To Ratekjokk, a Sami community
The next morning you’ll pack your things and ride over the bare mountain and down to the small Sami settlement called Ratekjokk, where you will stay for two nights in a cabin. The owners of the tour company have their roots in Ratekjokk so this place is really “home.” They have a few houses there, a sauna right by a small river and the horses have lots of pasture there
The Sami are the indigenous people of the area, whose culture revolves around reindeer. A Sami community is an economical and administrative community that cares for the reindeer in the area. There are about fifty Sami communities in Sweden and the reindeer herding area covers around half of the area of Sweden. Just a small part of the Sami population are members of a Sami community. Leaváš and Girjas are Sami communities in the mountain area. Here in the west close to the Norwegian border is where the reindeer normally are in the summer and in the lower mountains during autumn and spring. In winter time they are more east in the forest land.
Enjoy the sauna and dinner this evening before overnighting in the cabin.
