On this trip, we were in the bears’ territory, following them on their terms, and it was all the more exciting for that. “This is such a sensory experience,” said Richard, a social worker from Newport, as we walked through the forest. “The feel of the rain on your skin, the birdsong, the anticipation that at any time we might come across a bear.” He was right; there was something almost primeval about creeping silently through these ancient forests and meadows.
CONSERVATION TRAIL
The holiday soon settled into a gentle rhythm. We got up early in the mornings to drive past the steep, avalanche-prone slopes that are good places to see bears grazing in early summer (although they are most visible in September when they are gorging on berries before hibernation). We spotted a golden eagle, and red and roe deer. After breakfast, we took packed lunches and walked through buttercups, bellflowers, yellow mountain saxifrage, orchids and forget-me-nots, stopping now and again to scan the limestone cliffs and mountainsides for wildlife. In the forest, David pointed out a nesting hole made by a three-toed woodpecker, bear footprints in the mud, and trees where bears had scratched and bitten the bark to mark their territories.
Halfway through the week, just as limbs were beginning to tire, we drove to Spisska Sobota for a comfortable bed, a hearty meal and a visit to AquaCity, an award-winning eco-spa complex in nearby Poprad.
On our final walk, Project Bear co-director Peter Lapsansky told us: “We want to educate people about this fantastic wildlife resource on their doorsteps. We still face a powerful hunting lobby in Slovakia, so one of our main aims is to try to change the public’s attitude to conservation.”
As we reflected on our trip over a drink in Krakow’s market square, we agreed that although it was disappointing not to get closer to the bears, the excitement of tracking them in the wild and the unpredictably of each walk really had made up for it.
Bear tracking in the Tatras can be booked through The Adventure Company at adventurecompany.co.uk.
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