Summertime in Estonia

Summer in Estonia is something unique (well, probably there is a lot in common with other Nordic countries): the summer is short but days are long, people live in a very different way than the rest of the year, and most people stay in the country to enjoy it to the fullest.

Yes, Estonians stay in Estonia in summer. And Estonians living abroad come to Estonia during summer. There is no better place to be! But, WHEN is summer? mmmh... most people claim it is about certain in July. If you are lucky, it starts earlier and/or finishes later. Well, I arrived here on July 30... but I seem to be lucky: weather was nice for another two weeks!

So what do people do in Estonia during summer? At the program of most people, the Estonian classics: forest walks and camping, berries and mushroom picking, swimming in all sorts of bodies of water (sea, lakes, rivers), barbecue and sauna. And music festivals, as there is something going on in the open air every weekend.

RMK

If there is something I really like in Estonia is the RMK, the Estonian State Forest authority. You don't see them much, but they really do make you feel at home everywhere! How: they create and organise walking trails and camping grounds with all the required facilities around the country. There, you usually find barbecue places, wood logs, wooden toilets (often with toilet paper and water bottles), tables, and sometimes shelters or huts. And all for FREE!

One of these RMK campings with bbq spots, shelters, toilets and beach (behind)

Bog lakes and mushroom picking in South Estonia

My first weekend in Estonia and, since the summer is apparently and luckily not over (locals consider that August is already a cold month), we head to the South to visit family and explore the areas of Põlva (Põlvamaa) and Võru (Võrumaa). 

It feels like a contest to swim in as many lakes (järv, in Estonian) as you can. There are plenty of lakes in the area, most of them are swimmable (if not, it is written) and you often find swimming spots with a piece of beach and a changing "cabin". In South Estonia, most lakes are deep and the shores are quite abrupt, which makes them good for swimming, less good for children games. This explains why those with a piece of beach and a progressive slope are very popular.

Liivajärv in Paganamaa, at the Latvian border (those trees on the other side are in Latvia)

Our favourites: Palojärv, known for being among the warmest lakes of the country. Family friendly place, with a beach and a "child zone" surrounded by a wooden promenade. But the lake is super big and you can swim quietly away from the crowd. During daytime, there is also ice cream to sell!

The town of Rõuge in Võrumaa, with lakes all around and a lovely hilly landscape. There is the deepest lake of Estonia, 38 m deep. Very close to it, our "personal" lake, Kahrila järv with its Hinni canyon, the deepest canyon in Estonia, 11 m deep. We spent two nights on its shores, at the lovely Lätte turismitalu, and felt as if we were the only ones swimming and rowing in this long lake most of the time.

Enjoing the Lätte turismitalu on the shores of lake Kahrila

And then, you have the bog lakes... usually small and very dark, with warm, clean water and no fish. These lakes are created only by precipitations and snow melting, there is no river or stream arriving or leaving. The nicest thing about them, is that they are in the middle of ... bogs, of course! Therefore, they are remote, difficult to reach, and most of the time only accessible through a board walk (thanks again, RMK) through a bog.

Visting bogs in Estonia is certainly one of my favourite activities. I don't remember having seen bogs or anything similar anywhere else. It is like a bit of untouched nature. When I visited Estonia for the first time, 3 years ago, I was really amazed and today I feel the same every time I see a bog (even a bog I already visited). I always think about my hometown, Brussels. Its original name (if I remember well from my primary school history classes) was "Bruoc Sela" (or something like that), which means "the city on the mire". Yes, Brussels was built on mires, but there is no mire left in Brussels, or anywhere in Belgium for what I know.

A typical board walk on bogs

Sundew, a carnivorous plant you often meet in bogs: it waits for insects to come in its (sticky) leaves before slowly trapping and ingesting them. 

Mustjärv (black lake), in Luhaso bog, one of the biggest bog lakes I saw. The water is not actually black bur rather dark copper (reddish).  

Bog lake in the Meenikunno raba (bog)

Another fun thing to do, is picking mushrooms. Before going, you need to know which mushrooms to pick and which are dangerous for health. You usually go for one type if you are a novice like me. And it is also better to know where to search for mushrooms. You may have a feeling for a "mushroom forest", but you might walk a long time before seeing one! Katri's aunt, Tädi Sirje, was nice enough to show us two of her favourite picking places for girolles. And it was a very successful trip with the whole family. Girolles are sold at the market in Balti Jaam (Tallinn's main station) for 8 eur/kg.

With the "communist" bucket of mushrooms (containing the first day pickings from the whole family)

The privacy and beauty of South Estonia come at one single price: a bit of your blood! What...!? well,  unfortunately, it feels paradisiac down there, if it was not for the insects: at wakeup, you are annoyed by flies; during the day, you are harassed by horseflies (they bite, but they are slow) and wasps, and at night you are food for mosquitos.  And, when walking in woods, you often end up stepping by an ant trail. Ant bites can be painful too. But every time, one keeps forgetting about it and looks forward to the next summer!

Romantic hay balls in South Estonia

Smoked fish and camping in West Estonia

Second weekend, nice weather again... we rent a car and head West. To Nõva and the extremely popular Peraküla beach, also known for the singing sand. Singing sand? yes, when you walk on it, it "sings", or rather it cries... it is a funny feeling.

Just behind the beach, you have a huge forest filled with berries (especially, blueberries). Okay, blueberries picking is fun for 30 minutes, but then it gets exhausting: you are attacked by all sorts of insects, your bucket never seems to fill up, and you risk getting permanent stains on your beige pants (personal experience, but I received a magic soap that made them nearly disappear). But if you put in it a bit of effort, you can do marvellous marmalade. Katri liked this idea enough to go blueberries picking with friends a second time the next week, I didn't. I prefer mushroom picking. But it was worth our efforts (and hers, mostly): the blueberries turned into 11 jars of jam. Blueberries are sold at the market in Balti Jaam for 5 eur/kg.

Picking blueberries, a hard task.

And there is also a lake where to swim, in case the sea water is too cold. Not as good as the South Estonian lakes, though, because it is not very deep and its tiny "beach" is much less private.

As expected, the camping ground and barbecue places all along the beach feel very busy. It does not matter, we had already spotted on the map a lake 20 minutes away where there is also a camping ground.

Smoked flounder on the roadside of Növa

On the way, we go pass two ovens where they smoke freshly taken flounder (a flat fish)! They tell us they will be ready in 10 minutes, so we wait and start licking our lips! Katri feels greedy and decides to buy 10 of them for just the two of us. Okay, they are not big, but  5 each is a good number! 15 minutes later, we get back in the car and try to find a place to eat the smoked fish before the smell makes us crazy! We don't find a nice picnic spot around and head for the camping ground on Veskijärv.

The camping ground on Veskijärv feels the opposite of that in Peraküla: quiet, with only a few cars and tents around. We sit at a table under a shelter, and eat hungrily our fish. After that, we start scouting for a place to put the tent. We walk around under the suspicious eye of the people who have taken possession of the main barbecue and shelter place in the middle of the site, and we suddenly discover that there was a third, remotely located, barbecue spot with no shelter but... even better, a "private beach", a small stretch of sand leading directly to the lake. We have found our spot! And there we go for an evening bath (or swim) and a splendid, quiet, night ashore of a very peaceful lake.

Our "private" beach and camp site at Veskijärv, close to Növa