Russia was difficult to negotiate because we were
functionally illiterate. (We could not read cyrillic and so had no way of
getting information from public signs). It was amazing that, in spite of the language
barrier, we managed. There always seemed
to be people patient enough and kind enough to help us negotiate every
difficulty.
The Lost World tour on Kamchatka is “high-end” a wilderness
adventure— promising bear sightings, volcano viewing, and long hikes requiring
hip waders. We flew by helicopter to a
lodge on the shores of Lake Kurilskoye, where we stayed for three days. There were no roads; the location is only
accessible by helicopter. I saw no other
group of people in the area besides our group.
The helicopter ride was a two-hour ride featuring green mountains and
bare, snow dotted volcanoes. (Kamchatska has 300 volcanoes, 29 of which are
active.) The helicopter touched down on
the caldera of one of the volcanoes—which contained two large ponds; its sides
were covered with red and black volcano rocks and dotted with snow. It was quite a sight—but not easy to enjoy
for long because of the cold whipping winds.
The lake lodge is an A-frame wood structure, with a kitchen,
dining room, three bedrooms with bunk beds, and two bathrooms—only one of which
is a shower. Electricity was available
only from 7-11 p.m. (One has to shower at this time, unless one was happy with
a very cold shower.) There were seven
other people in our group, besides the five of us. Shortly after we arrived, we took a hike to
the “observation tower” overlooking a beach frequented by bears. At the lake we were not allowed to wander
around on our own. On all hikes we were accompanied by Constantin (a ranger
with a gun). At the “bear” beach we saw
a mother, two cubs, and one other bear.
All were either relaxing or focused on catching their dinner
(salmon).
The next day we took a most challenging ten km. hike along
one of the rivers that fed into the lake.
We donned our waders for this. It
was an exhilarating hike—through (for me) tricky terrain. Constantin led our pack, and another ranger
with a gun guarded the rear. We saw lots
of bears – some rather close. (Two were lolling on a tree right on our path—we
had to stop until they vacated.) We ate
our lunch by a shallow river, full of jumping salmon—many were full of
eggs. I guess the trick for the salmon
is to make it to the lake to spawn without being trapped in the shallows or
eaten by bears. The bears had so much
salmon to eat, they did not care about waste—there were a lot of half eaten
fish strewn about. I was very proud of myself for coming out of this hike in
one piece—and for being able, in general, to keep up with the group. (I was worried I would slip and fall, or that
I would jam a knee and injure it—but I did not.)
 |
| I asked our guide why salmon spawn in streams that are so shallow they're vulnerable to predation. The first answer is that they're imprinted so they have no choice, but that wasn't really what I was asking. We were seeing predation with Darwinian consequences. Apparently there's an awful tradeoff -- if you (the female salmon) want your eggs fertilized, you maximize that likelihood in a shallow stream. Okay, go ahead. Take it as a metaphor. |
The following day we took a boat ride around the lake. The
lake and the cliffs that surround it, and the islands that were home to
seagulls, were quite impressive, but the cold wind made the boat ride very challenging.
(The kids stayed mostly huddled in their windbreakers.) After the boat ride, we took another hike,
this time to an open field where we could sit down, or, in the case of Grace, roll
around on the vegetation. Amazing we
could do this without being bitten by ticks, chiggers or mosquitoes (My
greatest anxiety about going to Siberia and the Russian Far East are the
ferocious mosquitoes I was told would attack me. I came prepared with various types of
repellent—but really, I saw no mosquitoes to speak of.) Bears came out to check on us. One young one was so curious he/she came
maybe less than ten meters from where we were sitting—at which point
Constantin, the ranger, stood up to put himself between us and the bears. The bears were so cute and friendly—not
threatening at all, but the rangers were very diligent about safety—ours and
the bears.
The last morning on the lake was devoted to more bear-watching. In the afternoon we were picked up by the
helicopter and then taken to our hotel for the night. In the morning, we were picked up from the
hotel by Andre (Lost World manager) and taken to another volcano, which we were
able to hike as far as we could go. I
did not go very far. Angus and the kids
hiked far enough to reach one of the snow fields. After lunch, we were taken (on a bumpy ride
in the monster truck) to the airport to catch our plane to Vladivostok. Good-bye Kamchatka—good-bye bears.
Angus asked me if the trip gave me a different idea of Carrie, Liam and Grace—and if my relationship to them had changed. At the time I answered negatively to both questions. But thinking further, I think it is not so much that anything changed, but that I have become more impressed with the MacDonald kids. Yes—it is true, they bicker a lot, but when they are happy, they are absolutely delightful And man—these kids have true grit. A lasting image is of the three of them carrying back packs that weigh at least half (most likely more) of their body weight—and carrying these sometimes for a block or more. And another lasting impression is of Angus—and how well he parented during the trip. Again, thanks for letting me come along.
Patsy, it was great to have you along. You did great with all our challenges! Thanks for sharing your experiences on the blog.
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