The main value of Kamchatka is the wild nature!

Kuril Lake is the paradise for naturalists and photographers! Here each year are working team of documentary crews and photographers who shoot films about wildlife.

If you are ready to combine animal photography with recreational activities, this adventure is for you! You will view bears and massive salmon run, have a boat trip and trekking, visit famous “Kutkh’s Boats”- pumice deposits – and explore numerous secluded spots of the South Kamchatka Sanctuary territory.

Accommodation in a special tent camp that is enclosed by electric fence is safe and rather comfortable: there is an office building, a bathhouse, toilets,a kitchen dining room.

Bears and salmon

3 days / 2 nights *

Dates: 05.09-07.09; 07.09-09.09; 09.09 – 11.09

Kind of rest: photo tour and wildlife observation.

Amount of people: no more than 10 people in a group.

Accommodation: double tents.

Nutrition: according to the tour programme.

Children:

Not recommended for children under the age of 6.
Children under 10 years qualify for the child rate – 20%.
The amount of places with reduced-price is not more than 30%.

Please note: prices are per person.

*The duration of the tour may increase because of weather conditions. Every additional day on the reserve territory is paid obligatory in the sum 7135 rubles for one person.

Itinerary

Day 1. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky heliport – Kuril Lake

Amount of people: no more than 10.
Transportation: vehicle, helicopter.
Accommodation: double tents.
Nutrition: lunch, dinner.

So today we will journey for a few unforgettable days to Lake Kuril. It is justly considered to be the kingdom of bears and salmon. The local population is the largest of all protected brown bear populations in Russia with the highest population density in the world.

Lake Kuril – great sockeye salmon observation site! The lake basin is the most important sockeye spawning ground. Over 5 million sockeye come here, where spawning lasts through spring. Best salmon viewing times are late July through August with peak times of the salmon run in mid-August. Sockeye salmon change color over the course of their spawning migrations, from black-speckled, blue-backed and white-bellied, left, to orange-red, right. Fish stay close together in groups and such fish spawning aggregations seem to be monolithic red sports. Big bears of the Lake Kuril are special: they are relexed, at aese, and protected. They are not affraid of people at all even don′t try to be somewhere off the beaten path, because they are under the protection of the South Kamchatka Sanctuary and feel secure.

Upon your arrival, a giude provide a tour of the cordon and a thorough orientation on travelling in brown bear country prior to any outings. This day includes a guided viewring of the bears from the special observation post – a fish-counting weir or fish fence. All this will be topped off with a lunch and dinner, where guides regale you with tales of life and adventures in Kamchatka.

Day 2: Nature trekking, brown bears and priceless photography!

Amount of people: no more than 10.
Transportation: boat, helicopter, minibus.
Accommodation: double tents.
Nutrition: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In the coming days, your breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m. and the first walking tour will generally depart at 9:00 a.m. We go on a boat to the opposite shore of the lake and make a walking tour of the monument of nature “Kutkh’s Boats” deep in the heart of brow bear territory. Kutkh’s Boats (Bats) – pumice rocks -are a natural monument of unusual beauty and size, they have a height of 110 metres. According to legend, the cliffs are Kutkh’s boats that he once set to dry and then forgot ashore. The raven Kutkh was the main god of the indigenous people of Kamchatka Itelmen, and «bat» means a long boat. Literally translated, this site’s name is «Boats of the god Kutkh». Indeed, the pumice looks very much like boats that are ready to return to water at the first signal from their master.

Back to the camp, so you can rest of for your second day with the bears.

Day 3. Lake Kuril – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Amount of people: no more than 10.
Transportation: boat, helicopter, minibus.
Nutrition: breakfast, lunch.

“Seated in a hide on a quiet morning on the lake shore watching the sun rise over the Ilinsky Volcano, sometimes the timeless landscapes appear to be unchanging, as if this is the way it always was and will be. But the cry of the seagull, a water splash or an dissatisfied bear’s roaring remind us that the main value of this place is the life full of emotions of animals living here” Shpilenok I, a famouse photograher and naturalist.

Today, we will go to the mouth of the river Hakytsin, where you will have the rare opportunity to see what is hidden from the prying eyes of the majority of visitors by the screen of a dense forest, a place where bears feel safe, i.e. hosts’ house. You will find yourself among fishing, sleeping, playing, resting bears.

The walks are comfortably paced, as they are geared towards plenty of viewing and photo opportunities. These walks are guided by professional and knowledgeable tour leaders and you may do a lot of learning along the way! Obviously we cannot allow the bears to approach too closely, but rangers are experts in keeping bears at a safe distance without sacrificing exciting viewing.

After a trip you will pack your bags in preparation for your flight home.

Important information

It is up to us to choose the trip according to weather conditions, physical conditions of the group participants and other factors, or to change some details of the route. The decision belongs to the guide during the trip.

Our company is proud of nutrition organization on route; we exclude sublimates and half-finished products. Our cooks cook like at home.

If you suffer from allergy or restricted in some products- please, inform us in advance.

Going to Kamchatka do not forget that the weather here is very changeable and unpredictable. The next important moment is that there is no warm rain ever. So, we advise you to have clothes for all occasions.

The things which are necessary and obligatory on route: