Wildlife – Page 3 – travellingzombie.com

Travel Tip: Get the Tent Out!

Travel tips from http://www.travellingzombie.com

When we first started to travel, I was not a camping fan. I dislike bugs, being cold and mud – so it was no surprise that I’d rather stay in a comfy, warm hotel. However, on our first trip to a National Park in the USA, I was persuaded to give it a go. I’m so glad that I did! It was the best part of our trip, with nights around the campfire firmly cemented in my memory.

One of the main reasons I was happy to give it a go was for the cost. Accommodation is one of the most expensive elements of travelling. Camping can help with that. With pitch costs of around $26 per night in Wawona, Yosemite, camping can cut your accommodation costs in half.

When we first travelled to Yosemite and Tahoe, we had no clue about what tent to get and we didn’t want to have to pay extra to fly the tent over to our destination. This meant that we visited Kmart on our first day in the USA and, after much deliberation, we ended up buying a tent that was probably more suited to a backyard sleep over than a week or so in a couple of National Parks. Our main selection criteria was that it was big enough for three of us and had a sewn-in ground sheet (I refused to camp of there was a chance that spiders could crawl into my bed – ugh). We also ended up with sleeping bags that were fairly thin, and in one person’s case – didn’t come up past their chest! To be fair, the tent and the sleeping bags did their job – they were cheep and cheerful (we were not going to pay to fly them back to England and so they would be given away at the end of our trip) and they kept us clean and dry, however, they weren’t really designed for the cold nights of Yosemite.

Learning from our first experience, the next time we camped, we purchased a huge four-man tent in the UK and counted this as one of our bags, splitting the rest of our gear between the baggage allowance for the remaining three people in our party. This actually worked out far cheaper and meant that we had a sturdy, well-made tent for our adventures. Although there was lots of room in this tent (we could fit in four large airbeds!), it took four people, a good thirty minutes and the tips of one of my fingers to put up.

The big tent is great, particularly for camping trips on the UK but it only works out cheaper to take abroad if there are a few of you with whom you can split the luggage. So what do we do if it’s just me and Wandering Beeb? We did a huge amount of research and purchased a much smaller tent. We ended up with a MSR Elixir 3 tent.

This little tent is a beauty! Firstly, it looks the business – it’s fairly low to the ground and has a curved design, giving you lots of head room whilst feeling really airy. The ground sheet is sewn-in and the two doors are well-sealed to prevent any unwanted visitors or rain getting in. Although there is a two-man version of the tent, we were sensible to go for the three-man option to get a little extra room as it’s a very snug inside. It’s small, geometric design made it really sturdy and it was unbelievably easy to put up. Usually there is a lot of swearing and sore fingers when we camp – not in this case as it’s easy enough for one person to put it up in about 10 minutes – winner!! Even better, as it’s so lightweight and can be split up into two small bags, we were able to fit it in with our usual luggage allowance, meaning that we didn’t incur any extra charges.

One of the best things about this tent had to be the option to remove the outer layer and look up through the mesh panels at the stars. The Yosemite night sky is one of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen and to be able to look up at the stars from the comfort of our sleeping bags was incredible – something you would absolutely miss out on in a hotel.

As well as incredible sights, camping brings you together as travellers like nothing else. There is something about a good campfire and nights huddled round a torch that bond you in a way nothing else can.

What tent do you use? Any good recommendations? Tell us in the comments!

Bear Territory

Spotting bears and stump bears in Canada and USA

When it comes to bears, most people have the same conflict – you want to see a bear in the wild but you don’t want to be mauled to death either! We were exactly the same – in Yosemite, USA, and in BC and Alberta in Canada, we were keen to catch a glimpse of an elusive bear.

On our first days in Vancouver, we had set off for a trip up Grouse Mountain which has a Grizzly Bear habitat. We spent ages by the habitat, watching the two bears play together – this was a guaranteed bear sighting and we weren’t going to miss it!

Hoping for more bear sightings of the wild variety, we booked on to a wildlife tour in Banff. We booked with Discover Banff Tours. A two hour twilight tour cost around $55 and they were excellent. The guide was really knowledgable and took us to a number of wildlife ‘hotspots’. They were in contact with lots of other tour guides and notified each other of sightings so that we had the best chance of spotting something. It was a great way of seeing some of Banff and we managed to spot some Elk and Mountain Goats fairly early on in the tour.

Half way down the road, we suddenly heard a shout from one of the other group members that they had spotted a bear! Lumbering off into the tree-line, we spotted a Cinnamon Bear (a type of black bear) and there was a great scrambling for cameras as people hustled to get a snap of this beautiful creature. This was one of those times where skills failed us and whilst I got a picture of the back of a friend’s head, Wandering Beeb managed to capture a shaky picture of the bear’s bum, along with the inside of the tour bus! Not the best bear sighting proof to bring back home!

Copying the route from the tour, we improvised the next night and headed to the same locations. Again, we spotted Elk and Goats, although no bears!

The first time we visited Canada, the custom’s officer did the usual ‘why are you visiting’ question. Excited to be in Canada and having sat through a very bumpy flight, we responded with “because we want to see bears!” The guy didn’t smile, didn’t laugh and gave us a very stern ‘I want a real answer’ type look. To be fair, most customs officers have been really friendly, but this trip definitely taught us not to be cute when trying to enter a new country – it’s not always well received!

During our time in Banff, our group spotted a total of five bears (including one Grizzly!), usually in the trees as we were driving past. Whilst in Banff, we heard stories of ‘The Boss’ and tales of aggressive bear behaviour in the park. The Boss is a dominant grizzly bear (he even has a serial number – Bear 122) who has eaten black bears and fathered a number of younger bears in the park. Another bear had been aggressive towards people in the park (usually dog walkers) and indeed some of the campgrounds had been closed when we visited due to bear behaviour. It was really interesting to hear from the Rangers about the need to carry bear spray as a deterrent to bears – both to stay safe and importantly, to ensure that bears receive negative reinforcement from their contact with humans, keeping them wild and alive.

The tour guide had told us about the frequency of which people spotted ‘stump bears’ – tree stumps that people mistook for bears. Our bear hunting was frequently punctuated by shouts of ‘bear!’ or ‘Stump bear!’ – making for interesting walks and car journeys!

When we had visited Yosemite a couple of years earlier, we had the experience of a baby bear happening upon us whist we were eating our sandwiches at Mirror Lake. It was later in the day and most of the bigger groups of walkers had disappeared. We had set ourselves up on a larger rock and started to munch through our snacks and butties. Most of us were facing in the same direction, but one of our eagle-eyed group pointed out a large, dark shape moving towards us. Quickly realising it was a bear and no one else was around, we started to pack up our things. It became clear that it was a younger bear and as amazed as we were, this probably meant that mummy bear was somewhere around. Respecting that bears are far more powerful than we will ever be, we all started to slowly back away, making a fair bit of noise to alert the bear to our presence. Astounded, we watched as the bear made its way across the path and into the trees on the other side. Despite the other bears we have seen, this encounter sticks in my mind like no other. The utter respect that the creature commanded was emphasised by the lack of other people around and the pack of food we were carrying. The grace and stealth that accompanied the bear’s movements made us realise that the granite cliffs and breathtaking tree-line were not the only wonders that we were lucky enough to see that day.

The Birds of Grouse Mountain

Visiting the ‘Birds in Motion’ session on Grouse Mountain

Flying so close you could almost feel the wings brush your head, the mix of Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons and Owls in the ‘Birds in Motion’ session on Grouse Mountain is a good way to learn about the hunting and living habits of these beautiful creatures.

Taking the birds half way up the dirt track on the mountain, the Rangers encouraged them to fly down to where we were sitting, demonstrating how they would hunt for prey in the wild. Small podiums and ledges were set up to allow the birds to perch, giving the audience a close up view of the birds.

Yes, its a tourist attraction, yes the birds are not living in the wild (and I would much prefer to see them in that setting) but the birds are part of a Ranger programme and are therefore well looked after, rather than part of a performing circus. Spotting one of these birds in nature is pretty difficult, so having the opportunity to sit so close to them was incredible. Throughout the session, the Rangers were able to share facts about the birds and tell stories of their activities.

Before the session, the audience was clearly told a) not to touch the birds, and b) don’t stand up whilst the birds are flying – apparently they were able to judge the distances above our heads very well, except for if we stood up / sat down quickly. One guy shifted about just a bit too much in his seat and ended up being kissed in the face by a feathery wing! After that, we made sure to sit quite still!

If you decide to visit the session, it’s well worth sitting on the back row of the benches as you will have a good view of the birds as they fly over your head to the perches at the back. Front row seats get a better view of the birds when they land, but be warned, don’t sit too far forward on the grass – the Rangers will ask you to move anyway as this is classed as the bird’s territory and you don’t want to be mistaken for prey!

Although the eagles were great to see, I have to say that I preferred the owls. There is something fascinating about them as creatures, cute and fluffy on the outside but fairly savage and violent in their kills. As a horror fan, anything that can rotate it’s head to the same degree as the owl is well worth my time!

The ‘Birds in Motion’ sessions run throughout the summer on the mountain – you can read more about them here: https://www.grousemountain.com