today was the day for our alta river boat tour[001-088], that we had already booked the previous days. robert was especially interested in the fishing waters and fish, while the rest of us was more interested in the canyon part of the trip. so we drove to sorrisniva, where our trip would start. being there a little early, we got to meet an impressive cat[002-010], both in colour and build. while we were petting the little kitty, the tour guide had also shown up, and we had a little chat. he told us that there are lynx around in this area, and many of his cats got eaten by lynx. too sad; too sad the cats get eaten, and too sad we did not spot any lynx. then the fun started. we got our life jackets and a few short instructions what to do, and what not to do. then we were divided into two groups, a finnish and/or norwegian one (we were not so sure about that), and an english speaking one, which we were in. then we made it up the river with about 30km/h. from time to time our cool and nice guide[047] slowed down, stopped the engine, and started telling about the river and other local stuff. once done, the engine and the wind would make it impossible again to understand a single word. in parts the ride was pretty bumpy[039-040,​073] as the river was flowing quite fast, and sometimes there were (visible) rocks[039-041] in the middle of the stream. that's why only experienced guides can go here by boat - at least that is what our guide told us. we noticed a lot of traffic on the river, and it seemed most of the boats where fishermen's boats. although, according to our guide, this is a very expensive fun. a fisher card for this area, which is also known for having loads of fish at this time of the year, costs around 17.000 EUR. best part is, this is all "catch'n'release", which means you can not even take the fish with you. after a while we had reached the turning point, from where one can look into the actual canyon[057-062]. but this is as far as boats are allowed to go. so instead of going on further up the river, we took a little break at a little camping spot[068-071]. usually this one is rented by fishermen too, so they can rest and have a little meal out here. actually there was a bbq place too, so maybe one is allowed to eat the fish there. unfortunately we could not bear it at this place for longer than only a few minutes, because as soon as we got out of the boat we were attacked by hordes of gnats. as fishing here is pretty expensive, this of course has an impact on the people that come here to fish. and so our guide claimed the president of finland stays here from time to time, going fishing with him. well, we believed him. this time. he also told us, that if the president is here, he stays at this house[077]. on our way back to the place where we started from, we reached a speed of up to 45km/h, because now we were going downstream. it got really cold after a while, although it was hot when standing in the sun. so back at the headquarter, we got hot coffee and a cake to warm up again. then we asked our guide if the husky camp, we saw a sign for while driving here in the morning, is still opened in summer, and what our chances are to get to see and pet some huskies there. he said we should simply just drop by and ask. so we drove back to where the sign was, and came to the "northern lights husky" camp[089-123]. turns out the camp was currently run by a young american couple who stays here to look after the dogs in summer, while the owners were somewhere else on holidays. the couple seemed pretty happy to get a little distraction and have contact to other humans again. so we were shown round the camp full of cute little fluffy cubs[089-098,​113-115], ready to be cuddled and hugged. it was pretty hard to get sharp pictures of the husky cubs because they were always moving, always active, and i forgot to adjust my camera settings because of the overwhelming cuteness of all those little hyperactive furballs. then we were allowed to enter the big enclosure for the grown up huskies[099-112]. it was pretty hot, so most of the dogs were in their huts seeking shelter from direct sunlight. but they were too curious, so almost all of them came out to get a scent and a cuddled from us. there was a lot of tail wagging, and all of the canines were super friendly and seemed happy to meet us - and so were we. usually there is a cafe too, but it is only opened in winter season - bad luck; i would have enjoyed a coffee with all the little cubs running around. but instead we offered the couple a little extra income (for the service and friendliness), which they happily accepted. then, when heading to the exit, we noticed a black cat[117,​119-123] that was using us as guards, so that it could sneak past the dogs. but of course not without taunting the dogs[120] once it was past the cages - a cat has pride after all. the dogs barked and yelled, the cat enjoyed the spectacle. brave little feline. time to get to our accommodation in karasjok, which seemed to be right in the middle of a sami park - the most touristy kind one. but it was just closing when we arrived. so we went to grab a bite. we chose a sami dinner in a big tent[127-134]. there we had reindeer steak and other reindeer meat meals[131-132,​134]. it was absolutely delicious - poor reindeer; nomnomnom. then we went to our rooms in the scandic karasjok hotel. if you wonder why we only stayed at scandic hotels so far, the answer is simple: robert usually stays in scandic hotels when he is in finland, so he wanted to use the frequent guest program bonuses that he had collected over the months. this meant a little cheaper room rates, and 20% off in the restaurants. but maybe this will be the last scandic hotel for nina and me, because tomorrow we will bid farewell to beate and robert as they are heading home, while we get to stay another week. today it was sunny with 14°C, and it was quite hot in direct sunlight. track for day 07.