COVID-19 kayaking

Story 10/21: Ecotourism under midnight sun

Story 10/21: Ecotourism afloat

Night by Devil’s stone – Kayaking during CoVid-19 pandemic

July, 2020

The gas flame of the camping stove puffs hanging from a branch. Man had just hauled the water soon to boil from the lake. He is organizing the dry food, spoons, cups, tea bags and biscuits to the sturdy wooden table.

Woman is crouched at the tent entrance, extending the newly inflated sleeping mattress. In fly two sleeping bags and two little dry bags. She takes a fleece and pair of light mittens from a larger waterproof sack. The Nordic summer evening is turning slightly chilly.

Smell of Indian spices and creamy chicken is mixed to the fresh scent of the pine forest. Humming of the burning gas still fill the air as man has put another kettle to boil for tea water, while two packages of freeze-dried outdoor meals are simmering to regain their juicy structure.

The couple is debating on the day over dinner. How they passed Petäjävesi wooden church from 1765, an UNESCO World heritage site and paddled through couple of rapids, numerous lakes and rivers. How – during their 19 km long kayaking they have seen a herd of sheep feeding in a forest and two boys fishing on a rowing boat. And some fields, bridges and houses, but mostly just rocks, islands and forest.

Warm meal is digesting and light stretching of shoulders, back and flanks return some of the flexibility to well used spines of these two. Body recovering, mind is getting more social, so the partners head to greet the other couple on the island. They have rented their canoe from the Kievari Rantapirtti camping site across the water and have paddled the same route, but starting couple of hours earlier.

Couples marvel the calmness and beauty of the nature and how blessed they are being able to travel within such serenity despite CoVid-19, which sealed many cities and nations indoors for months just earlier this year. In Finland only the capital area was isolated from the rest of the country for couple of months, but within quite large metropolitan area it was possible to walk on streets, parks and nature.

And now, on the first Pandemic Summer sleeping in a tent or a hammock with your partner and paddling in wilderness, masks really are unnecessary. And talking in open air – keeping safe distance in a pine forest, viruses would dissolve into the wind, if there were any.

After the chat good night is wished and kayakers visit the Devil’s stone before returning to their tent. The legend tells of Devil instructing one of his sons to destroy the Petäjävesi church before it would be finished with this huge stone.

Local priest saw this in a dream and set a young woman – Eve – dressed as an elderly lady to meet with the Satanic offspring and to convince him, that the church would be behind a maze of waterways. So far, that Eve had started rowing from there when she was young and now, she had already turned grey. The tired demon believed her, left the stone on the island and lied to his father having destroyed the church.

Both the stone and the church remain on same spots still today.

Some background data:

Pandemics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic

CoVid-19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19

Sustainable tourism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_tourism

Ecotourism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotourism

Hydropower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydropower

River ecosystems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_ecosystem

Fish migration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_migration

Questions – see links above, books, Internet or digital media for answers:

1. Pandemics and tourism. Tourism is a large industry on many areas. CoVid-19 rapidly broke many conventions – cutting dramatically number of global flights, restricting commuting, increasing remote work and studies. Many of these developments are more sustainable than habits we had before CoVId-19. Some changes have remained, on some we (almost) have returned to – or even exceeded the old unsustainable “normal”.

Local tourism would be more sustainable than global due to lesser CO₂-emissoins of moving. How could global tourism be more sustainable? What kind of changes in society and on individual level would it require if, for example:

– there would be less, but longer trips abroad (not 2 days few times a year, but 2 months sometimes)

– instead of flying, more terrestrial means of transport (trains, electrical or biogas cars and even bicycles or horses) would be used

– virtual travelling / sharing experiences (gathering to look pics of somebody’s trip somewhere / a travel programme) maybe over a dinner or snacks typical for that region

Consider frequency, distances, luggage, prices, accommodation, who you meet, when travelling differently.

2. Distances we cover. Mechanisation and industrialisation have dramatically increased a sphere of influence of an average man. In the story above, in the Medieval legend of Devils’ son, the lady claimed to have been “rowing all my life” on this single lake. Yet, at that time many people remained most of their life very close to their home – unless they were vagabonds.

Rushing from A to B is common these days. Covering less distance and being more aware of the surrounding nature, than in a car just sliding through picture postcard at the other side of the window can be very refreshing.

How can we help local people anywhere respect and restore the nature around them – instead of just exploiting and destroying it? How about turning travel from global to local? What would that require? What would a change from a motored vehicle to a man powered change? Walking or on bicycle, scooter, or horse the smells, scents, and tiny details would become more observable. It could be easier to stop to look at nature, scenery or some architectural detail. And also. to stop for a break in a local café, museum or other spot of interest. See the bees of the meadow and ants on their pathways.

What other ways is there are in making our moving and tourism more sustainable?

3. Hydropower. A small hydroelectric power-plant was passed through the dry land by the kayakers. Hydropower is considered mostly sustainable, as there are no fossil fuels involved. What ecological issues may occur, when harnessing rapids? Think of the:

a. water reserves collected to upstream, behind the dam

b. what may be left under the water masses and what may happen to that biomass under time under water

c. how the current of the river changes (on long term and during seasons each year)

d. how are plants and animals in and by the river affected (migrating fish, selfish, shorebirds and fish and waterbirds feeding on fish or water plants, reptiles, mammals)

e. how about icing or flooding and dry periods

4. Discuss. Your view: What thoughts did rise in your mind having read the story, browsing through the background material and answering to the three questions above? Discuss with your pair.

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