Journey into the quiet and darkness in Iloranta

Have you ever thought, if darkness is really dark? Is compelete darkness just an illusion caused by indoor and street lighting? Darkness is not familiar to many people – it has been calculated from satellite images, that only 17 of the world population can see the starry sky without light pollution. Iloranta is part of this minority!The experience starts with a very concrete night vision test. Our experience instructor will lead you into a dark room with different objects of different colours. As your eyes adjust, you will be able to notice the objects in the darkness. The instructor will tell you about what happens in the eyes as time passes. Can you see anything after a minute? How about five minutes? When the maximum has been reached, the lights are turned on. What are the objects in the room and what did you see? The experiment can be repeated now that you know what to look for – can you now see better or faster?

The group will then move outside to the fresh, clean air, it is now time to go into the forest. The experience instructor will lead you into the forest where each of you will take turns walking a small distance alone in the complete darkness. In the dark forest, your other senses are heightened, your sense of direction will tell you even in the darkness which way you should walk. Your hearing will be more sensitive, small cracks that you cannot even hear in the daylight now sound like a crash. Even the smell of smoke coming from the campfire feels stronger. Your sense of touch is also heightened, sense how the wind feels on your face, or even dampness or rain. In the darkness, we will also spend a guided moment enjoying the silence, stopping and listening to what we can hear.

The journey ends at the campfire, where we will have coffee and stick buns by the fireside, sharing experiences and stories of darkness and silence.