FUN TIMES AT MUKTUK ADVENTURES

Last updated: September 21, 2023

It’s a peaceful night in June, and although it’s very late, the sky outside couldn’t be brighter. Suddenly, the silence is interrupted by a few dogs starting to howl, and then the rest follows their lead, one after the other.

We’re at Muktuk Adventures, a guest ranch in the Ibex Valley, about 25 minutes outside of Whitehorse, Canada. More than 100 Alaskan and Siberian huskies live here, and many hang out in or by their kennels in front of the lodge entrance.

Muktuk Adventures has been specializing in raising, training and caring for their dogs for more than 30 years.

Disclosure: I only recommend products that I’ve used in the past, and all opinions expressed in this post are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you use one of the links throughout the page to buy something, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

Our Stay at Muktuk Adventures

The Muktuk Guest Ranch and partial kennel area.

All guest rooms are on the second floor of the Muktuk Lodge. We love our room called “Klukshu”, as it has all we need, despite its small size: Two twin beds, walk-in closet, chair, and two night stands. The other guest rooms have one or two Queen or double beds, and the shared bathroom is only a few steps away.

Further down the hallway, there’s a lovely common room, with couches, chairs, two coffee tables, magazines, and most importantly (at least to us), two acoustic guitars! If guests want more privacy, they can book one of the log cabins near the main building.

Klukshu room, and a part of the common room. Both photo credit of Muktuk Adventures.

Every morning, we stuff our faces with the tasty continental breakfast that is served downstairs (coffee, tea, boiled eggs, yoghurt, blueberries, bread, sliced cheese, cold cuts, etc.). And two sweet doggies hanging out with and entertaining us during our meal makes this experience super special!

We also chat with Manuela and Jeff, our hosts, and it turns out she’s from Germany, too, and Jeff and Sean went to the same high school in New Brunswick. What a small world we live in! 😀

Great times during breakfast!

Muktuk’s Adventure Packages

Muktuk Adventures is proud to offer their fun packages as well:

In Summer, you can book Canoe Tours, e.g. on the nearby Takhini and Yukon river, or all the way to Carmacks or Dawson City. Accommodation will either be at the Muktuk Guest Ranch, or by the shore of a river. They also offer Hiking Tours at Kluane National Park, Tombstone Territorial Park, or inside the Ibex Valley.

Coming Fall, Muktuk Adventures offers Bikejoring (1 or 2 dogs pulling a fat bike) and Canoe Tours, Yukon Fall Colour Tour, and the Northern Lights and Huskies Package, which include admiring the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) from their deck or by the Takhini River.

Some packages include a visit to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, where you can see animals living in Northern Canada (e.g. moose, lynx, bison, and caribou) in their natural environment.

In Winter, it’s all about Dog Sledding, as this area gets tons of snow each year. Some of the highlights include touring on the Yukon Quest Trail (where the annual race occurs) and the Dawson Overland Trail, which became famous during the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th century, and winter camping in Yukon’s backcountry!

If you book one of these packages, you’ll also learn how to care for and harness the dogs, and you’ll be your own musher! Also, warm winter clothing will be provided by Muktuk Adventures. Some packages also include Ice Fishing, Snowmobiling, watching the Northern Lights, and visiting the Takhini Hot Springs.

Muktuk Adventures’ packages can be booked for half, full, or multiple days. Most packages include experienced and certified guides, equipment and gear, transportation from/to Whitehorse Airport or hotel, and to activities outside of or to the Muktuk Guest Ranch. For multi-day packages, accommodation and meals are included, and a lunch for full day packages.

Regardless of the package, you’ll spend lots of time with some adorable dogs, because they join all of the tours!

Northern lights by the Muktuk Guest Ranch. Photo credit: Muktuk Adventures.

The Dogs at Muktuk Adventures

Muktuk Adventures started as a racing kennel, but since 2008, the company has specialized in recreational dog sledding. Soon after, they started adopting dogs, mostly from kennels and shelters in the Yukon or Alaska.

Their gang is divided into working, non-working, and retired dogs, and it’s even possible to sponsor or adopt one (or more) of them! On their website, you can learn about some of the pups and their unique personalities, no matter which group they’re in.

How to Get to Muktuk Adventures

Since there’s no public transit outside of Whitehorse, the only way to travel to Muktuk Adventures independently is by car. Here are driving directions and a map, courtesy of Muktuk Adventures:

Travel north along the Alaska Hwy (Hwy 1) towards Haines Junction, passing by the Dawson City turn-off (Hwy 2). Continue along and you will see the Muktuk billboard sign on the right side of the road.
Drive one mile further until you see a blue sign with flags on top and a green street sign that says Husky Trail (Km 1442.5).
Turn right and follow Husky Trail at a reduced speed for about 4 kms. This road will lead you directly to the Muktuk Guest Ranch.

Here’s their exact contact information:

Muktuk Adventures, Km 1142.5 Alaska Highway, Km 4 Husky Trail, Whitehorse YT, Y1A 7A2, Canada Telephone: +1 867-668-3647 Email: info@muktuk.com

Muktuk Adventures is currently open daily from 9 am to 5 pm (except Sundays).

My Opinion about Muktuk Adventures

I think it’s obvious by now that we enjoyed our stay at Muktuk Adventures very much! Why? First of all, we loved the uniqueness of this place, as it’s very rare that you’re greeted by a bunch of dogs when entering a hotel!

When visiting a facility that handles animals, it’s crucial to me that they are loved and well taken care of, which undoubtedly, is the case at Muktuk Adventures. The staff are genuine and experienced dog owners, and the pups are living their best life, regardless of their “group status”.

It was also clear that the staff is doing the best they can to provide an awesome experience to their guests, no matter if you booked a room or cabin, or one of their tour packages. Although the rooms and facilities can be considered basic, everything we needed was available, and it shows that it took a lot of effort and passion to put this place together, and everything was spotless.

I hope to return to Muktuk Adventures someday, and then, I’ll join one of their tour packages for sure!

So if you’re looking for a cozy, fun, and unique place to stay while in the Yukon (and love dogs, of course!), I highly recommend Muktuk Adventures!

October 26, 2020 0

QUARANTINE LIFE WITH DEXTER THE RAT

Last updated: June 18, 2023

After returning from Germany to Canada in August 2020, I had to quarantine for 14 days, to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Although I wasn’t technically travelling, I think this counts as a travel experience, as I was away from our regular home. Plus, we all know that this is usually not part of a traveler’s life!

Thankfully, Dexter, our pet rat, was happy to spend it with me! But first of all, who’s this special friend of mine?

Dexter is a standard pet rat with white and light brown fur, and black eyes. He was born on December 1, 2018 in Kamloops, BC, same as Moochie, his brother. Sadly, Moochie passed away in May 2020 because of a brain tumour (RIP), so since then, Dexter has been the only rat in the house. He’s fine with that, as he gets to spend lots of quality time with his humans every day.

Dexter is very social and affectionate, but he can be quite dominant, too! He likes sleeping, ripping up newspapers, and eating, of course, especially avocadoes, bananas, pasta, cheese, pork chops, steak, and the occasional treat. Like most pet rats, Dexter doesn’t like baths though.

We were quarantined in a cabin with a small yard, just us. Dexter hung out with me on the couch during the day, and inside his cage at night. After a few days, we’d gotten used to a daily routine. It looked like this:

We ate lots of meals together. Dexter didn’t mind eating the non-fancy food, that had been sitting inside our kitchen cupboards for a long time.
Since we hadn’t seen each other in a while, Dexter was excited to hear what I’d been up to in Germany, and my plans to visit Japan and other destinations in the future.
Dexter learnt about Pokémon Yellow, a game I played on my Gameboy Color. He loved the background music, and was happy for me when I caught a new Pokémon or win a tough battle!
Dexter always sleeps a lot, so I decided to adjust to his schedule a bit. It was an awesome, but action-packed trip to Germany, so sleeping a lot helped me recharge from it.
I read several books, such as a manga named “My Roommate is a Cat” by Tsunami Minatsuki, and told Dexter what it was about. He was also glad that I talked to people on the phone, as we couldn’t have visitors.
We listened to music together, and watched Netflix, such as Friends and Back to the Future. It was a great way for us to snuggle into a blanket and relax. Also, Dexter watched me build a drum set out of Nanoblocks!
Lastly, I walked around the yard quite often for fresh air and Vitamin D. Unfortunately, Dexter doesn’t have a leash, so he couldn’t join me. Also, I didn’t want to overwhelm him with more changes!

In general, there are lots of benefits of spending time with a furry friend, as it’s supposed to make you feel calm and relaxed. Dexter is no exception to this, as he’s always there, and loves us unconditionally.

I believe that he understands what I’m saying, which helped me not to get lonely or bored during quarantine. One day, Dexter sensed that I wasn’t feeling well, so he laid next to me, and put his front paws on my hand, and this loving gesture made me feel much better! <3

The Nanoblock drum set, and Dexter in our quarantine home.

Here are a few things I learnt during our life in quarantine:

It’s important to relax, and accept the situation you’re in, especially if you can’t do anything about it. So we just took things day by day, and stuck to our routine. I knew that soon, life will be back to normal!
Live in the moment, and if you’re tired, don’t feel bad for taking a nap. That’s a big one, as it doesn’t help worrying about the past or future, and although it might sound lame, sleep is important!
Appreciate and use up the food that you have before buying new stuff. If it’s not your favourite food, come up with ideas on how to make it tastier. Be creative! There are so many people starving in this world, so either way, we should be grateful for what we have.
Ensure to keep your brain occupied, e.g. by playing video games, and reading books or magazines. It also made me realize that I should keep reading a lot in the future, instead of wasting time on the internet.
Spending time alone is supposed to be healthy, as you get to know yourself better. Before I was surrounded by friends and family a lot, which was awesome, but I also appreciated spending time just by myself, and Dexter, of course. This helped me to be prepared for life after quarantine!

Fortunately, with all the fun we had, the time flew by very quickly! Although being in quarantine was quite an interesting experience, I hope that next time, things will be back to normal, so we can just do whatever we like. Funnily enough, it felt strange at first to be back in the outside world, as we’d gotten so used to our quarantine home!

I hope you enjoyed e-meeting Dexter, and thanks for checking out my blog today 😀

Sadly, our sweet Dexter passed away in February 2021, most likely because of congestive heart failure. He was 26 months old, and we’ll keep all the amazing memories of him and Moochie in our hears forever <3 They both had the best life a rat could ask for.

September 30, 2020 0

A VISIT TO THE RAMONES MUSEUM – HEY HO, LET’S GO!

Last updated: September 7, 2026

As a fan of 20+ years, I was super psyched to visit the Ramones Museum in Berlin, Germany, in August 2020.

It’s the first and only Ramones Museum in the world. It was founded by Flo Hayler, a music journalist and huge fan, in 2005.

According to their website, more than 1,000 original artifacts, representing the band’s history from 1974-1996, are exhibited.

Please note: The Ramones Museum is currently closed (as of September 2026), as they are looking for a new location in Berlin. So this post serves as inspiration on what to expect once they reopen in the future and I hope it will still be helpful to you!

Breakfast at the Bar & Café Area

I was worried about getting hungry while touring the museum, so my first stop was the cozy Bar & Café area. All breakfast foods are either vegan or vegetarian.

I had the “Blitzkrieg Bop” breakfast, that consisted of two slices of bread with a few veggies, sliced cheese (a vegan spread can be ordered instead, if preferred), and veggie cold cuts.

I also ordered a bottle of Club-Mate, a non-alcoholic caffeine drink often found in Eastern Germany. The food arrived quickly and it was minimalist but amazing, just like many of the band’s songs!

The punk music playing in the background was just another bonus. There’s no way to miss the Wall of Fame, where tons of great bands (e.g. Rise Against, Die Toten Hosen, and The Undertones), that visited the museum, had left their signature. And the photos of various artists on the wall are worth mentioning as well!

The “Blitzkrieg Bop” breakfast and a small overview of breakfast food items available.

Partial Bar and Café area, including a few photos and the Wall of Fame!

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to try any of their vegan cakes, a hot or cold drink, or check out an event. But these are on my bucket list for next time!

A small selection of pastries and drinks available. Photo credit of the Ramones Museum.

The Ramones Museum Tour

Then I walked through the swinging doors to check out the museum area!

I quickly learnt that the museum’s treasures are shown in the chronological order of the band’s history, so it started with their early years from the mid to late 1970s. My favourite displays of this period were:

A signed cover of the first Ramones album (photo credit of the Ramones Museum), band member pictures and handwritten lyrics to “Judy is a Punk” (1976), a photo of Johnny Ramone and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols (1977), a poster from their gig in Lyon, France, on Apr 28, 1977, and Marky Ramone’s shoes, that he wore during their European tour in 1978.

Next, I entered a separate room, where “Rock’n’Roll High School“, a teen comedy movie featuring the band, published in 1979, was playing. It was great to sit on the couch for a break and I liked the cool t-shirts and posters hanging on the wall, that were made specifically because of the movie.

As I kept on walking, I found more awesome Ramones memorabilia from the 1980s until 1996. Here are some examples: Ticket stub from a gig in Berlin, and picture of a show in Tokyo, Japan (both 1980), and an article in the New York Post about Johnny Ramone (1983). These two are photo courtesy of the Ramones Museum, then CJ Ramone’s bass guitar.

Also, a set list for a gig, each band member’s profile, and poster of their show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 16, 1996. The last one is also photo credit of the Ramones Museum.

After the museum tour, I couldn’t resist buying a Ramones Museum t-shirt and sticker from the gift shop. I mean, I had to get something to remember that I visited this place when I’m old… Just kidding. 😀

Check out the Get in the Van Tour around Berlin

While the Ramones Museum is closed right now, you can still book their Get in the Van Tour, a Punk subculture and DIY Sightseeing tour around Berlin, where you’ll learn about Berlin’s Punk history from the 1970s until today.

Museum founder Flo Hayler will take you around the city in a 1972 Ford Econoline Van (up to 6 guests) and the cost is 65 EUR per person. It takes 1 to 1.5 hours and the tour includes free drinks and an exclusive Get in the Van t-shirt! Tours are available in German or English.

GET IN THE VAN BERLIN - 2 Hour DIY & Subculture Sightseeing

Watch this video on YouTube

Conclusion: My Opinion on the Ramones Museum

I was amazed by the immense detail, effort, time, and passion that must have been put into setting up the Ramones Museum over the years. Although the museum area is rather small, it’s very well organized. I also appreciated the kind staff, warm atmosphere, and very affordable prices.

So whether you’re into The Ramones or not, I think this museum is worth visiting to learn about the band’s large impact on the history of music.

Plus, their large breakfast kept my belly satisfied for a long time! For me, it was an awesome start to exploring Berlin, as several tourist attractions (e.g. East Side Gallery and the Brandenburg Gate) were not far away.

I really look forward to going back to the Ramones Museum someday and seeing its new location! 😀

If you want to try more vegan food during your Berlin visit, check out Rebecca’s post about 14 Must Visit Vegan Restaurants in Berlin!

For more cool things to do in Berlin, check out my blog post:

How to Spend 24 Hours in Berlin, Germany

September 16, 2020 0

WELCOME TO MY TRAVEL BLOG!

Last updated: September 21, 2023

Good day, I recently started this blog, and here a few travel passions of mine I’ll share with you:

Music Tourism. Since I was a little girl, I’ve loved music, because it’s one of the best ways to escape from reality. It started with recording radio songs to cassettes, later listening to CD’s and watching music videos on MTV, and then on YouTube.

As a teenager, I started identifying myself with mostly Punk and Rock music and still do to this day. My favourite bands are Nirvana, The Offspring, Social Distortion, The Ramones, Green Day, Rise Against, Sex Pistols, Foo Fighters, Bad Religion, Dropkick Murphys, and many more!

In recent years, I saw several bands live, and plan to keep doing so in the future! Also, I’ll talk about trips related to music tourism, such as visiting a musician’s grave or his/her birth place. So stay tuned 😀

Foo Fighters gig @ Rogers Arena, Vancouver, September 2018.

The Real McKenzies at Blue Grotto, Kamloops, BC, March 2023.

Food Tourism. I always like to check out places to eat, that offer mostly healthy food choices, and are easy on the wallet. I’m interested in a variety of cuisines, like Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, and North American.

I’ve been a vegetarian since 2011, so I’ll only talk about restaurants which have at least one option for me. Fortunately, many places nowadays have tons of options for vegetarians and/or vegans, so don’t worry, it won’t get boring!

Left: Monashee Buddha Bowl in Clearwater, Canada. Middle: Shojin ryori (Buddhist monk’s diet) in Koya, Japan. Right: Soup and Guinness bread in Ballina, Ireland.

Ecotourism and Animal-friendly Tourism. Making a difference by reducing my carbon footprint is important to me. For example, I usually travel by bus, train, bicycle, or on foot, if possible.

Also, I enjoy exploring natural habitats and learning how to protect species in need, and to help keeping an area accessible to future generations. Another critical aspect when I travel is to buy authentic souvenirs from local businesses, which I’m hopeful gives the owner(s) an opportunity for a better life.

Also, animal welfare has been a crucial part of my life for 20+ years. So obviously, when on a trip, I like to participate in animal-friendly, non-exploitative activities, such as whale watching or visiting a local animal rescue organization.

Meeting new furry friends on the road is always lots of fun <3

I’ve been lucky to have met some Canadian wildlife in their natural environment throughout the years as well.

From the top left: Mountain sheep and moose in Jasper National Park, AB, and beaver and bison in Elk Island National Park, AB. Canada geese on Toronto Islands, ON, July 2012.

Soft Adventure Tourism. While travelling, I like to explore the area and get back to nature at the same time, so I go hiking, stand-up paddle boarding on a lake or ocean, sea kayaking, or ziplining.

Also, I’ve enjoyed tent camping and cycling in the summer since I was a child, and ice-skating, skiing, and snow shoeing in the winter. These activities are great, because they’re not physically exhausting, don’t need a lot of preparation, and are quite low-cost.

Plus, they sometimes force you to get out of your comfort zone, which I think makes them even more exciting!

Left: On a bike tour in Dublin, Ireland. Right: Kayaking in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick.

Domestic Tourism. Last but not least, I’ll keep you posted about trips I’ve been taking within Canada, which has been my home since 2012. I think it’s not always necessary to travel abroad to have an awesome time, and it supports the local economy as well.

So far, I’ve traveled to places in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Yukon, and New Brunswick, and can’t wait to explore more of this gorgeous and versatile country!

Peyto Lake Upper View Point, Banff National Park, Alberta.

June 29, 2020 0