Kamchatka photography vacation in Russia

Planet

Our trip to Kamchatka helps to sustain this unique environment and wildlife as the purchase of photographic permits goes directly to the reserve where the bears live to ensure their ongoing protection and safeguarding their habitat. There are strict controls on visitor numbers to Kuril Lake and Kambalnaya River to guarantee that there is minimal impact on the environment from human visitors and to make sure that the bears aren’t stressed by our presence.

The safari is accompanied by two rangers in bear viewing locations to ensure the safety of participants in the safari, but also of the bears to avoid any human-wildlife conflict. By traveling to Kamchatka, the safari participants will be directly contributing to the economy in the region which is import to protect the unique ecosystem.

All participants on the safari are given a reusable steel water bottle and everything that is flown into the locations is flown out again and we avoid any single-use plastic where at all possible to ensure that the only thing left from our visit are footprints and the only thing taken away are some amazing photographs of the wildlife and scenery.

The itinerary for this safari has been carefully planned to avoid any ‘dead legs’ on the helicopter flights, meaning that when the group flies from A to B on the helicopter, another group then utilises the helicopter from B to C to avoid any flights without passengers. Due to the remote location of Kamchatka and the lack of roads, travel by helicopter is a necessity, but where possible we try to make it as carbon efficient as we can.

People

The guide/interpreter, cook and rangers at bear-viewing locations are all local Russians who benefit from our visit to this remote region where employment opportunities are slim. The accommodation in Yelizovo is operated by a local Russian-American couple who cook fresh meals using food from the local markets to ensure that all aspects of our visit directly supports the local people of Kamchatka.

On the night where dinner is not included in the trip a reservation will be made at a local restaurant in Yelizovo, again so the local community directly benefit from tourism. All of the partners who we work with on the ground for this trip are local Kamchatkan companies to ensure that it is Kamchatka itself that gains from tourists visiting. Kamchatka is one of the premier regions of the world for salmon and any salmon that is used for meals provided on the trip is purchased from local fishermen where possible to again ensure sustainability and that the local community is supported.