Sitting quietly in our hide, it’s hard to muffle our squeals when a large grizzly bear appears on the horizon. Arrogantly, he sniffs the air and looks around as if to let us know that this is very much his zone.
Then come the wolves, some shy, playful and absolutely seductive. We counted seven. Our guide Janne Autere tells us that they are four months old.
We are in Arctic Lakeland, eastern Finland, a 90-minute flight from Helsinki with Finnair to Kajaani. It is one of the few places in Europe where you can see brown bears, wolves and wolverines. It is said that there are only 300 wolves in Finland, so seeing seven is amazing.
Soon the large bear has eaten its fill and retreats into the woods (food scraps are scattered to attract them) and a smaller brown bear emerges. (Adult male bears weigh up to 300 kg, females up to 200 kg) The bear population in Finland is just over 2,000.
Watching the young wolves walk away from the bears, play like puppies, and gain confidence is fascinating.
Great outdoors: Margaret Hussey, staying at Hotel Kalevala (pictured), explores the Arctic Lakes region in eastern Finland
Margaret reveals that Arctic Lakeland is one of the few places in Europe where you can spot bears, wolves and wolverines (archive image)
Margaret spots a grizzly bear from the safety of a viewing hide (file image)
We have hired cameras at our base camp in Kuikka and it is well worth the £25. Hardcore fans can stay in the rudimentary hide for one night from £250, but we chose two nights at the Kalevala Hotel.
The next day we visited a different forest location, hoping to see wolverines.
An official from the Wild Taiga wildlife group tells us that they look more like otters than wolves and that they are solitary. After two hours we only saw a few, although very pretty, Siberian jays.
Back at base camp, a tally of daily sightings is kept on a football scoreboard.
We are delighted that our Bears 2, Wolves 7 victory achieved this. Leaving the animals behind, we passed through no man’s land, an area less than a kilometer from the Russian border, and arrived at the holiday village of Lentiira, where we took a traditional smoked sauna and dipped into the cold lake.
Everyone in Finland can access a sauna, says Elise Heikkinen-Johnstone, director of Lentiira.
Margaret visits the holiday village of Lentiira. Above, one of the resort’s cabins.
Margaret uses a kuksa, a traditional cup carved from birch, to forage for berries (file image)
Elise gives us a kuksa (a traditional cup carved from birch) so we can go get food. “The forest is the church for the Finns,” he says. “Anyone can forage and there is no tax on berries.”
I manage to pick lingonberries, blackberries and blueberries. Its colors are so vibrant against the forest and the only sound you hear is the fluffiness of the moss under your feet as you walk.
This stillness hits us as we leave the Arctic Lakes Region and return to Helsinki. Once in the capital, we stayed at the NH Collection Helsinki Grand Hansa, opened in May and made up of two historic buildings with beautiful Art Nouveau details. It is minutes from Helsinki’s iconic Stockmann store, as well as the city’s parliament, art galleries and library.
Helsinki has about 300 islands in its archipelago, so we take a boat trip with Redrib Experience; Just a few minutes from the city we saw cormorants and herons. I’m happy, but it’s the sight of that big bear and those seven wolves that will stay with me.