After we went to Suomenlinna in the morning, my wife had organized a Wildlife Safari for the late afternoon. This trip took place on September 8th.
We stopped near a café half an hour early, in accordance with "German time," which is to say, well ahead of the actual scheduled time.
Two other people joined the three of us for the trip. Since they had booked online, we only met them at that moment. The woman was from Switzerland, and the young man was another German national. Our safari guide introduced herself as a Finnish national; her name was Patricia. The journey in her van began after my daughter and I sat in the front seats, and the other three sat in the back.
The journey started from a place in Helsinki called Nervanderinkatu. After a drive of about forty-five minutes, we arrived in the Porkkalanniemi (Porkkala) area.
During the journey, Patricia, who was quite chatty, mentioned that she spoke Egyptian, German, Finnish, and other languages. She also said that because they disliked the cold, her mother, father, and sister live in Egypt. Out of curiosity, when I asked her why, she explained that her father had a Finnish passport but also held a Jordanian passport, which allowed him to reside in Egypt.
I immediately asked if he was Palestinian. To her surprise, she said I was the only person who had ever suggested that. She then asked how I knew. I explained that I knew many Palestinians had been forced to live in Jordan due to war, obtaining Jordanian passports, and that they were later allowed to reside in Egypt. After that, she became much more friendly and open with us. She shared her entire family story during the trip. She also mentioned that her Finnish mother preferred Egypt and that Patricia herself might move there later on.
The person in the picture is lovely Patricia.
The Porkkala area is also historically significant. The region it is located in is called Kirkkonummi.
Czar Peter the Great (Peter I) of Russia established military bases here to protect St. Petersburg. Although this was done because the area was an access point to the Gulf of Finland, the region was returned to the Finns after they gained independence from the Russian Empire. However, at the end of World War II, the Soviet Union leased this area from Finland from 1944 to 1956 to establish a naval base. All residents were evacuated.
After the Soviet troops withdrew, the area became overgrown and wild. Because it remained uninhabited by people, a scenic forest area developed here. It is now home to large animals similar to elk, known as Moose, as well as Reindeer, Fallow Deer, a large variety of rabbits, and various migratory birds. Brown bears and wolves can also be seen sometimes.
Many Finnish nationals and tourists visit here for hiking. There are also many people who pitch tents and spend the night during the spring. Patricia mentioned that during the snowy winter season, a unique and different kind of beauty can be seen in this area.
Patricia invited us to chop wood to prepare the food for our safari.
In Finland, the government has set up barbecue areas in forests and tourist sites meant for hiking. There are also designated wood storage areas. There is plenty of wood available there for lighting fires, and axes and saws are provided for chopping the wood. You can quickly saw the wood into sections and then use a sharp, guillotine-like wedge to split the logs into smaller pieces by hitting them with another wooden club. We helped Patricia chop the wood very quickly.
This is a beautiful area for walking. The environment is extremely quiet, broken only by the beauty of the scenery and the occasional sound of a bird or another animal. We only saw one other van with a couple who were setting up a tent to stay for the night.
We also learned another interesting thing: in Finland, anyone—a resident or a tourist—is permitted to stay on any private land for 24 hours (one day). If it's written on the front of a house in some places, you can even stay there. Some people leave their cabins unlocked. Even though you aren't allowed to enter locked cabins, you can stay on the surrounding land. I believe this rule may have been established in case someone gets lost during very cold periods when temperatures can drop to negative forty.
We walked around while Patricia prepared the food. In the meantime, we picked and ate some red berries. Patricia gave us a meat bun to eat and served us juice made from those berries at her home. I must say, in Sri Lanka, you would get a better food spread on a safari like this.
However, I don't like how safaris in countries like Sri Lanka or Kenya involve twenty or thirty jeeps going into the national parks, stopping, and waiting. There is a certain kind of noise associated with that. We much prefer going to isolated places like this.
It got dark very quickly, and then we went to look for animals.
Here are the photographs of the two Moose we took using the binoculars we were given. Two Fallow Deer (Spotted Deer) were also right there. Other than that, we didn't see any other animals
.
Since night had fallen, we left the area. It was past eight o'clock in the evening when we arrived back in Helsinki.
Here are a couple of videos that were uploaded to the YouTube channel:.
Traveling along the road in the vehicle:
A large rabbit running across the front of the vehicle.
The moment we spotted the two Moose.
Ajith 15/11/2025
Finland's concept of "Everyman's Rights" (Jokamiehenoikeudet)
Access is Free and Open: The core principle is that anyone (resident or tourist) can move around, hike, ski, cycle, and temporarily stay or camp in nature, even on private land, without the landowner's permission or charge.
Temporary Camping: You are generally allowed to set up a tent and camp temporarily (for a short period, like a night or a weekend) on private land as long as you are following the rules.
Silence and Isolation: The environment must remain undisturbed. You must not cause harm, damage, or disturbance to the environment or the landowner.
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