Canoe Adventure

1. 1

   Day 1

   Depart UK and Arrive Finland

   Meal included: dinner

   On the first day of our adventure we depart the UK and fly to Kuusamo airport. On arrival we will transfer, a 30-minute drive, to our lodge where the guide team will welcome us with a homemade dinner and tour briefing. Together with the guides we will review the route plan and get familiar with all our kit, ensuring we have everything we need to stay warm, dry and happy during our adventure. To finish the day we will get an introduction to Finnish sauna culture by relaxing in a traditional wood-heated sauna.

2. 2

   Day 2

   Paddling

   All meals included

   After a big healthy breakfast it is time to start our gear preparations. Our guide will provide us with all the necessary equipment and show us how to use it. We will learn how to set up our tent and how to use our gas-operated cooker. Next we will go through our food plan and pack our food in daily food bags, making our daily life easy and organised. When everything is packed, we will enjoy lunch at the Lodge and go through our safety plan together. Next, we will transfer to the canoeing starting point. We will change into our swimming costumes and show our guides that we know how to swim. Our guides will then demonstrate how to rescue ourselves from a capsized canoe and we will practise this important skill together. When we have finished our preparations, it is time to take a group picture and kick off our canoeing adventure! Along the way, we will learn basic canoeing skills such as how to paddle forward, backwards and sideways. We will arrive at our camp in the late afternoon and set our tents up in the wild. Soon it is time to start cooking dinner by a lean-to shelter under the supervision of our guides.

3. 3

   Day 3

   Paddling

   All meals included

   After a good night's rest it's time to start cooking breakfast together as a team. Following breakfast we take the camp down and pack our canoe with a leave-no-trace policy. We will paddle on a big open water until noon when we will arrive at a beautiful sandy beach to have a longer lunch break. We will continue paddling in the afternoon and after a while we will arrive at our next camp, another sandy beach. When we have pitched our tent, it is time to start preparing dinner again. After our meal we will have a chance to do some stretching together and if we want, we can even go swimming under the midnight sun.

4. 4

   Day 4

   Paddling

   All meals included

   This morning we will wake up early for the longest day of canoeing. Luckily, we will be getting faster as we have improved our paddling skills over the past couple of days. Again we will stop on a sandy beach to enjoy our lunch and arrive at another camp in the late afternoon to cook dinner over an open fire. In the evening it is time to play some team building games before heading to bed for a good night's rest.

5. 5

   Day 5

   Day hike around lake

   All meals included

   This morning we will cook breakfast together as a team at our campsite. Today will be a bit different as we won't be packing our canoes away. Instead we will put on our trainers and pack our day bag for a 16-kilometre hike. We will cross a lake by a rowing boat and cook lunch using our gas cookers.

   After lunch we will have a chance to go swimming on a sandy beach. If we are lucky we might even spot some reindeer! In the evening we will return to our camp and cook dinner over an open fire and give supportive feedback to our teammates.

6. 6

   Day 6

   Charity work, Summer Olympics and Sauna

   All meals included

   Today we will return to our starting point, unpack our canoes/kayaks and do some gear maintenance. Our guides will teach us how to take good care of our gear so that it will serve us on our adventures for years to come. Soon it is time to contribute to the local community and do some maintenance work for the hiking area. We will do some maintenance for the hiking facilities under the supervision of the hiking area maintenance staff. In the afternoon, after lunch it is time to boost our team-building skills with some educational team-building tasks and Summer Olympics. Prepare for lots of laughs! After all the hard work it is time to go swimming and relax in a sauna by the lake. After our arrival at our Lodge in the late afternoon we will have a farewell dinner together with our new friends.

7. 7

   Day 7

   Return to the UK

   Meal included: breakfast

   Time to say goodbye and airport transfer. We like to say a great adventure never ends; it merely changes form to become part of who we are. On day seven our summer adventure in the Finnish Lapland will transform into some of our best memories as we will be transported to Rovaniemi airport (RVN) to catch our return flight in the morning.

Itineraries can change with the seasons, local conditions and your group's needs. Ask us and we'll tailor it.