Honningsvag, The North Cape and the Sami

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

I leaned forward over the bow railing on deck number five, straining for a first glimse of Honningsvag, on the island of Mageroya, home of my paternal grandfather up to the age of six.  I knew that much would have changed since he moved with his family in about 1906 to the United States, but still, I was aching to see it.

First glimpse of Honningsvag

It was snowing heavily by the time I walked down the gangplank and to a waiting tour bus.  

Honningsvag Harbor and colorful homes

The main focus on this excursion was The North Cape, most northern place in Europe.  The roads were narrow, and as we gained elevation, they were covered with snow.  Once again I was glad to not be in the driver's seat.

Main road through Honningsvag

This time our guide was narrating in English and French.  There was another bus that had a German translator.  Our young guide told us later that she's from Slovania and just doing this as a one-month job.  I'm guessing to improve her language skills.  But the funny thing is, I don't think that there were any French speaking people on the bus.  Some of the Hurtigruten's literature is printed in French but none of the announcements are.

As we went along she talked about fishing and fish.  She pointed out the racks beside the road with hundreds of cod hanging out to dry.

Cod drying racks

The 45 minute drive was long and winding, and got snowier the higher we went.  We drove past many lakes and fjords, some frozen and some showing steel blue as they reflected the cold gray skies.

You can see the route we took.  Honningsvag is kind of in the lower right.  North Cape at the top.

It's hard to imaging anyone living up here.

Note the buildings on the lower left.  That is a Scandic hotel and cabins.

It almost looked like a lunar scape

About 4,000 domestic reindeer spend April - August on Mageroya Island each year.  They are owned by 4 different Sami (indigenous people of northern Scandinavia).  They recently arrived by ferry from the mainland.  We saw many herds of them scattered in the snow but it was hard to get a picture. It was explained to us that in the winter the buck lose their antlers and the females lose theirs in the summer.

Reindeer on the ridge in center of photo

Close up of reindeer

One of the many fjords on the island

When we finally reached the top, it was snowing quite heavily.  There was a nice visitors center with restaurant, gift shop and an interesting movie about the midnight sun and polar night.  I have connected a bit with two girls from the US, so we headed straight out to the iconic North Cape globe to take each other's pictures.

We had to be seriously bundled up to go out there.

To the left of the globe was this incredible chasm.  With the snow it seemed to be bottomless.

On our way back to Honningsvag, we stopped at a little tourist area set up by a Sami family.  The mother has a little souvenir shop on the side of the road.  They also have some traditional Sami huts to look at.  The son had a reindeer out front eating moss.  Note the paint markings on the reindeer.  Since the reindeer run freely all summer, they use spray paint to mark them (rather than branding or ear clips).  They are raise for meat.

Young Sami man with his traditional costume and colorful reindeer.

Pile of reindeer antlers by shop door.

Traditional lavoo - a nomadic Sami's home.

Sleds were used to haul goods when the Sami were herding their reindeer.

Lavoo with a cover.

Much like a native American teepee, with a fire in the middle

Much like Native Americans, the Sami found their way of life threatened when European settlers began moving up into their territory.  They were accustomed to letting the reindeer graze anywhere they wanted, ignoring country boundaries, etc.  Unlike Native Americans, they did not get put into reservations.  They fought for their rights, even formed a recognized parliament.  Some keep their old way of life but most have regular jobs.

On the way back down, we saw a few other Sami buildings.  The dugout would have been used for supplies.

We arrived back at the ship just as they were blowing the deafening warning signal.  As we boarded, they told us to go up to the coffee shop on the seventh floor for some freshly baked apple cake and hot chocolate.

Very out of focus picture but it was a special moment that I want to remember.