travelandleisureindia.inSHUTTERSTOCK
Brad fl ew over Alaska for the fi rst
time with his father when he was 16 and
saw a fi eld fi lled with 50 bears. He asked
the pilot if they could land and the pilot
said, “Are you crazy? They’d tear the plane
apart.” (Brad has to dispel this Alaska
myth even today.) A quarter-century later,
Brad takes intrepid travellers to meet
bears up close, so they can see that the
creatures are among the most fascinating
on the planet.
He pointed out a well-scarred fellow
and told us that bears have remarkable
healing capabilities. “A man cut that way
would die of an infection.”
He paused. “I know all the healing
herbs and plants, so I’d survive.”WE SPENT OUR DAYS in quiet contemplation,
watching bears nurse their cubs, sunbathe,
and swim in the creeks. Maybe it was Brad
and Teresa’s confi dence , but I never felt a
moment of fear. We saw other mammals as
well. One day, we heard a distant smacking
noise that disrupted our reverie. Eventually,
we turned around and there was a whale
slapping its tail on the surface of the bay.
Weirdness always lurked. It could be
comical, like the female bear that tried to
rouse her male partner for some sexy time.TRIP PLANNER
Natural Habitat
Adventures offers
the eight-day Great
Alaskan Grizzly
Encounter from June
through September.
The tour costs
`6,09,300 plus an
additional `40,760 for
the fl oatplane ride.
Medical evacuation
insurance is required.
nathab.comOr it could be deadly.Bradtoldusabout
another trip to this spot,whenthegrouphad
watched a mama bearfightoffapotentially
murderous male, onlyforanothermaleto
slip in behind her anddevouroneofher
cubs. “No one said anythingfortherestof
the day,” said Brad matter-of-factly.
Another evening—inearlysummer,
the sun doesn’t set inKatmaiuntilaround
11 pm —it seemed likewemightsee
another heartbreakingexampleofdeathby
natural selection. A mamaandhertwocubs
were napping by a creekbed,occasionally
getting up to sip water.Anoldermale,
with a fl ap of torn skindanglingfromhis
jaw, lingered 50 metresaway,seemingly
content to eat grass.Buthekeptmoving
closer to the cubs, likeapickpocketona
crowded Manhattanstreetzeroingin
slowly on a rich man’swallet.Thenhe
moved towards the mama,whoturnedand
roared at him, delayinghischargejustlong
enough to give her cubstimetovanishinto
the grass. The old carnivoregaveup,out
of breath. A few minuteslater,wecould
hear the mama mewlforhercubs.Thekids
mewled back in a gameoftag.They
reunited back at thecreek.
They disappearedintothesunsetand
we all breathed again.A humpback whale
breaches off the coast
of Kodiak Island.