SIX PACK - GREATEST NORTHERN WILDLIFE - FACTS

Accommodation on the tour is arranged near the hides, in cosy cabins or rooms with all the amenities you will need.

Before your stay in the photography hide, we check together your equipment, boots, and other necessary clothing. You get a short course of conduct in the hide and how to behave near the wildlife. After this, we will do our best for you to concentrate on photographing during your stay in hides as good conditions as possible. In the case of wild animals we unfortunately cannot guarantee that they will always appear, but we choose the photographing places and cooperation partners well to maximize the possibilities.

Taigavire Oy / Hikes'n Trails works as a field operator in South Lapland specializing in bird and wildlife photography tours. We cooperate only with professional nature photographers and sustainable wildlife companies in Finland.

Places: Syöte, Kuusamo, South Lapland / Kuhmo, Wild Taiga Kainuu
Dates: 28.9.–5.10., 5.–12.10.2024 and 27.9.–4.10, 4.–11.10.2025
Availability: On request 15.9.–15.10.
Duration: 8 days, 7 nights
Number of participants: Min 1 persons, max 8 persons
Accommodation: Rooms/cabins near the hide areas (possibility to spend two nights in predatory hides without extra charge)
Price: 3430 €/person when more than 1 participant, 5980 €/single photographer.
Price includes: Return transport from Oulu Airport, guiding, accommodation, bed linen, transport and guidance to hides, towers and accommodations, meals (breakfast, picnic lunch/soup lunch, dinner), entrance fees for the hides
Equipment included in the price: Sleeping bags, liners
The price doesn’t include flights
Equipment: Participants have their warm own boots, clothing and warm underwear, etc. according to the possibly cold weather and staying in hide. Please ask for the whole list of equipment after booking.
By additional cost: Single room +60 €/night (includes in single service price) Clothing set: Padded jacket and trousers, mittens, headwear, boots 90 €/set/person/week. Camera equipment: We have different kinds of cameras and lenses for rent. Ask for availability. Private hide 80 €/day.
Payment: Invoice, cash, credit card
Tour level: Easy. Normal physical condition is enough. You have to be able to keep silent for the whole stay in a hide. Dry toilet available in bird & predatory hides.
Languages: Finnish, English
Insurance: We require participants to have their own insurance for outdoor activities in Finland

Contact and book!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP

PHOTOGRAPHY

During this tour you can photograph, enjoy the wildlife, relax and have a good time in colorful forests and the shores!

TRUE WILDERNESS

True wilderness means a lot of space. You can enjoy clean air, unspoiled nature and clean water outside of cities without noise or light pollution.

GREATEST WILDLIFE

This tour is combination of Eastern Finland and South Lapland. On one holiday you will see the richest wildlife areas in Finland. We have selected the best spots and greatest animals for you!

GOOD SERVICES

You will have good food, perfect guiding, traditional Finnish food delicacies and all the amenities in accommodations what you will need during the tour!

ITINERARY

1st day, Saturday. Transport, forest birds

Transport from Oulu Airport / Approx. Getting to Syöte, a cabin near the Syöte National Park takes two hours. Information and dinner together. Relaxed walk along a short nature trail.: target species Red crossbill, Redwing, Common redstart. The shower, warm sauna, and wilderness pond are ready to welcome you for a wonderful wildlife week.

2nd day, Sunday. Syöte hiking area. Reindeer, birds

After a tasty breakfast a local guided photo excursion in Syöte area, a region for a great variety of birds. Lunch in the shelter in the woods. Target species today are reindeer, forest birds, Common Cranes, and Whooper Swans.

Dinner, sauna, and shower in the cabin.

3rd day, Monday, Kuusamo. Target species: Wisent – European wood bison

After breakfast, approximately two hours drive to the farm in Eastern Kuusamo. At Wisent farm we meet a few wild European wood bisons in a big territory with natural sights surrounded by a fence. We walk around the area with many excellent photography spots in different shooting angles. Photo shooting distance varies from a few meters to 100 meters. Lunch in Kuusamo, dinner, accommodation, and sauna at the Visent farm in a tidy room.

Wisent is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American bison. The European bison is the heaviest wild land animal in Europe, and individuals in the past may have been even larger than their modern-day descendants. During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, bison became extinct in much of Europe and Asia, surviving into the 20th century only in northern-central Europe and the northern Caucasus Mountains. During the early years of the 20th century, bison were hunted to extinction in the wild. Wisents in Kuusamo have lived in the farm since 2015.

4th day, Tuesday. Kuusamo, Oulanka National Park area. Target species: Golden eagle, Siberian Jay, forest birds

Breakfast in accommodation, transport to Oulanka National Park. Golden Eagle photography hides are in a spectacular fell landscape with a magnificent view over the Oulanka Canyon.

A pair of Golden Eagles holds their territory in the area and visits the site regularly. During the autumn photography season, also the juvinale birds can be seen.

At the hides more than ten other species visit frequently the site, such as the Black Woodpecker, Siberian Jay, Siberian Tit, Crested Tit, Gray-headed Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Raven, and even a few red squirrels. In autumn, all the bright autumn colors glow in the background in your photos.

Transport, dinner, and accommodation in a hotel in Kuusamo.

5th day, Wednesday. Kuhmo. Target species: Brown bear, grey wolf, wolverine, sea eagle, raven

Approximately four hours of transport to Kuhmo for bear, wolf, wolverine, and predatory bird watching excursion. Lunch during the transport in a restaurant, dinner before the night in a hide.

In the evening transport to the wildlife photography hide. Possibility to stay overnight in the hide or accommodation in a room at Kuikka Base camp.

6th day, Thursday. Kuhmo. Target species: Brown bear, grey wolf, wolverine, sea eagle, raven

Breakfast in the morning, shower, resting or transport, and guided bird and wild reindeer photography trip to Elimyssalo wilderness area. The target species are wild reindeer and water birds.

Packed lunch in the wilderness area. Dinner at the base camp. In the evening transport to the wildlife photography hide. Possibility to stay overnight in the hide or accommodation in a room at Kuikka Base camp.

7th day, Friday, Kuhmo. Target species: Brown bear, grey wolf, wolverine, sea eagle, raven

Breakfast in the morning, shower, resting or transport, and guided bird photographing trip near the Kuhmo village center. Target species of water birds from the bird-watching tower. Lunch in a restaurant in Kuhmo. Transport to Kuikka Base Camp to Kuhmo after the trip.

In the evening transport to the wildlife photography hide. Possibility to stay overnight in the hide or accommodation in a room at Kuikka Base Camp.

8th day, Saturday, transport to Oulu airport

Departure day. Breakfast and transport to Oulu Airport

We reserve all the rights to change the activities' order or the program's content if necessary due to the weather or other conditions.