winter wonderland, -3°C speechless
Pasta,
Mafia, temperament, a lot of fun- Italians are supposed to be quite loud and
chaotic, charming and cheerful; a reputation which at least partly seems to match the
truth. But “dolce vita” at any price? …for sure not if the dogs have to ‘pay’
for!
I had my
first and so far last overnight Safari (‘so far’ because unfortunately my time
here is going to end in a couple of days):
30 dogs, 5 Italians and annoying surprises.
I was
looking forward to that trip since it was mentioned that it is going to happen.
Since I was the only one able to communicate with the Italian guests I was invited
to join this Safari. I didn’t wonder at all that seemingly I was the only one
who was really excited about that challenge. I love Italians! I would even say
that I spent my best years in Italy, learning, laughing, loving, eating, feeling
the sun on my skin and joy in my heart.
My 5 elder
Italian gentlemen arrived later than expected, no trace of enthusiasm or
motivation in their faces and of course at least 2 cell phones per capita. Actually
I thought a lot about how to do the riding lesson-the easy-going attitude, that
empirically is a characteristic our Southern European neighbors have in common,
requires to lay the emphasis on security issues ,which at least seemed to be
obvious to calmer nations, but according to our experiences often turn out to be a
problem with our more sultry guests . To
be clear everything that distract from concentrating on the dogs such as taking
pictures, doing strange stretching that should look funny, answering phone
calls etc. while riding the sledge leads in 98 % of the cases to avoidable
complications and not anymore funny crashes and accidents. The main problem
seems to be the braking. It doesn’t require a lot of practice or mental
qualities-all you need to do is to step on the brake. Actually even the
lightest adults are theoretically able to stop a sledge in a minute without
bigger problems, but still …there is always one in every group who did not get it.
 |
| Riding lesson . foto: Mirja/Erä-susi Huskies |
But to come
back to my Italian group-knowing about the difficulties I focused even more on
all the things they should NOT do and even offered to take pictures of them myself
sitting on the snowmobile in front in order to avoid stupid incidents
concerning the distraction because of the usage of electronic devices. My plan
didn’t work. It happened one thing after the other. Chaos! They lost their dogs,
fall of their sledges and felt even angry, when we told them at least the tenth
time to stop calling, to remember to brake and to make sure that they won’t lose
balance and team again, holding tight with at least one hand on the sledge. It was ridiculous! It could have been funny,
if it would not have been dangerous for our dogs. One managed to strangulate
one of the dogs-both, dog and tourist, survived (I have never seen my companion so angry before). We were both
happy when we finally arrived at the cottage where we were planning to spend the
night. |
| Did we forget someone..?! |
Actually
the trip can be great. We went first around 18 km to get to the traditional tent
and have lunch there as like we do on 30km Safaris, too. It was a light grey
morning with the potential to become even sunny and the new snow fallen over
night covered the big pine trees and birches and made them become snowy sculptures
of an abstract icy beauty. Under the load of the heavy snow their branches bent
themselves forming tunnels touching nearly the ground. I love to go out there following the snowy
paths deeper and deeper in winter wonderland. It is mesmerizing-I felt so small in that wide whiteness!
 |
| wintry art |
After the
break we continued for another 10km climbing up slowly some hills. The panorama
is spectacular and the world looks from up there so peaceful and somehow timeless,
nearly eternal. The sight over the gentle hills covered with dark forest and staying
in contrast to the bright white of the snowy flat valleys fascinates me and makes my mind wandering. I'm getting better and better in daydreaming...
 |
| Rela needs to cool down in the snow |
The first
day ended on a place in the middle of nowhere. Three cozy cottages and a nice
restaurant with indoor fireplace and comfortable sauna were waiting for us. A
tasty dinner was already in preparation.
But before
relaxing in sauna we had to take care of the dogs. All guests were invited to
help if they are interested in, but in that case we remained unassisted-maybe it
was better like this…
The dogs
spent the night tied alone a long chain which has to be tensed between 2 trees.
Everything including food and straw for the dogs, equipment to clean after the
Huskies, tin bowls, firewood, additional ropes and snap hooks to repair
eventual damages on the sledges, first aid kit etc. has to be packed in a
sledge and to be brought in the sledges there. So we arranged everything for the night, fed
the dogs and checked if they survived that busy day unharmed. Among our Huskies
we had a lot of young dogs; for some of them it was the first night spent in a
totally new location with their team mates who are not necessarily also their
fence mates back home. It seemed that they enjoyed it. They were tired after
that long day and so after dinner they rolled up on their straw beds and slept.
 |
| survival sledge |
 |
| bivouac |
We, instead
of going to sleep, too, as I wished I could have done, went first to sauna and
then we had dinner with our Italian guests. Not standing on the sledge they
were really nice and friendly. To my surprise soon a lively discussion developed,
almost all cell phones were shut down and we enjoyed the dinner together. But still I was worrying about the next day.
 |
| in the heart of the winter |
The next
morning began early-the dogs had to drink, a breakfast had to be prepared, a
cottage to be cleaned up a little and of courses we had to clean after the dogs
and put all our stuff back in the sledge. It was my last harnessing dogs for
this winter and that was a sad morning for me. We took a shorter route back
home as originally planned according to the customers’ wish. They had learned
from their mistakes and I guess I had earned their respect the evening before,
because finally they started to realize at least partly what I was yelling at
them whenever we had a tricky situation.
We arrived
in the early afternoon with everyone and everything in good conditions. What a
trip!
But I
want to mentioned that according to my personal experiences most of the
Italians I got to know are not like those gentlemen…and despite of some unbelievable stupid annoyances
I had still a lot of fun and thanks to my nice companion I could enjoy it.
 |
| happy dogs |
I had the
pleasure to guide another group this afternoon. Some really smart and
interested Germans came to try the sledging and learn about the dogs. It was
the biggest contrast ever-from “thanks God, it’s over!” to “yess, I love my
job!” in just a few moments…:)
Knowledge of
the day: Trust your eyes and your heart!
Never underestimate cultural
differences! But I’m sure in this extreme case personal ignorance is not
necessarily related to the cultural background.
 |
| foto: Mirja /Erä-susi Huskies |
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