From Kamchatka to Chukotka. Part II
Continuation. Start here Part 1
Our expedition headed to the coast of Kamchatka, the next stop was Karaginsky Island. We had some free time, since the sea crossing took about 17 hours. At this time, heated discussions broke out in the bar-library about the birds we met. A new phenomenon for me is “Birdwatcher” or “birding” - people from different countries, different professions, so passionate about birdwatching and understanding this diversity - I met for the first time. All data (where, when, at what time, how many birds, what species) are recorded in field diaries. They could discuss birds for hours, it was very exciting to watch.
By breakfast, our ship had already approached the island and for the first time in five days of our expedition the sun came out. Ten sunny minutes - they were beautiful, but everything returned to normal, white low sky and drizzling rain.
There was a bear roaming the beach in our landing area, Rodney (our expedition leader) was already ready to cancel the landing and get everyone back on board. But the meeting with people was not included in the plans of the bear and he retreated. We were content with footprints in the sand.
Karaginskiy Island is a wetland of international importance. The island consists of a labyrinth of lakes and tundra vegetation. Rubber boots are the best friend on such a journey! Our group split up, someone wandered in search of birds, someone climbed the plateau in search of the best view of the island, and a tourist from St. Petersburg even managed to swim in the Pacific Ocean.
The riot of colors of the tundra vegetation is amazing, unfortunately, photographs cannot convey these sensations in full.
On the sixth day of our trip, we plan to visit a small uninhabited island in the Bering Sea, which is impossible not to fall in love with. . . Lush vegetation, thousands of bird colonies, sea lions resting on rocky shores and the southernmost walrus rookery - all this is Verkhoturov Island.
Two months have passed since our trip, and the impressions of this island are still so warm and bright, and I don’t have enough words to convey to you the beauty of this beautiful place, so the photos will tell better than me.
After lunch, the Govena peninsula awaited us - the kingdom of mountain ranges and bears... and the ship, which ran aground less than 5 years ago, has now become a very noisy hostel for seagulls.
Before disembarking, briefing by Rodney, against bears, two sticks and mugs - bears are afraid of loud sounds.
A twenty-minute walk up the river and here is the first inhabitant of the peninsula.
The second one rose from behind the hill, but did not show much interest in us.
We went a little higher, into the valley, where stunning views of the snowy peaks opened up, and the bears continued to come out to the river.
It was a very long day, a lot of unforgettable emotions and impressions, bright and sunny, and our ship was already heading northwest, up the Kamchatka coast.
Tinticun Lagoon. For some reason, Google is not very aware of such a lagoon in Russia, and the only thing I learned while preparing for the trip was that the nearest settlement is Magadan, 980 kilometers away.
So, the Tinticun lagoon is the most picturesque lagoon of glacial origin, along the banks there are oases with hot springs of volcanic origin.
The entrance to the lagoon is very shallow and so our zodiacs crossed it without passengers and picked us upstream.
On one of the ridges we saw a bear and two cubs, but they made fun of hiding in the bushes. By the way, did you know that bears have their own paths, and they really don't like to deviate from them? A well-trodden path is visible almost along the entire coast of the lagoon.
The hot springs are surrounded by a riot of vegetation: flowers, herbs, wild mint and even wild green onions. "Crazy Russian" - we, with our Russian company, could not pass by the natural hot baths, and were obliged to take a dip, while foreigners looked at us in fear, but took pictures with pleasure.
But on the way back, one foreigner still took a dip. Schools of fish were clearly visible in the water. Our cook Lindsey tried to harpoon a couple of fish for dinner, but failed, but he checked the life jacket - it really works : )
These picturesque bays in the northern part of Kamchatka attract travelers from all over the world. The beauty of these places is that the mountains here come close to the sea and abruptly break off at the water. Half of our expedition was left behind, and ahead of us was a week on the Koryak coast of Chukotka.
“The description of this route is the general plan of the expedition. The route may change under the influence of external factors: weather, ice conditions, etc. "- an important point of the program in such expedition routes. Today, we planned landings in new bays, where expeditions did not go in previous years. Our team had three options for landing A-B-C, if something suddenly goes wrong. And one after another, the options lost their relevance, somewhere too rocky, somewhere too shallow, etc.
After lunch, option F appeared - landing in Shlyupochnaya Bay, we did not miss the opportunity to practice our foreign friends in the pronunciation of such an easy Russian word as "boat".
Here we met fishermen who came here to spawn fish from different parts of the former USSR.
- And how did Barcelona play with Juventus? - the question of one of the fishermen is a little surprising, and then you remember that you yourself have been living cut off from civilization, communications and the Internet for more than a week. And the fishermen have been here for almost two months, soon the spawning will end, and they will go home. Now 10 people and a dog live in their small house, and besides us, only bears came to visit. Two guys from Kaliningrad honestly admit that for them this is not so much a way to earn money as an adventure.
For our ornithologists and Birdwatchers, today's landing was one of the most exciting, dividing into groups, we explored the tundra vegetation in search of the oystercatcher.
The sandpiper is a very small bird (smaller than a sparrow) with an unusual beak in the form of a spatula. The population is constantly declining: there are no more than 150 pairs left in the world, their nests, even in habitable places, are one per 30 square kilometers.
Today we did not meet this bird, but we enjoyed the stunning landscapes and destroyed the poacher's trap.
The ninth day of our expedition began insanely early, at 5:30, and at 6:00 the first landing in Natalia Bay was already planned, which Alexander Gorodnitsky sang in the song of the same name.
During Soviet times, a fish factory was located here, where 400 women worked. And a kilometer to the north, a military unit. Now everything is abandoned and looks more like the scenery of films about the zombie apocalypse.
On board, we had a hot breakfast and a briefing about the day's disembarkation, several options were offered. For me, there was no choice - trekking through a mountain pass. When the ship approached Petra Bay, we noticed a walrus rookery basking in the sun on the bridge and we managed to take amazing pictures.
Between the bay of Peter and Paul 10 minutes on the zodiac, and through the pass almost 5 hours. Enjoy the photos, they will tell more than me.
My main mistake of the whole expedition was the decision to put on sneakers today. We fell waist-deep into snow and mud lakes, rolled down ice slides, crossed mountain streams and made a snowman! Make a snowman in July! Are you weak?
When our ship left Pavel Bay, the sun was already setting and accompanied us with a beautiful sunset.
The next day in Opuka Bay, we were met by rain, fog and wind, but we were not afraid of this! Whales are waiting for us!
Our zodiac driver - Kostya, directs the zodiac into a white veil, nothing is visible at arm's length. No whales on the horizon.
The fog is gradually dissipating, we see a fountain in the distance, then a dive and a tail. Kostya directs the boat closer, but from the other side we hear a splash . . Whales... At a hundred meters, fifty, thirty. The main thing is patience. At some point, it seems that you can touch him, and he is already hiding under the water.
Fountains, tails, heads appear here and there - in At some point, you stop trying to take a picture and just enjoy.
After enjoying the whales, we follow to the shore, where thousands of seagulls greet us with their piercing cry.
And not just seagulls.
"Young, maximum three years old" - says Katya (Rodney's assistant). Small they are the most dangerous - stupid yet. They are interested. We are new to them. There are almost no people here, there used to be a military unit here, now it is abandoned.
The bear rushes briskly along the shore, cutting off our path to the zodiacs. And he is not afraid of our sticks or the sound of metal cups. Rodney launches an air flare gun. The bear runs away, but not far and comes back.
For us (tourists) this is a pig's delight, one shot is better than another, for the expedition team it is a headache. Rodney fires another rocket, it falls a meter away from the bear. But you can't just take our bear!
“I am a cloud, a cloud, a cloud, And not a bear at all! »
We got bored with the bear, he left, and we went to explore the abandoned military unit.
On the way back, we meet seals and whales.
The last days of our expedition were planned in the village of Mainyplygino. In the summer, ornithologists are based here, who come "to the fields" to study the oystercatcher.
Here is this small and rare bird, Maxim takes us to it, he has been studying the oystercatcher here for the fourth summer. We are shown several camera traps and told about measures aimed at preserving and increasing the wader population. An incubator was built near the village to increase the population.
Especially on the occasion of our arrival, they organized a performance by a local folklore group. Dances and songs of the people of the north.
Our journey was coming to an end. Last night we had an unforgettable dinner from Linsey. It was very solemn and festive, but a little sad.
Some dry numbers: we sailed 1546 nautical miles, saw 125 bird species, 14 animal species and 13 marine mammal species.
We saw 48 bears, 19 Steller's sea eagles, 49 killer whales, 55 gray whales and 62 humpback whales.
Two weeks flew by. For two weeks you are cut off from everything that is familiar and familiar to you. Discoveries await you every minute, whether it's wildlife or a conversation with your expedition neighbor.
Going on such a journey, you do not know who you will meet on board - whether it will be a car salesman from New Zealand, a working cook or a cellist from Nevada, or maybe a banker from London or a journalist from Moscow - but in any case, it will be an unusual person!
Ordinary people do not go on such trips...
