- [ ] Our trip to Oulanka Nationalpark has been absolutely amazing. We were picked up from a hotel in Ruka by our guide Silja for this tour. We arrived at the park after approximately 30 minutes. Silja gave us an instruction how to put on the snowshoes and helped us to do so. And after a short introduction about our location, the park itself and our route for the day we started our walk through an absolutely amazing landscape. It wasn’t difficult walking in the shoes and the speed was adapted to the participants of the group. Silja always waited when someone was behind and at the same time she gave us a moment to take in the panorama and to take some pictures. We walked to an old mill next to a half frozen river where you can spot the white throated dipper -a bird who is famous for diving into the icy water for food. Then we walked alongside the river and crossed it on a rope bridge twice. Our guide Silja who was accompanied by one of her dogs gave us lots of information about the landscape, the flora and the fauna. She explained the various footprints of animals in the snow, how animals survive the cold and snowy winter, the birds around us and the lichen hanging off the trees. And she didn’t get tired answering our millions of questions to the park and its animals. The tour ended with a cup of hot chocolate and some cinnamon rolls that Silja has carried around with her. So all in all it was a very lovely and relaxing experience with our guide Silja through a calming landscape that we can only recommend.