It’s finally November and we’re finally launching our new website! We’re so excited to send out our first newsletter and we’ve been talking about what to write about for the past couple of months.

The goal with the Svea Adventures Newsletter is for you to get to know us and for us to share our experiences and adventures with you! In each issue, we’ll focus on one of our upcoming adventures, and give you an in-depth look into what you will be experiencing on our trips. We also highlight a particular region of Scandinavia that we travel to on the adventure in focus and give you all the weird details and funny facts you should know.

We spent the past summer traveling all over Sweden in order to put together some exciting adventures for next summer. I think we’ve seen more of Sweden in the past few months than we have over the past 28 years! Having lived away from Sweden for quite a few years now, you start appreciating the things you miss and you look at your home country in a whole different light. Sweden is truly unique and we can’t wait to share it with you!

One of my own personal favorite trips (just wait, you’ll hear me say they’re all my favorites!) is the horseback adventure we offer through the northern regions of Jämtland. This trip is a true wilderness experience. It’s such a remote and completely unspoiled area that we ride through with no other person in sight for days. The horses are like little ATV’s that can get across any type of surface and they’re so strong! My horse Kurri just “tölted” over moss, rocks, gaps, drop-offs, streams like they weren’t even there. It’s such a smooth gait, and you just sit there with a big smile. Stopping for lunch at a hidden lake, high above tree line, overlooking fells with lingering snow, soothes your soul. A nice nap in the shade of some bushes is in order while the horses get a well-deserved rest. Ola cooks up a mean Icelandic potato soup to go with a landscape that many refer to as the Iceland of Sweden. Just talking about it brings back memories and I can’t wait to go back and show you what a true wilderness experience is all about. Enjoy the reading and I hope to see you on the trail soon!

- Linda
Founder of Svea Adventures

RAVEN'S EYE HORSEBACK ADVENTURE
On Horseback through Northern Jämtland

Upon arriving at Raven’s Eye, you step back in time to an ancient Viking era, and you find yourself staring at something taken out of an Asterix story. Raven’s Eye is unique – a replica of a Viking lodge found outside of Reykjavik, Iceland, and perfectly situated in the colorful mountains of northern Jämtland. The lakes, valleys and high peaks of this region are just as dramatic as the sights you see as you enter the lodge. Under a grass-covered roof, you’ll hunch over and enter through a solid wooden door into the main chamber, filled with warm air from a crackling fire-pit with soft Viking-inspired music in the background.

The floors are made of dark granite rock, perfectly puzzled together, and the walls of thick timber give a sense of stability and comfort. A long wooden table is set with handcrafted ceramic cups and silverware and lined with hand-carved chairs made out of thick timber logs. The ambiance in the room is mystifying and a gang of Vikings returning home from their daily rampage can be expected at any time. The aroma of grilled reindeer steaks fills the air and our mouths start watering as we sit down for a real feast. Welcome to Raven’s Eye.

Raven’s Eye, with all its tales of Vikings and ancient legends will be our home for a week-long horseback adventure in the mountains of central Sweden. Icelandic horses accompany us on our endeavor across valleys and over mountains, above tree line and through deep, dark forests. We ride over a road-less, open land, free from fences and restrictions, across rivers and high plateaus. Many describe this area as the Iceland of Sweden, as many of the features are alike. We zigzag across the border into Norway and back again, through a land that many think of as one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Click here to see the full details on this adventure
Click here to see pictures from this adventure

Facts about the County of Jämtland

Jämtland is found in the middle of Sweden, bordering Norway to the west, Västerbotten County to the north, Västernorrland County to the east and Dalarna County to the south. It’s known for its remote and peaceful mountains and fells, which offer visitors wide-open vistas and an amazing sense of freedom. It’s also known for vast forests, beautiful art and crafts, delicious "tunnbröd" (thin, flat bread) and the tranquillity of long summer nights.

Jämtland offers a rich and active cultural life, with many museums, exhibitions and festivals. Just outside Östersund you’ll find the outdoor museum of Jamtli, which takes you back in history to the 18th and 19th centuries. Here you can learn about the daily life of the early settlers in the area.

Jämtland is home to the fifth largest lake in Sweden, Storsjön, which in turn is home to Storsjöodjuret (the Big Lake Monster). The legend of a monster in Storsjön (the Big Lake), on the shores of Östersund has enticed people in the region as well as all over the country for centuries. Today there are over 200 documented testimonies from a total of 500 people, who’ve seen the monster. Many have shared their experience verbally as well. It’s quite possible that even more people have seen the inexplicable in Storsjön’s dark waters, but they may be too scared to talk about it. Could all these witnesses be wrong? Today there are several observation decks around Storsjön, where you can try to catch a glimpse of the mysterious monster.

Jämtland also hosts Sweden's largest waterfall, Tännforsen, and is also known for its many caves, such as Korallgrottan, the longest in Sweden, which you have the option to visit on our Raven’s Eye Hiking Adventure, where we go hiking in the Jämtland mountains while accompanied by pack horses.

The monthly quote from “SWEDEN – The Secret Files”, by Colin Moon:

The Size of Sweden
8.9 million inhabitants occupy the fourth largest country in Europe. If you were to swing Sweden round at 180 degrees using the southernmost tip as the axis, you could reach central Italy, no problem. Mind you, the Sami (Laplanders) would want to know what they were suddenly doing in Naples. Distances in Sweden are so vast that people have to fly or travel by sleeper train. This means that not many Swedes actually know what their country looks like. They either fly 10000 meters above it or sleep through it.

Geography
The southern part of Sweden is the most densely populated and is inhabited by people called Scanians, a kind of Swedish-speaking Dane. They are proud to tell you that they were once part of Denmark and that they have absolutely nothing in common with the rest of the country. Indeed they are geographically closer to Berlin than to Stockholm. The southern part of Sweden is the gateway to Europe and the rest of the world. Or at least to Copenhagen for a good night out.

The north of Sweden is inhabited by northerners (Norrlänningar) and the Sami (Laplanders), an ancient hunting and fishing nomadic people who live in tents and speak a Finno-Ugric language they themselves can hardly understand. This is perhaps why they hardly say anything at all. Norrland, as this area is called, stretches across 60% of Sweden and is so sparsely populated that the inhabitants hardly ever meet anyone to talk to.

In central Sweden lies the capital, Stockholm. Stockholm is inhabited by “Zero eights”, so called because of their telephone area codes. “Zero-eights” have a reputation for being like sea-gulls, they scream and cause a mess wherever they go. Well, that’s what the Swedish-speaking Danes say in the south. The people of the north haven’t said a word. As usual.

Contact Us to find out how you can order your own copy of Colin Moon’s hilarious book “SWEDEN – The Secret Files”. More funny excerpts in the next newsletter!