR Magazine.
Responsible travel and eco-tourism is my way to protect this land
We stand alongside the reindeer herders, nature lovers, and others in the fight to protect nature and to leave a balanced life environment for our coming generations to live in and enjoy. So many other interests are looking into our part of the world for creating profit. Mining, deforestation, windmill parks, and huge tourism resorts are some examples. They all destroy the reindeer grazing lands. As well as increase global warming, pollute the water, and extinct biodiversity.
Our hosted stays should never create problems for the reindeer herding here. Tourism is our way to create a deeper understanding of the life environment here in Sapmi and to spread knowledge, understanding, and respect but also to create local jobs and a local, sustainable economy. By participating in our experiences you help to do just that!
Nature is our culture and welcome to this Sami cultural landscape
You will experience much of the unspoiled nature here in Sapmi during this experience. Some people may call this land wilderness, but from my local Sami perspective this land is a cultural landscape where people have lived for thousands of years – it has never been wilderness.
Come and experience nature and the indigenous Sami culture together with the local Sami guides who call this land home.
