Arrival to Kuusamo or Oulu airport and transfer to Hossa. We´ll enjoy a welcoming dinner at the Wilderness Lodge, settle in and get familiar with the surroundings and how everything works in such a rustic and authentic place like this, where we carry the water from a natural spring and heat the bedrooms with wood when necessary. Warm wood-heated sauna in the evening welcomes you to Finland.

After breakfast it´s time for our first hike. After a 20 min transfer south by car, we will start our hike on the Eastern border hiking trail. This 17 km walk over vast mires and through old forests is a very nice part of the trail with versatile views. We´ll be observing nature and enjoy a picnic lunch around open fire along the way. We will reach the Wilderness Lodge about 4 pm, start heating up the traditional sauna right away and have dinner later in the evening.

This morning after breakfast we will make a 40 min transfer to Hossa National Park, where we´ll be doing a circular walk around a beautiful canyon lake and visit the must-see wonder of the Hossa National Park, the 4000 years old rock painting made by the Stone Age hunter-gathering people who used to live in the area thousands of years ago. Here you´ll learn about the Finnish mythology and the shamanistic and animalistic world view of these ancient people. The landscapes vary from several small lakes to pine-dominant and mixed forests with permanent inhabitants like Siberian Jay and Capercaillie for example. We will have a picnic-lunch around open-fire during the day again with the total walking distance being 13 km on terrain, that is rather challenging at times. Sauna and dinner again back at the Wilderness Lodge.

Today we´ll take it a bit easier after the two hikes and practice/learn some fishing. At first you´ll learn how to fish with a spinning reel, practice casting the lure and get to know the rest of the equipment, then it´s time to head to the lakes of the area by car to try our luck with the fish; perches and pikes being the main target. We´ll be fishing from a small boat and from the shore and enjoy some refreshments on the way. Observing nature and wildlife on these remote lakes is an experience in itself. The possible catch will be cooked for dinner in the evening with some other seasonal wild foods from the surroundings. In the late afternoon we´ll head back to our cabins, enjoy the sauna and have dinner for the last time here at the rustic Wilderness Lodge.

On day 5 we´ll start our combined 2-day canoeing, hiking and camping trip right at the heart of the Hossa National Park. After breakfast we pack our bags and leave the Wilderness Lodge behind. After a 30-minute car transfer, we are at our starting point where we´ll learn the basics and safety issues of canoeing and then off we go! Route is mainly paddling on lakes with two small rivers in the beginning. We´ll stop for a picnic lunch on the way and after 13 km of paddling, we still have 5 km of hiking left on the beautiful pine-covered ridges of the Hossa National Park, before we reach our campsite for the night. We´ll set up our tents (no need to carry these or your luggage as they wait on the campsite) and have dinner outdoors on a fireplace by a small lake. Sitting by the campfire in the evening, enjoying the blissful solitude of the wild and sleeping under the northern sky will make this night a very special one.

Waking up in a tent, having slept well after an active day outdoors is a good start for a day! We´ll prepare our own light breakfast by the fire, dismantle the tents, pack our belongings and start our 11 km hike around the lakes of the Hossa national park. We will be taking a different route than yesterday and have lunch at the Hossa Visitor Centre after the walk. Here you can have a cold drink too and get to know the area and it´s history a bit more through photography and interactive information boards. In the afternoon we´ll jump on the canoes once more and paddle 4 km on a lake to reach the accommodation, bypassing several small islands, bays and peninsulas. Here you spend the last two nights (your luggage waiting for you) in a cozy apartment, where you are back with all the modern comforts after a few nights spent getting back to basics and being exposed to the wilderness. We will heat up the sauna that is situated right next to a beautiful lake, providing a chance to take a refreshing dip before/after the sauna. Dinner is served in a local restaurant situated close by, right at the heart of the Hossa village.

Last full day is an optional day and it can include going canoeing, fishing, another walk in the vast forests of the Hossa area or with an extra cost, watching and photographing brown bears in their natural habitat (possible on every trip until the trip departing on the 2nd August). Last dinner in a very special, reindeer restaurant, where you also get to see reindeer and their new-born calves close by and learn about this traditional, northern way of animal herding. Sauna and swimming in the lake is available for the last time before dinner of course.

Transfer to the airport and time to say goodbye!