Camp Tamok
Camp Tamok is located roughly 100 km outside of Tromsø and it takes you about one hour and a half to get there. They offer several activities like dog sledding and snowmobiling. There are several types of accomodations to spend the night. This ranges from Aurora chalets, Ice Domes (Ice hotel), wilderness cabins and a Char Cabin. You can check their website to get impressions of all the options.
Also make sure to check out the blog post on all our Winter activities in Lapland.
Sleeping in an Ice hotel
One of the accommodations in Camp Tamok is the Ice Hotel or Ice Domes. There is a lobby, an Ice Bar, a cinema and 7 bed rooms. We were lucky to obtain one of the 7 rooms for Marie Claire her birthday. It was really an unique experience, but we won’t do it again.
The rooms are unique and they only have a bed. Each has a different sculpture which is magnificient. The details are insane! The speical lights make the atmosphere very special. We got the room with the eating horse.
We didn’t had much details on the Ice Hotel and were afraid we would really have cold. The temperature is stable at -5° C. However, they have a heated cabin close to the ice hotel where you can have dinner and warm yourself before heading to bed. Once you are ready to go to bed, it’s the goal to dress as light as possible, take your (warm) sleeping bag and run as fast as you can to the hotel and your room. The outside temperature was around -15°C. The principle of a sleeping bag is not to warm you, but to keep the warmth. So as we were warm going there, we didn’t experience any cold during the night. I didn’t want to be fully in the sleeping bag and wanted to get some fresh air, but that led to a cold nose, which was rather annoying. We were able to catch some sleep, but it’s not something I would do several nights in a row.
Food at Camp Tamok
In Camp Tamok they have two tents where they server lunch and dinner. Guests staying in the cabins also have their breakfast here. As we slept in the Ice Hotel our breakfast was in the cabin close to the Ice Hotel. The break fast was royal and there were the regular things including some warm oatmeal, which was delicious after a night in the Ice Hotel.
Since years we are regularly travelling during the birthday of Marie-Claire. Traditionally I try to make a special occasion and this year it was sleeping in an Ice Hotel and some special cake. Getting a cake in such isolated location is not easy and special credits go to the Camp Tamok team to make it happen anyway. No extra mile was too much to get this organised. A big thank you to this marvellous team.
Dog sledding
When thinking about Lapland I always think about dog sledding. This was another activity which was already for a long time on my bucket list. In Camp Tamok they have Huskies which are trained for this, and I can confirm they really enjoy this. When not running they are quiet and you can cuddle with them. However, when some of their friends are ready to leave, they are all very enthousiastic. The dogs that are running themselves are also very enthousiastic. As soon as you stop them, they just want to keep on going. As fast as they can. It’s really an incredible experience.
It starts with a special outfit to beat the cold. We received boots, an overall and gloves. What follows is a short explanation on how to ride the sledge and few moments later you are already off. It’s not that difficult as the dogs simply follow the ones in front of them and they are familiar with the route and environment. You have two breaks, a gentle one to slow them down a bit and a hard brake with 2 big pins which goes into the snow. This last brake is necessary to keep them standing. If you release it and they feel they have a chance to go forward again, they would take off immediate.
Our sledge was manned by Cola, Chico, Clara, Hellen, Cristo and Slim. Each of them cute, beautiful and so lovable.
Snowmobiling
Another typical winter activity is snowmobiling. We were able to drive them for an hour and a half in the evening. Dressed with a thermo overall, boots, gloves and a helmet we were off to go. We drove in the valley, made two loops at the end and came back the same way. We reached speeds up to 30-40 km/h. Driving a snowmobile is like a quad and you can accelerate with your thumb. The snowmobile has heating in the handles which was appreciated by a stalwart Marie Claire, who drove the powerfull snowmobile when heading back. I was sitting in the back and was feeling quickly comfortable.
Animals
In Camp Tamok you can also see the Reindeers. They organise also some reindeer sledding which is a easy and slow ride. I don’t want to offend anybody, but it looked a bit dull compared to the dog sledding. If we would have been 30 years older it might have been different.
At the end of the camp you have the dogs area where you can visit them when they are not having the time of their live by running in the snow. In funny thing was to see how they were eating some snow while running. No time to stop.
This Post Has 2 Comments
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Schitterende belevenis! Ik herken de pomponmuts van Marie-Claire die in koude omstandigheden steeds van de partij is en … ik herken ook twee oude bekenden van Kirgizië 2018!
Inderdaad Dirk. De rode Coca-Cola muts is intussen een begrip op onze (koude) reizen 🙂