Wet-and-Dry

Wet-and-Dry
Originally uploaded by Ruukel

‘I don’t know about that bit. It looks a little too wet,’ Algis Martsoo’s warning comes just in time. I still have chance to change direction and skirt around a sinister-looking patch of black mud splashed with sporadic greenery.

I am standing in the middle of one of Europe’s largest peat bogs with what look like red tennis rackets strapped to my feet, conscious that one false step could lead to me ending up to my chest in cold, muddy water. The landscape is one of stunted trees and scrubby vegetation.

Still, if one must be put in such a position, Martsoo is a good person to be with. As a ranger, ecologist and guide at Estonia’s Soomaa National Park, he is something of a bog expert and to spend an afternoon in his company is to take a crash course in one of the continent’s rarest landscapes.

Soomaa is an extraordinary place, 390 square kilometres of wetlands, forests, floodplains and water meadows that comprise Estonia’s second-largest and newest national park. It is also home to rare species such as European brown bear, wolves, lynx and beaver.

Read more http://www.cnntraveller.com/2009/07/06/wet-and-dry/

Welcome to Estonian National Parks!

Welcome to Estonian National Parks!
Originally uploaded by Ruukel

Enjoyed Tallinn Old Town (or other Estonian cities)? Beautiful, unforgettable! Now take a break and look out of this marvellous city. Estonia has much more to offer! We have kept the secrets of our nature for you to discover. Clean empty beaches, picturesque small towns and villages, untoutched forests full of berries, mushrooms, animals and birds. We have prepared National Park Tour for you through 4 of our parks. Come and enjoy exiting activities in Estonian variable nature either by:

* Biking in Lahemaa National Park (Land of Bays),or
* River canoeing and bog walking in Soomaa National Park (Land of Bogs), or
* Boating and hiking in the archipelagoof Vilsandi National Park, the 100 years old nature reserve in Europe!
* Canoeing in the endless reeds of Kasari River Delta in our Bird’s Paradise Matsalu National Park

You are welcome to join the whole trip, but you can also make a choice of some destinations out of these four.

Take your time, our northern nature is worth discovering all the year round!

World Wetlands Day - Üleilmne märgalade päev

World Wetlands Day - Üleilmne märgalade päev
Originally uploaded by Ruukel

How do you celebrate World Wetlands Day?
We go for bog-shoeing trip on Kuresoo bog, Soomaa National Park in Estonia.
Welcome to join us on Sunday 01. February!

Meeting at 11.am in Karuskose.
Trip is guided by Aivar Ruukel, and lasts 4 hours.
Price EEK 300 includes rental of bogshoes.

Bogshoes have been used to walk on wetlands throughout the times. These footwear allow us access to the places where it is hard or even impossible to reach by foot.

Read more about Bog Shoeing Experience here.


Book your Bog Shoeing Experience here!

Happ New Year

Happ New Year
Originally uploaded by Ruukel

2008 years slideshow by Soomaa.com

Fifth season in Soomaa

Karuskosel
Originally uploaded by Ruukel

Soomaa National Park enjoys a fifth season. Visitors are welcome to take a paddling trips on meadows and in the forests.

Canoeing on the flooded meadows

Where is the river?
Originally uploaded by Ruukel

Heavy rains caused a flood in Soomaa National Park, allowing visitors to have a paddling trips on meadows.