Ruud Streefkerk

The water is high in the Vindel River in the South of Swedish Lapland. But looking at the tree roots, that almost seem like a mangrove forest, this water level isn’t even extremely high. The Vindel River flows past the hamlet of Blattnicksele and is surrounded by mainly coniferous forest. Here you will find Europe's largest nature reserve: the Vindel Mountains Nature Reserve. The Vindel river, amongst others, has its source in this vast region and is one of Europe's few undisturbed and unpolluted rivers, with a dozen impressive rapids and a great variety of fish species, such as sea trout, grayling and Arctic whitefish, which makes it a fisherman's paradise. I met an angler from the Netherlands, who filled the large freezer in his car with the fish he caught here, and ate of it back home for as long as a year.