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some movement in the tree tops. Not sure what it was,I took a side step to catch a better view, only
to realize an adult bear was climbing down the oak. I froze, not knowing what to do. Luckily,
though, we were at a safe distance and the bear was in no mood to confront us. From thereon, as we
progressed, myfirst instinct was to look up the tree whenever we stopped to ensure I was not
standing in the way of a 100 kg beast darting down after a scrumptious feast. "It's the time of feast
for the bears, a feast of acorns. Theyare fattening up for the winter," explained Nazir.
What till now looked like a sleepy grove had suddenly come alive. I realizedthat there were a lot of
bears up in the trees. We stood there quietly and in the next ten minutes we spotted at least three
more. I could not get a clear shot though, so we moved ahead to see if we could catch one in good
light. We walked to another clearing and waited again forest a bear to make an appearance. We
didn't have to wait long -it was as if the forest was filled with bears. A young male emerged from
behind the bushes. And soon anotherbythis time I had lost count.
When the light began to fade Nazir told me that we should call it a day. We traced back the same
trail we had taken, hopped into our plush ride and rolled out towards the forest gate. After a lively
discussion we agreed the day's bear tally was one shy of a dozen. It was a truly incredible and
humbling experience.
But, mind you, even though we managed to get out unscathed and even though Nazir goes in to
check on these beasts every otherday, this should not be your motivation to venture in. Trying to
look for bears on foot can be quiet intimidating and isn't quite everyone's cup of tea. As for me, I'll
be going in for therapy soon, to fix that surge of madness that accompanies the prospect of
watching wild creatures on foot.