When I started planning this trip, there were three things I hoped to see. In order of importance, these were:
1) Aurora Borealis
2) Polar bears
3) Snow. I wanted to be surrounded by white.
I figured that the last one would be a simple one. When we left Tromso, we came close, but not entirely. But I was also happy to have seen the most unlikely one.
The Orsa bear park is about 30 minutes drive from Mora. It's near the ski centre, which, of course, means altitude. The closer we got to the bear park, the whiter everything turned outside. I was being surrounded by white! It was beautiful!
Winter means that brown bears hibernate. Fortunately, polar bears don't hibernate. The bear park is also home to some snow leopards, wolves, wolverines and lynx. The enclosures are huge, which means that you do quite a bit of walking. We went past the lynx first, but he had just been fed, so was not interested in talking to us. We continued quietly past the sleeping brown bears, and onto the polar bear enclosures. Nothing in sight.
And then we saw them, playing near a pond. These massive creatures are like little kids. They were playing and rolling in the snow. Pretending to fight. What I wouldn't have done to be able to walk up to one and give it a huge bear hug!
The wolverines were very inquisitive. If we turned our backs on them, they would sneak up, sizing us up, only to scatter off out of sight when we turned around. They are a lot cuter than I am sure they prefer to be.
And as for the leopards. One was sitting right next to the wall of a lookout hut, looking up at the window, as if it knew that there was most probably something very edible on the other side. The snow leopard just paced up and down slowly. Authoritively.
By now it was snowing quite heavily, and we had to zip up our jackets quite thoroughly as we made our way back to the exit. This time, as we passed the lynx enclosure, he was up and about. He was convinced that we were the bearers of more food, and paced impatiently, growling at us for not providing food, while his partner peeped at us from behind some snow-covered grass.
The wolf enclosure is the last one as you leave the park, and they were also keeping their eyes on our every move.
We really do prefer the outdoor or country type stuff to what the big city has to offer. Seeing these beautiful predators today was an exceptional treat. I'm very pleased we could see them in snow! It would just have been so wrong to have seen a polar bear in anything but snow.
We stopped in Mora for "varm smörgås". You cannot be in Sweden, and not eat smörgåsbord, afterall. It was really good. We now understood how they used the tubes of flavoured cheese that we saw in the supermarket.
And so, with my list all ticked off, we were on the road again. We needed to get back to Oslo. Nicole took over as navigator and DJ, finding the most amazing radio stations with the greatest rock music, including some great golden oldies. A sign perhaps of what was yet to come? Either way, I enjoyed taking a back seat, letting the young ones find their way through this beautiful country.
I'm happy that my children have seen so much already. And I'm happy that they have become inhabitants of the world. I'm happy that they will be able to find their way through the world, with no boundaries. I'm happy that they will find their way through life.
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