TRAVEL. NATURE. PHOTOGRAPHY.
The Breathtaking Beauty of a Sunset in Sweden’s Wilderness
When the mist is rising from the forest and birds are singing in the last light
It’s just past 10 pm. The sun set minutes ago on the horizon behind the forest. It was magical. And still is. The light, the reflections on the lake, the chorus of the birds, and the peacefulness. All of it was just perfect.
Yes, this surely was one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve experienced. If not even the most beautiful one. And trust me, I’ve seen the sun setting all around the world. I have collected a fair share of breathtaking sunsets. Yet this one was different.
It was special. And still is. While I am writing this I hear the geese chatting as they are crossing the lake. A layer of mist is moving slowly across the surface of the lake.
Yes, it is cold. Maybe a little bit too cold for the last day of May.
But who am I to judge. It’s my first time in Sweden. And this is my first night in Sweden. And it’s my first time experiencing a sunset that late in the day. So, I’m surely no expert out there.
We are in the wilderness. Yes, we’re wild camping next to a lake. There’s nobody around us. Only birds. Lots of birds. All kinds of different birds. And there is a wind turbine on the hill on the other side of the lake.
The sky is pink and purple in the backdrop. I might have taken too many pictures this evening but I can’t help myself. Click. It’s too beautiful not to photograph this moment and save it for eternity. Click. Even though I do know, that no photograph in the world can capture what I just experienced. Click.
But I still try. Maybe one day I can tell my children the story of this day based on the photographs I show them. Because those pictures will bring back memories. Memories of our first day in Sweden. An adventure like no other.
And there they are again. I don’t know if it’s geese but I think so. Maybe it’s just some different duck species I don’t know. They are in the distance on the lake. I can’t see them but I can hear them clearly. It sounds like they are complaining. Or they are just claiming their territory. Who knows? Or this is their way to welcome the night.
There is mist hanging in the valley far on the other side of the lake. With all that moisture in the woods surrounding us the water has to escape somehow. Yes, it has rained a lot today. Not the whole day but again and again. We also had some hail. It wasn’t a big deal but we could clearly see the hail on the ground.
Only late in the afternoon, the weather calmed down and the sun even appeared. Which we didn’t mind since up here in Scandinavia the summer days are long even though summer hasn‘t even started yet. But it gave us enough time to embrace the beauty of this place and even take a dip in the freezing cold lake.
It’s buzzing and humming around me. I thought it was too cold for mozzies but I guess not for these hard-core Scandinavian ones. The temperature dropped a few hours ago below 10 degrees (Celsius) and yet there are some mosquitos to be seen in the size of tiny birds.
I don’t trust them especially since I know mozzies love my blood. Time for me to go inside. And while I say it, inside, that means in the car. Yes, we’re sleeping in the car. When we decided to go on this mini road trip to Sweden we knew we couldn’t afford a stay in a hotel and after I found out a night at a campsite would cost us at least 50 € it was clear for us.
We will go wild camping.
It’s anyway what we love doing the most. At least when we’re doing a road trip in our other home, Namibia. In Germany, wild camping is mostly not allowed, and anyway not that fun. But in Sweden wild camping is permitted and so there was nothing stopping us anymore. Not even the wet cold front blowing over Europe.
It might be the end of May but that doesn’t mean anything.
So here I am now. Inside our Golf. We flattened out the back and put our topper as a mattress inside the car. My husband is sleeping already. I told him he can’t go to bed as long as the sun is still above the horizon but he said it’s not his fault that „in Eskimo country the sun never sets“.
He’s African after all. He knows the sun that burns your skin within minutes and he can calculate how much light we have left according to how many fingers he can squeeze between the sun and the horizon.
But he still doesn’t get his bearings in Europe. It’s all different. And kind of the opposite. Winter and summer, the stars and the moon and life in general. However, he’s adapting well and in my eyes fits in better than me.
I might be born in Europe but fell in love with the African continent. I have a special place in my heart for a few places in the world but most of them are in Africa.
Except for this one. Here in southern Sweden. I even found my dream home earlier this afternoon. It might be a vacation home for the locals here but I would easily make it a permanent home. I don’t need much anyway. Just everything this place has. Water, forest, nature, peace, and quiet.
And the house was yellow.
Don’t tell anyone, but I was looking for a for sale sign. Didn’t find it. I will keep looking.
And as I am typing this the clouds are moving across the sky making the night appear even though I can still see light on the horizon. It’s unbelievable. So much light. So late in the day.
The birds haven’t silenced completely but they surely calmed down. I guess they also need to get some sleep in. Eventually. Even in that part of the world where the sun (almost) never sets.
And because I also want to experience and embrace my second day in Sweden, tomorrow, I am closing my eyes now. I will get some good night's sleep in with the memories of this breathtaking moment of the sun setting slowly but surely behind the woods on the lake.
“Real freedom lies in wilderness, not in civilization.” — Charles Lindbergh
More out spending time in the wilderness and camping in nature:
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