I owe the fact that I was able to do this really good rafting tour to my nice Instagram friend. I had asked him in the run-up to my trip if he had any good tips. His last tip “Nyksund” was great. His tip this time was a rafting tour through the Saltstraumen. Sounds good, I thought, and started searching the internet for this tour. But all the providers I found no longer offered the tour.
‘Too bad, would have been cool,’ I thought.
At some point I remembered that the tour on the Kong Harald had also been bookable, but I had only not booked it because it had been raining so cats and dogs. So I asked my nice Instagram friend to ask the tour guide on the Kong Harald. Maybe they had a link where I could still book. After a few days, a link came up. I don’t know if he had asked or if he had found the link himself, but the main thing was that I could book. However, I could only choose the date and pay. I didn’t really have any idea what to expect 🤔. I decided to wait until I would be in Bodø, because I didn’t want to do the tour in the rain. As a small thank you, I bought him a big stick of Toblerone and wanted to give it to him in Ørnes. I had seen that the Kong Harald was making a stop there.
After the flight museum had taken more time than expected, I didn’t have time for lunch. I drove to the harbour and immediately found a parking space near the harbour. First I looked for the meeting point and asked what the meeting point looked like, just to be on the safe side. I showed the confirmation on my mobile phone. The nice man, who later turned out to be the tour guide Sven, said: “Yes, this is the right place. It’s enough if you come back in 30 minutes then there is the equipment and then we start.”
30 minutes was definitely too short for lunch, but it should be enough for a coffee and a piece of cake. I quickly found a restaurant at the harbour, which was also open 😊, with a nice terrace and I could enjoy the sun to the full.
Back on time at the meeting point, Sven checked his list and explained how to put on the clothes including the life jacket. Before we started, he wanted to know if everyone was from the Aida cruise ship. Everyone raised their hands except me. He asked me again, but I was definitely not from Aida. He explained to me that he would take the others to the Aida on the way back before he went back to the port. No problem for me.
After everyone had put on their equipment and understood the obligatory safety instructions, we went into the boat. At this point I recommend taking sunglasses and a cap. I had forgotten the cap in the car, but luckily the sun was shining quite strongly. In between, I put on the hood from the equipment.
Sven really knew a lot and my impression was that he really liked his job as a guide. First we drove out a bit and then he told us something about the white eagles and why he had taken a bucket of fish with him. It didn’t take long until we found a place where the eagles were sitting on the rocks. Sven stopped, held a fish in the air and threw it into the water. He did this a few times and said “Let’s see if it’s hungry.”
Everyone looked at the eagle eagerly. The eagle did us the favour and started to move. Sven threw the fish and the eagle caught it just above the water. That was really great. Unfortunately, the eagle was probably not that hungry, because it didn’t want another fish.
Then we continued and Sven showed us impressive rock layers. He asked if there were geologists on board. Everyone answered in the negative. I think he would have told one more geological fact. 😊
Then we went to the Saltraumen. On the way there, Sven stopped every now and then when he knew something interesting to say, and he knew a lot. 😊
On the way, I put on my hood from time to time, because the boat was moving quite fast and the sun wasn’t that warm any more in September. Finally we reached Saltstraumen. Sven told us that it is the strongest tidal current in the world, that almost 400 million cubic metres of water flow back and forth in the change of tides, that the current can reach a speed of up to 40 km/h and that the whirlpools can have a diameter of up to 10 metres and are also very deep. I didn’t remember the depth. 😊 Then he steered the boat safely through the Saltstraumen and I took lots of photos and videos. Just really impressive. My Norwegian Instagram friend had definitely earned the chocolate.
On the way back, Sven didn’t stop so often because he didn’t want to risk the AIDA leaving without its passengers 😊. Satisfied, we reached the dock of the Aida. Then I had a little extra trip to the harbour. We chatted in Norwegian and partly in English. But I understood him well and could answer well, but there were some words I didn’t know in Norwegian. Happy and very satisfied, we reached the harbour. I can highly recommend this tour and the tour operator “Exploresalten”.
