Brown Bear and wildlife watching/photography hide
We offer the possibility to spend an unforgettable night in our Brown Bear and wildlife-watching hide. The hides are situated in Alutaguse, which is an area mostly covered with western-taiga forests and vast bogs in N-E of Estonia – home to about half of Estonia’s 1000 Brown Bears.
The hides have windows on both sides of the hide. Northern windows overlook a taiga forest and the most common mammals to see would be Raccoon Dogs and Brown Bears. Woodpeckers, Red Squirrels, Nuthatches, Chaffinches, tits, and Jays visit the feeders.
Southern windows offer a view of a stream and a flooded meadow. Sometimes Elk, Wild Boar, and Roe Deer come to feed on the meadow and European Beavers or Otters can occasionally swim by. During summer months, the creek can almost dry up. Ural Owl and Red Fox come here to hunt for mice and sometimes also Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, and bussards come by and look for prey. Rare visitors to the scenery include Badgers, Wolves, Lynx, and Mink.
There is also a very sensitive microphone outside the hide. It catches the soundscape of the surrounding wildlife and you can listen to it through speakers installed inside the hides. You can hear birds singing in the spring, branches cracking under bear feet, or animals going through the water. Our guests have also heard Elk mating calls, Wolves howling, and Raccoon Dogs fighting with each other. This makes the whole experience even more immediate and powerful.
There’s a good blog article from Reverie Chaser from the summer of 2021 giving a thorough overview of their experience and lots of good tips from the autumn of 2023 by the Nature-Watching in Europe blog.
Overview
The Brown Bear and wildlife watching hides are simple, comfortable, and cosy. There are 2 hides, each one of them has room for 9 persons. Both hides have separated cabins with bunk beds and a dry toilet. One cabin has room for 4 persons – 2 bunk beds/4 sleeping places in total. One bed is situated between the 2 cabins.
If the visitors wish, they can take pictures through the windows (without flash) and photographers are allowed to take photos through special photography holes.
Hides
There are 2 identical hides:
One hide has 2 private cabins (4 beds in both) and room up to 9 people. Hides have bunk beds, sleeping bags, pillows, viewing windows, photo holes, chairs, and a dry toilet.
Safety
Our hides are well ventilated and we clean the hides daily to ensure the safety of our visitors. There are also bottles with disinfectant liquid in our hides.
If you have a fever or feel ill on the day(s) before visiting our hide, please stay at home and contact us immediately.
Note: You’ll receive the exact location of the meeting point with the first confirmation letter after the booking has been made.
