Experience report Husky project Sweden

Arrival & arrival

The journey went very well, even if the journey via Skellefteå was a bit more complicated than expected. The flight from Frankfurt to Stockholm went without any problems and so did the connecting flight to Skellefteå. From there, after a waiting time of two hours, it was two hours by bus towards Arvidsjaur and there Konstantin picked me up. The communication went really well and I made it safely to Långviken.

Orientation program

Everything was explained on the first day. Of course, you could also contact the team at any time during the project. It wasn't a real program, but everything worked. And if you have any questions: just ask!

Areas of responsibility

As a volunteer, the areas of responsibility are very diverse. It starts with the complete care of the dogs, i.e. feeding them, as well as harnessing and unharnessing the sled (which of course only when there is snow, i.e. in winter). Of course, cuddling is always part of the process, as is cleaning the kennel.

In general, of course, everything revolves primarily around the dogs. You also have other tasks in the house, be it preparing the food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) as well as cleaning. In addition, there is an overview of the guest house and its maintenance, such as cleaning, washing clothes etc. In general, one can say that there is always something to do and it never gets boring!

Home & Living

At the beginning I lived in the guest house. Initially on the upper floor and after a week I moved to the ground floor. I was there for the rest of the time except for the last 2-3 nights, which I then spent in the main building in the volunteer room. You can't complain about the rooms. Everything clean and tidy. In any case, you sleep very well.

There was only the volunteer house option, but I'm completely satisfied with that. Living with a host family would certainly have been exciting, but because you work on the farm there, it doesn't make that much sense there. It is easier to be right in the yard and just be able to go over to the main house in the morning.

Essen

You could fill pages about that, but I'll try to be brief :)

Personally, I like the Swedish food very much. It was also exciting to try reindeer or elk for the first time (tastes a bit like game, but has its own taste!). Whether fresh, dried or smoked - the meat was always very good. Above all, it should be noted that the Swedes use cinnamon, cardamom and saffron a lot in their recipes. I didn't really know cardamom until then and had to deal with it first. But it goes perfectly with many things. The food was always great! It was always cooked in generous quantities, so always quite large.

Although that was mostly necessary for the portions that you ate (2-3 portions per person). Among other things, it was because you're outside all day, it's cold and you generally move around the whole time. The most unusual thing was to actually eat moose. In any case, it is recommended. Just like freshly fished fish from the nearby lake and reindeer. In any case, the souvas is recommended with reindeer. It's kind of like a stew made with smoked reindeer meat. If I write about it I get hungry XD

leisure

So there was of course free time, but then you were busy all day and only had time for phone calls or something like that in the evening. But with which I never had a problem, then you could forget the world for a while. But it was never a problem to write something in between or something. But in most cases you never had time for major recreational activities. The exceptions were fishing in the lake and sometimes shopping. A blacksmithing course was also included there.


Departure & departure

Even when we left, everything went great. This time I had to get up early because my bus left at 8:00 a.m. and we also had to go to Arvidsjaur (45-60 minutes by car). The bus trip resulted in a whopping 4.5 hours waiting time on the way back between the arrival in Skellefteå and the flight to Stockholm (but that has nothing to do with White Horizon). And airport buses are a real phenomenon ;-)

In Skellefteå there is a bus that always stops at certain stations and that always before the flight takes off (there were only 3-5 flights a day to Stockholm, that should explain the question of how the bus driver knows when to leave). Depending on the station, 30-90 minutes beforehand. If someone takes the route, they should deal with how to get to the airport.

Special experiences

So clearly for me the dogs are one of them. It's not really a special event, but for me they were the best part of the project. Then I saw the northern lights for the first time. Not that clear, but it was really nice! I was also allowed to drive the fisherman's snowmobile (and not just one XD), which was a lot of fun.


The blacksmithing course with Michael Maul was also brilliant. Forging is something that I really like to do and then to have a souvenir from Sweden (made it myself!) Was really awesome. It now has a place of honor on my table :) I would probably think of a lot more things, but that would really go beyond the scope, because so many beautiful things have happened. I can definitely recommend White Horizon. Very nice up there and the people are really nice too :)

Experience report from Nathalie, September 2021

You can see why Sweden should definitely be on your bucket list read here.