Started from Curtea de Arges to Brasov, our base for the next two days - situated at the base of the mighty Carpathians surrounded by amazing forests. These were the days we had planned to go into the forest to look for European brown bears.
Instead of taking 7C again to Pitesti and circling back, we decided to drive a slower and less famous 73 C to Bran. Got quite a lot of traffic.
On the way to Brasov was the famous Bran Castle. Bram Stoker had chosen it as the place for his Dracula to live and let loose his reign of terror. Its said Vlad was also imprisoned here. It was full of tourists and lacked the particular feel that one would expect given the gory associations it has. I'm pretty sure Bram Stoker single handedly contributes quite a lot to the tourism income of Romania.
Once inside the castle, the only people who would get uncomfortable would be people who are claustrophobic - winding narrow pathways and secret stairways shows how it could be quite disquieting on a lonely night as thunder and lighting shower upon the Carpathians surrounding the Bran. But for the day, it was just an unpleasant tour jostled by tens of tourists out to find out more about the blood drinking Count. There were even shops selling Dracula mask, artificial blood, T-shirts making it more like a jamboree - I had dreams of walking the castle alone, with a swelling darkness encircling me and giving the heebiie-jeebies and here we were in the midst of a charade !
We were getting a bit delayed since I was to go with my forest guide at 5 pm into the Carpathians. Leaving Bran at 315 we felt we could easily make the appointment from both GPS coords and google maps - however, multiple delays on the road due to construction work made it a touch and go.
Anyways, after dropping wife and son at Bella Muzica (an amazing little hotel - our only luxury on the trip - right in the centre of Brasov next to Main Square), I went off to find my guide. At 530 we met up and drove in her Pajero into the forests crossing a small stream. We parked at a pre decided place, met up with 7 others and the group started a short, easy trek into the hide.
We were there by 6 and waited as more and more bears came into view - including a mom with 3 cubs and another one with 2 cubs. The moms were wary of the big males around and would come out in clearing and then run back into the thickets at the slightest reason. Soon two red foxes also joined the party off and on - thieving bites of food from the larger predators.
Overall it was a very productive evening where in we saw around 6-7 males, 3 females and 5 cubs across two mothers. Though photography was terrible given the extremely low light conditions due to overcast sky and dense pine forests, it was fun watching so many large predators moving about their daily life in a natural habitat.
Instead of taking 7C again to Pitesti and circling back, we decided to drive a slower and less famous 73 C to Bran. Got quite a lot of traffic.
On the way to Brasov was the famous Bran Castle. Bram Stoker had chosen it as the place for his Dracula to live and let loose his reign of terror. Its said Vlad was also imprisoned here. It was full of tourists and lacked the particular feel that one would expect given the gory associations it has. I'm pretty sure Bram Stoker single handedly contributes quite a lot to the tourism income of Romania.
Once inside the castle, the only people who would get uncomfortable would be people who are claustrophobic - winding narrow pathways and secret stairways shows how it could be quite disquieting on a lonely night as thunder and lighting shower upon the Carpathians surrounding the Bran. But for the day, it was just an unpleasant tour jostled by tens of tourists out to find out more about the blood drinking Count. There were even shops selling Dracula mask, artificial blood, T-shirts making it more like a jamboree - I had dreams of walking the castle alone, with a swelling darkness encircling me and giving the heebiie-jeebies and here we were in the midst of a charade !
We were getting a bit delayed since I was to go with my forest guide at 5 pm into the Carpathians. Leaving Bran at 315 we felt we could easily make the appointment from both GPS coords and google maps - however, multiple delays on the road due to construction work made it a touch and go.
Anyways, after dropping wife and son at Bella Muzica (an amazing little hotel - our only luxury on the trip - right in the centre of Brasov next to Main Square), I went off to find my guide. At 530 we met up and drove in her Pajero into the forests crossing a small stream. We parked at a pre decided place, met up with 7 others and the group started a short, easy trek into the hide.
We were there by 6 and waited as more and more bears came into view - including a mom with 3 cubs and another one with 2 cubs. The moms were wary of the big males around and would come out in clearing and then run back into the thickets at the slightest reason. Soon two red foxes also joined the party off and on - thieving bites of food from the larger predators.
Overall it was a very productive evening where in we saw around 6-7 males, 3 females and 5 cubs across two mothers. Though photography was terrible given the extremely low light conditions due to overcast sky and dense pine forests, it was fun watching so many large predators moving about their daily life in a natural habitat.
1 comment:
I really like to read this post and pictures of a bears are wonderful..loved it..
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