The Great Bear Experience
An Unforgettable Encounter
Being close to wild bears is incredible. A exhilarating and unforgettable experience.
In all of the beauty of nature there is nothing quite like this.
Beyond Impressive
Everything about the great Bears is impressive, and it is astonishing to feel them roaming wild beside you.
No great king of the wilderness is perhaps quite so humble, despite being so powerful.
Gentle Predators
Bears have a reputation for being extremely dangerous, though they rarely harm humans. Having been within a couple metres of completely wild and free bears (always letting them be the ones that come closer) I can say categorically that most of these animals are very intelligent and gentle.
Whether we are in the Canadian Rockies or the Idyllic Romanian Wilderness; Staying at the Lodge or Bear watching from our hides in the forest, Great Bear encounters are always unforgettable.
The Plan
A Guided Wildlife Photography Expedition
(Includes Ecology & Photography Workshops)
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Private Transportation Across Multiple Sites
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All meals and accommodation included
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In Field Wildlife Photography Workshop
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Explore Natural Ecosystem safely with expert guides (home to Bears, Wolves, Eagles, Deer and many other incredible species).
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Learn about the Boreal Forest Ecosystem
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Support essential conservation
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Protect nature and habitat
- Experience unforgettable beauty
- Receive a custom fine art photography piece
Probably The Best Wild Bear Viewing Experience on Earth
Bears are highly intelligent and social animals.
April to October is Peak Bear Season
Ecology & Wildlife Workshops
There are many incredible things you only learn by being around and studying animals,
which we share through our ecology & wildlife workshops.
Bear safety is one of these many things.
To be safe around Bears means respecting them fully and understanding their power. By learning about their world and behaviour we discover an unspoken language of nature.
Understanding bears brings you a much deeper experience with these animals and an ability to anticipate or respond to their behaviour.
This is a game-changing asset for any Wildlife Photography -
improving your future work with all animals.
Close Up Experience
When looking for Bears it is incredibly important to bring a guide for your safety.
Bears are usually gentle toward us but they can and do (rarely) kill humans.
I have seen Brown Bears run almost a mile faster than any human.
Shocking as it may be they can also climb trees - very well.
There is no way to outrun them. None at all.
That is why, for the safest up-close experiences, we use custom-built hides.
Our custom-built photography hides are placed deep in the forests of Europe, close to where many Bears rear their young. These hides mask our scent and provide overnight accommodation giving the best opportunity to see these beings in all light.
Once in a Lifetime
No two journeys are ever the same. Every trip is somehow unique.
You can return again and again to these forests yet find unbelievable experiences every time - some of which may only come once in a lifetime (despite spending your life with animals)!
Booking a guided expedition brings you the best possible experience in a multitude of ways, bringing years of study, experience, and local knowledge to your adventure.
We carefully prepare every element of our trips individually allowing special requirements and personal challenges to be taken care of relatively easily. We offer both luxury lodges and light hiking experiences to very physically demanding expeditions with wild camping.
With years of experience working with people having both physical and learning difficulties, we have also designed a special experience to suit these needs (ask for details).
Autumn in the Boreal Forest is Amazing
Encounter Mother Bears and Cubs
Mother & Cubs
At the right time of year we offer safe close-up encounters with Mother Bears and their cubs - from the protection of our deep forest hides. This is the most respectful way to be close to them, as Mother bears are ferociously protective of their babies.
Most bear attacks come from Mothers protecting their cubs.
Alaskan Brown Bears
We have only two trips remaining for our Alaskan Expedition in 2022 and 3 for 2023 - these bring you directly across from Brown Bears as they fish the Salmon upstream in Katmai or within the meadows, rivers, beaches, and forests of Lake Clark.
European Brown Bears
The age-old richness of Europe and its cultural history is improved upon only by its natural treasures.
While expeditions elsewhere have more well known Bear populations it is the European forest which we find offers the most intimate Bear watching and some of the best, most unique, opportunities for Wildlife photographers.
Among Earth's best kept secrets
The European Brown Bear
Eurasian Brown Bears are actually part of the same species as the American Grizzly and Kodiak Bears, which are all subspecies of the Brown Bear. This means that they can all mate together but are geographically separated. It is this separation which leads to the variation among these "sub species".
The largest Brown Bear on record was almost twice the mass of the largest Grizzly, meaning a Brown bear can actually be much larger than a Grizzly Bear - but they usually aren't.
To discover Brown Bears in Europe you need to know where you're going. The best places to find them are the European Boreal Forests. We offer guests the chance to explore some of the most rarely visited sections of pristine ecological treasures on Earth, in areas where bears are highly protected.
Intimate
Encounters
By providing our guests with custom hides in the forest all our European Expeditions offer a unique opportunity for incredible intimacy.
This is the best way to get close to them safely.
While our other expeditions focus on viewing the great bears from the open, seeing how Brown Bears behave when in the depths of the forest is an incredibly intimate experience.
Our custom-built hides include a bed and as the bears are regularly active at night, our guides will keep a lookout if you should choose to take a nap (but we bet you won't!)
Europes Boreal Forests
Nature's Hidden Treasure
While North America is known for its incredibly expansive Bear habitat across wide open plains, Europe surprisingly offers more dense Bear populations - usually beside stunning forests, lakes, and Mountains.
There were once hundreds of thousands of Bears living all across a thoroughly forested Europe, but deforestation drove them out of their natural habitat and much of that ecosystem collapsed. Now, these bears are found in just a few protected forests, which ironically has ended up creating among the densest bear populations on Earth - yet relatively few people know this (shhhh! - its better this way).
Within these forests are a variety of great mammals besides the Great Brown and smaller Black Bears. There are also the stunning and incredibly powerful Eurasian Lynx, many beautiful Wolves, the European Bison, and Europe's largest mammal of all, the colossal Moose.
Experience Freedom
Our guided workshops take you through all aspects of wildlife and fine art photography, from knowing and even purchasing your equipment to post-production editing, printing, and exhibiting.
Having experienced teachers and photography experts beside you in the field is an invaluable resource for getting the most out of every moment. As solo trips to the field are often highly involved and very expensive, our guidance frees you from the complexity of preparation to make the most of your experience.
There is an abundance of knowledge on offer at all levels, serving from absolute beginner to seasoned professional - we are able to provide profound and deep knowledge for your artistic method.
Amazing Opportunity
While our Alaskan trips are now booked until 2023, there are still some spaces remaining on our Bear trips across Europe. These are less well-known locations for bear watching than Alaska and therefore far less touristic or crowded.
We have several locations with different hides designed to give the best opportunity for photography depending on what exactly you are looking for.
For example large Male Bear territories, areas with more Eagles and wolves, a great sunrise and sunset, or even mother bear with her cubs.
We can accommodate many different shooting and artistic styles and arrange the hide choice to fit your ambitions by using our local knowledge.
Using hides deep in the Forest makes these experiences much more intimate and personal.
This is an amazing opportunity to capture rare and unique photographs of cubs safely (mother bears do not like finding humans in forests - hence the hides).
Booking and Cancellations
As it becomes ever more difficult to find your way across this planet there is always a need to be adaptable to change. For this reason, we are offering refunds to anyone who cannot make the journey for a scheduled expedition - for whatever reason, so long as they cancel at least 3 weeks beforehand (this gives us time to reschedule our adventure and accommodate other guests on the waiting list).
There are very few places remaining on our upcoming expeditions and if you are thinking of joining us then I urge you to contact the team soon.
May your life be an adventure,
and Earth always inspire you.
