KAMCHATKA - BEAR COUNTRY ADVENTURE

Arrive in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and transfer directly to your hotel. The day is for acclimating to the weather and a visit to the market to purchase essential gear (head-torches, gumboots). The evening concludes with a welcome dinner where you'll discuss the tour prospects with the Skipper.

We take a boat from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky out of the Avacha Bay into the Pacific Ocean to see and photograph seals, Pacific gulls and, rather excitingly, killer whales.

These giant marine-emperors are rewarding photographic subjects, as they challenge your reflexes with their spectacular acrobatics above the water surface, ‘porpoising’, ‘breaching’ or ‘skyhopping’ in some sort of aquatic dance performance, holding you in a relentless grip of total enthrallment.

Equal to the allure of the orcas are the lower rungs of the food chain, the Steller’s sea lions, Northern fur seals, harbour seals and spotted seals, which often strut out in the open presenting themselves as sitting targets from atop the rocks.

Breaking away from the ship in small zodiac boats to feel the sea from closer quarters, we can get close enough to resting seals to get wide-angle perspectives and other creative opportunities.

This day involves spectacular travel and marks the beginning of your search for the Kamchatka brown bears at Kurilskoye Lake.

In the morning, weather permitting, take a helicopter flight to Ksudach Volcano. The visit includes a walk into the Schtubelya crater lake, a beautiful waterfall, and a "hot beach" of hot springs. If weather prevents this visit, a second attempt will be made later.

You will also explore the area around Mutnovsky Volcano, flying in and climbing a foot-trail past steam springs and snow-fields to explore the glacial till near the active crater and its fumaroles. Please note: all helicopter excursions are heavily dependent on weather; the itinerary may change with no refunds for weather disruptions.

In the afternoon, you will fly to Kurilskoye Lake and check into the cozy lodge at Grassy Point, which offers magnificent views. After relaxing and potentially spotting bears fishing from the lodge, you'll receive your in-camp instructions on the pumice rock beach.

The next two days center around the magnificent Kamchatka brown bears at Kurilskoye Lake. With local wardens, you'll visit salmon-spawning areas, including a nearby bear-viewing platform at the river mouths. This offers excellent chances for close-up photography of the bears fishing for migrating salmon. Longer walking excursions will be undertaken to see bears feeding on wild berries in meadows and fishing along other streams.

On Day 7, you'll take a walk to the bear platform before a helicopter flight to the Khodutka River for a blissful dip in Kamchatka's largest natural hot spring.

After the hot springs, the helicopter will attempt to fly to the Ksudach and Mutnovsky Volcano plateaus/calderas if weather previously prevented the visit.

At the end of Day 7, you will return to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for the overnight stay.

After breakfast, participants will check out and be transferred to the airport for their departure flight to Moscow and thence home.