Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lautzcreatessomeveryfinegold,silverandbronzejewellery,inspiredbytraditional Sami
designs. The shop also displays quality textiles, ceramics and glassware.
You'll find a campground, comfortable - though overpriced - rooms, a restaurant and
barat
Hotel Tana ( 78 92 81 98;
www.hoteltana.no
;
campsites Nkr150; s/d Nkr1258/
1645; mid-Jun-mid-Aug; )
,aconvenientstagingpostinaclassicwoodenbuilding
at the junction of the Rv98 and E6/E75. Hotel rates include a light evening meal.
There are daily
buses
to/from Kirkenes (2½ hours) and Vadsø (1¼ hours). Local buses
run to/from Berlevåg (2½ hours) and Båtsfjord (two hours) daily except Saturday. West-
bound, the Kirkenes to Alta bus passes through four times weekly.
OPORINIA AUTUMNATA
Throughout Finnmark and over the border in Finland too, you'll come across desol-
ate forests of birch, leafless, their trunks blackened as though fire had swept through.
But the culprit is something smaller, slower, more insidious and just as destructive.
The
Oporinia autumnata
moth is dowdy and looks harmless; the caterpillars come
bright green, up to 2cm long and hungry as hell, devouring the leaves and swinging
on gossamer threads to their next chlorophyll meal.
Eventually, they'll eat themselves out of house and home and numbers will drop
but until that time, their impact can be devastating for fragile
taiga
forest. What's
needed for them to be eradicated is at least two consecutive days of temperatures be-
low -35°C. But, while winters are harsh up here, years can go by before it gets
that
bitter.
Sami Museums
Between Tana Bru and Vadsø are two Sami treasures, each worth a brief visit.
Varanger Sami Museum
MUSEUM
(Várjjat Sámi Musea; adult/child Nkr50/30; 10am-6pm mid-Jun-mid-Aug,
10am-3pm Mon-Fri rest of year)
Within, there's a fun, informative and high-tech display
about Sami life and culture. The museum also mounts Sami-related temporary exhibitions
