Day 7 (25 May): We drove on to Ivalo where we were to stay at the next hotel, birding as we went. We crossed the Arctic Circle at Tonkopuro and, a while later, we stopped for a walk up to a mountain plateau near Saariselkä.

Day 8 (26 May): We spent the day exploring the area. Before lunch, we stopped off at some Reindeer pens and then drove up a mountain. Lunch was taken at what we nick-named the Grosbeak cafe. It’s actually called Neliän Tuulen Tupa. They had feeders outside the dining area and we watched the birds through the huge window.

In the evening we went off to a viewing tower somewhere near Veskoniemi. This was our last day with Tuomas as our guide.

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