In the beginning of August, I went to Koster with my dad to spend a couple of windy days on those ragged isles.
Koster is a group of islands off the west coast of Sweden, right on the border to Norway. My great grandfather’s family comes from Strömstad, the closest town on the mainland to Koster, and that side of my family have been spending their summers on the islands for generations. And so did I, a couple of weeks almost every summer between ages 10 and 19. Since then, I’ve only been there a couple of times, but still I feel a connection to this harsh, rocky coast, a feeling of kinship with the landscape that few other places can evoke in me.
Big parts of the islands are protected for their unique environments, and in 2009 the waters around the islands were turned into the first marine national park in Sweden. In the fjord that separates the islands from the mainland, and Sweden from Norway, you can even find the only Swedish coral reef! It is an incredible boundary ecosystem, on the edge between land and sea, creating a multitude of habitats for a big variety of species. Around every bend on the trails that cover the terrestrial nature reserves, there is something new to see, a new view to admire.
In this austere, windy environment, the trees grow in strange ways. Rowans, pines, juniper, birches. Especially the birches, growing sideways instead of straight. The life-force in these trees, to grow so big despite the harsh conditions of wind and poor soils and rainy, cold weather, it is inspiring.
On the last two days, a storm came. Winds of up to 27 meters per second, waves as big as buildings, the air misty from all the spray. But also, the sun was shining. Our last afternoon, walking on the high, round cliffs, with the sea roaring beneath, the wind tearing at my clothes and hair, making movements feel like flying. The enormity of it all. An incredible experience.
Austere, wild, beautiful. One of my favorite places on Earth.
Katja Malmborg 