Honningsvag & Kjollefjord

71° 10’ 21”

Today we started the day in Honningsvag and took a bus ride to the North Cape at 71 degrees, 10 minutes, 21 seconds.

Kjollefjord

After leaving the top of Norway we headed to Kjolleford where we met an amazing Sami family that talked about their life in Norway.

The sign says “kissing bench.”

Our Sami hosts started by offering us jerky made from Reindeer meat. the Sami survive in the remote arctic by herding Reindeer and fishing.

The Sami traditionally lived entirely off the land using every resource in their environment such as using the bark of willow trees to water proof shoes and leather created from reindeer skins.

The willow tree bark also has medicinal properties.

Grass is used to pad and insulate shoes, as it absorbs moisture from feet.

Feb 6 is celebration day for the Sami as that’s when the tribes in Norway, Finland and Sweden created a unified front.

Sami have 300 words for snow and a similar number to describe deer.

The Sami were never concerned or interested in climate change until they started seeing and experiencing changes to their own environment.

The normal dry coldness for weeks and months are gone.

It now rains more during winter, rain turns to ice which covers grasses reindeer use to eat and makes them unable to get food from under ice. This has caused the Sami to have to provide food for them to eat which then makes the reindeer dependent on the Sami for food.

Many stories about how the Norway government and church did not allow the Sami to play their traditional drums or speak their traditional language. Fortunately things have been turning around for the Sami in recent years.

After our stay we headed back to the ship to get some rest. Tomorrow is our last day in Norway, it’s been quite an adventure.