Wanderlust - 04.2020

FINLAND

wanderlust.co.uk April 2020 111

RelatedtotheNorthAmerican

grizzly,theycangrowto400kgand

stretchinlengthover2m.Theone

Iwaswatchingedgedclosertothe

waterdirectlyoppositeme.He

seemedunconcernedbytheconstant

clickofcamerasand,innoparticular

hurry,waddledbackintothetrees.

Ifeltmyselfexhaleinwhatseemed

likethefirsttimeinminutes.My

handswereshakingandanysenseof

coldI’dfelthaddisappeared.And

thatwasonlythebeginning.

Minuteslateranotherstrolled

by,thistimealongthewater

castingnearperfectreflections

onitssurface.Thegoldenlightof

duskilluminatedhisfur,causing

hiseyestosparkle–Ifeltentranced

byhispresence.

Asthelightbegantofade,another

smallerbearemerged,butshewasn’t

alone.Shewasfollowedbyfirstone,

thenanotherandthenathird

smallerbearbehindher–itwas

amotherandherthreecubs.

“Ohmygod,ohmygod,”Ifound

myselfsayingoutloudasthough

Iwasstuckonrepeat,before

rememberingtheinstructions

nottotalk.Ifeltgiddywith

excitement.Thelightwasfading

fastnow,butIrefusedtoleavemy

hide 13 hadrewardedthestill-aching

occupantfromthenightbefore

withsightingsoftheelusive

wolverine,whereaselsewheretwo

coupleshaddecidedtobunkup

togetherinhide 1 sothattheyhad

theadvantageofwindowsonall

pointsofthecompass.

Iarrivedviaawoodenboardwalk

tomycamouflagedaccommodation,

pleasedtoescapethehidepolitics

andgetmyownspace.

“Remember–don’tmaketoo

muchnoiseortalk,”remindedAri.

“Seeyouat7am.”

BeforeIcouldaskwhoonearth

Iwouldtalkto,he’dmovedontothe

nexthut.Iclosedthedoorfirmly

behindme.Itwasthelastconversation

I’dhaveforthenext 15 hours.

Thefirsthourpassedslowly,while

Ibusiedmyselfadjustingand

readjustingmycamera,puttingon

layers,andbattlingwiththe

unwanteddesiretohavemyfirstwee.

JustwhenIwasstartingtoworry

I’dseenothing,Ispottedit.Not

acreature,butacameralens

suddenlyprotrudingfromhide

number1.Ifollowedthedirection

itwaspointingandimmediately

sawmyfirstbear–abrowngiant

staringstraightatme.

Into the woods

(clockwise from left) A night in

a basic bear hide rewards with

sightings of a mother bear

and her cubs; the new luxury

bear hide oers more comfort

amid the woodland; the views

from the bed of the Bird

House Hotel; a great tit bathes

in sunlight; a red squirrel

comes out to feed

Russia (where poaching to supply
the Asian medicine market is rife),
many locals in the Finnish lake
district have worked hard to show
that bears are worth more alive.
One way they’ve approached this is
by building hides to allow wildlife
lovers to immerse themselves into
their world overnight.
“We’ll take you out at 4pm sharp,
after early dinner at 3pm,” said owner
Ari, when I arrived for the mandatory
safety briefing with a group of other
newcomers. “You’ll be assigned
a hide for the night and be given
a packed supper to eat. A sleeping bag
and pillow is in there and there’s
a ‘toilet’ inside for you to use.”
He showed a picture on the screen
of a bin covered with a toilet seat to
illustrate the facilities; one of the
guests sniggered nervously.

A beary wild night
My hide was number 4, positioned
with lookouts facing a large lake that
was flanked by rocks and trees. As we
walked there, those who’d already
spent several nights in the various
hides discussed the merits of each
one, with one lady desperate for the
uncomfortable and tiny number 13.
Affectionately called ‘the cošn,’ ⊲