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BEARS !

This last Bank Holiday weekend…

Director, Dr. Steve Banner travelled to Finland, Europe’s best wildlife destination, in search of predators. On the list were bears, wolves and wolverine. Together with lynx and elk these make up the Big 5 of Europe.

“Taking the daily flight to Helsinki on Finnair I connected to Kajaani in the northeast. Here in the region of Kuhmo are large tracts of protected forest close to the Russian border where wildlife is abundant.

You, our clients, have travelled to the world’s deserts, rainforests, savannah plains of Africa and even Antarctica but the Taiga forests of the north are most often overlooked. Finland is the best and most accessible place to see the wildlife of this circumpolar region and it is only a short flight away. Ideal for a 4 or 5 day break or combine with some walking and canoeing for a week of tranquility.

How about going to see the bears in Finland?

Let me convince you…

Believe me, bear watching is the most exciting nature experience in Europe!

On Saturday night I saw 18 different bears – large 300kg males, sub-adults and females with playful young cubs. They came as close as 20 feet (7m) away and were visible for several hundred metres through the forest.

I spent the night in a comfortable hide in the forest – the hides for 6 – 8 persons have beds, toilet, very comfortable chairs and very close viewing of the bears. Tea, coffee and snacks are also provided. For nature photographers there are also special hides but all the bear images on the left were taken from a tourist hide.

We arrived at the hide at 5.30pm, by 6 we had two bears and for the rest of the night it continued. Talking of night, it does not get dark at this time of the year; you could read a book in the hide all night long except that there was so much action outside that you would not want to! The most bears at any one time was 9 and they were everywhere you looked – even with cubs running up the trees! At 6.30 in the morning 3 large males were still running around and eventually we had to make some noise so that they would go off to rest in the forest, allowing us back to a comfortable lodge. A good breakfast and nice sauna later and we were refreshed and buzzing with the excitement of what we had just seen.

Earlier in the weekend I had been unlucky not to see wolves at a different site – they had been the night before together with that elusive scavenger, the wolverine.

The Finns know about hospitality, the first night at a fine hotel we had a 3-course meal of wild mushrooms and reindeer (very tasty!), wild lake perch and the wonderful Arctic cloudberries for desert. At midnight I was outside drinking coffee and chatting around a campfire on the sandy beach beside an idyllic lake.

Oh, and the weather, warm (18°C), sunny and lovely to sit out in during the day. I returned home to Manchester with low cloud, rain and 10°C. Finnish summers are long, dry and warm and bear watching continues until the end of August.”

We will now be re-designing a number of programmes for nature in Finland. The 3 nights / 4 days break we currently sell is from £795 including flights, accommodation, nature walk and 2 nights bear watching.

If you are interested in further information please call and talk to me direct, I will enthuse and inspire you!

All photos taken last weekend © Dr. Steve Banner FRGS

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