"You've heard of zebra crossings ....... they do things differently in Finnish Lapland" Driving around #inari on the #inarinightlessnight photograohy workshop was a pleasure. The wilderness area looks totally different in the summer months than we might imagine it, usually picturing it in full winter regalia. There is so much green, the pine and fir tree forests, interspersed with birch and other deciduous trees are suprisingly lush. Even the forest floor is a thick, green velvety carpet of moss, laced with a variety of coloured berries. Some are already in fruit, while most are just beginning to blossom, pale flowers identifying the berry they will become. The roads seem to stretch for miles, and although many are little more than dirt tracks, with little traffic on them, totally different than the roads back home, they're a pleasure to drive. There's always the opportunity to see some wildlife, red foxes, moose and of course reindeer are regular roadside visitors. The reindeer are often small group, with a male and a couple of females, maybe even a calf. At times, it's possible to come across a whole herd, often crossing the road, a traffic jam, #laplandfinland style. This big guy was catching some evening sun in a quarried out area, of course we stopped and that disturbed him, attempting to make a quick getaway. A dash to the road, once he was there however, he stopped to check us out, as curious about us as we were of him. After a few moments he was soon bored though, and traipsed away, making a beeline for the forest, possibly on the lookout for some female reindeer companny. Oo la la Rudolph ..... or possibly more accurately donner und blitzen? #onlyinlapland TIP: Driving around a natural wilderness like this, it's necessary to be ready for anything. It is impossible to predict what maybe around the next bend, so have a camera set up with a siitable lens and settings to suit the conditions, ready for whatever mother nature throws your way. (at Inari, Finland)