Tour Reviews

The trip was very good thank you, enjoyable and productive with a decent list of mammals and birds including a few unexpected things like weasel and otter which were a bonus! The hotel choice was excellent - good food and service (lunches were a bit expensive though but only the twice I guess), immaculate and comfortable rooms that were functional. The work desk and charging points etc were all very useful. The places we stopped for lunch were also good. The dinners at the supermarket not ideal I guess as by the later time of the evening there isn’t a lot of choice at the deli in there, but I guess its the best of the options available as going to a restaurant would take up valuable scanning time. In terms of the tour activities, I felt like a decent amount was fitted into each day in order to maximise sightings and shortcuts weren’t taken and there was still some time to rest and catch up with things at the hotel. The vehicle is good, but it would have helped if the front half of the windows opened rather than the back half - I don’t know if they can be refitted somehow. Also I would have found it frustrating if I was in a larger group and stuck in the back and unable to use thermal or take pictures out the window as I don’t think those windows open - I wonder if it can be modified. Luckily that wasn’t a problem on this trip. Luckily I brought clothing for cold conditions - long johns, thermal socks etc, but its worth putting emphasis on this with new clients as it really is quite cold at times, especially night driving with the windows down - I think I used the thermals more in Estonia than in the arctic!

My wife and I booked the tour in the summer. I had wanted to do the large predator tour since Covid. We were met at the airport by Peep and the rest of our group. 2 lovely couples from Sweden and Germany. Both the hotels we stayed in exceeded our expectations. Very comfortable and the food was excellent. Peep and Burt our primary guides were tireless in their endeavour to ensure we saw as much wildlife as was possible. Their language skills and knowledge of the wildlife of Estonia was amazing. Switching from English to German or Latin to get the information across was inspiring. The areas we visited had lots of wildlife to view from pine martins to the highlight of two clear sightings of lynx. Martin the local lynx expert was brilliant. All the staff were patient kind and clearly have a passion for the wildlife of Estonia. I’d recommend anyone thinking of booking a tour to go for it. I will definitely be returning as soon as my diary allows.

Hi Bert, I just wanted to let you know we had a fantastic experience with your company and would definitely recommend it. I think we were also lucky, as we saw two bears interacting with each other and we saw them between 7pm and midnight. Please also pass on our thanks to Garta (sorry, I'm sure I'm spelling her name wrong!) who met us and took us to the hide. She recommended some walks in the area, we took her advice and her suggestions were also great. :) Thank you for your help and let me know if there's anything else you need. David

We had a great stay with numerous animals and bears, which we have seen nearly throughout the night.

We were very happy to really see a bear! So it was worth standing in the cold (we were almost freezing). All people (Estonian!) whom we told about the experience until now were very impressed since they haven't been seeing any bear in their lifetime. Thanks for providing the big and warm sleeping bags - and for the experience in general!

Veetsin suurepärase päeva Alutaguse uues kotkavarjes. Ilm oli küll pilvine, aga kuna eelmisel ööl oli maha sadanud ca 20 cm värsket lund, siis mõjus värske lumi peegeldina, mis tegi pildistamise mõnusaks. Tingimused uues varjes on väga head ja seal olevad küttekehad hoiavad keha ja käed piisavalt soojas. Varje ees saginaks läks peale kella 10 ja esimesteks uudistajateks olid pasknäärid. Rongad andsid endast küll häälekalt märku, aga maapinnale laskuda ei söandanud. Varsti kuuldus rähni toksimist ja mõne aja pärast nägin täitsa juhuslikult, et seesama toksija oli laskunud söödale, millest ta küll suuremat ei hoolinud ja näis, et tegemist oli pigem uudishimu rahuldamisega. Lõpuks tuli ka üks ronk maha ja temale järgnes teine, kuid söögilauda nad kahekesi jagada ei suutnud, nii et lõpuks oli ikkagi üks ronk korraga. Kaljukotkaste saabumiseni läks 9 tundi. Esmalt hiilis kuuse tagant välja üks lind, aga siis tuli teine ja ajas selle esimese ära. Suurele linnule kohaselt toimus söödale lähenemine ettevaatlikult ja ümbrust tähelepanelikult jälgides. Kogu seda protsessi jälgida ja jäädvustada oli väga põnev ja loomulikult ei olnud ühelgi väiksemal tiivulisel enam sööda juurde asja. Merikotkas lendas ka korraks varje eest läbi, aga maha ei tulnud. Ju oli eelmisest päevast veel kõht täis. Kaljukotkas seevastu toimetas sööda peal pikalt ja kiirustamata. Lisan mõned pildid varjest nähtud/pildistatud lindude kohta

It is already some days ago, since we were in Estland. I want to thank you for your great (and very spontaneous) organisation of our tour. It worked great and we saw some nice places as also animals. With the App and the descriptions, it was easy to find the locations. The smart guided tour is well made and we can recommend it! Maybe one point is that at this time of the year, the restaurants close quite early and we should have ordered lunch earlier some times. Maybe another time:-) Best wishes

Our stay was one of the biggest highlights I had ever had! Also, our guide which led us to the hide was very nice! At first, we saw a bear- then a raccoon dog (so cute) and then a wildpig with many baby's! And the biggest highlight was a whole bear family with 3 young bears! It was so cute! In the morning we also saw a bear, a group of wild pigs, and a raccoon dog. I didn't think we'd see young animals too. do you know in which months the animals have young babies? I think we came at the perfect time! One day We will definitely come back/ it was so perfect! Thank you for this stunning experience!

Better late than never… The Great-spotted Eagle “Tönn” which is close to Switzerland at the moment reminded me to give you the deserved Feedback. We had a very cool trip through the Baltic states with some nice Observations. For me personally it was the best choice to go with your maps and I would recommend you to everyone who asks me about it 🙂. Actually I have nothing to say that didn’t work… even if we were not lucky enough to find any Moose but that’s not your Error 😉 Here some Observations we had with the locations. At the Moosespot in Lahemaa (59°32’**.*”N 25°59’**.*”E) we saw two Nightjars hunting over the mowed field which was awesome 🙂 In Soomaa NP we saw a nice male Capercaillie on our way back from your mark a bit earlier on the Road (58°26’**.*”N 25°04’**.*”E). In Tartu Area we had observations I still can’t really believe… we had 1 White-Tailed Eagle, 8 Lesser-spotted Eagles (which produced some very nice Pictures) and 1 or 2 Great-spotted Eagles all in the same spot!! (58°21’**.*”N 26°32’**.*”E). And White-backed Woodpecker at the Aardla marshes 🙂 So once again, Thak you very much and keep going this way 🙂

Karl had already summarized our group trip together on the last evening. There is hardly anything to add – it was just great! Our subsequent private tour was beautiful as well. We actually visited all the points that you both recommended us and had there again great wildlife observations. After Tallinn, we made a stop in Marimetsa peat bog, on the way to Saaremaa, and made a hike. A really beautiful and varied hike, which included a hazel grouse sighting and a swim in a bog pool. On Saaremaa, we were by the crooked lighthouse, at the northern tip and then drove also to the southwestern tip(with many stops). On Saaremaa we observed, among others: „a city deer“, a doe with a fawn, Long-tailed Duck, a great number o Barnacle Geese with a few Bar-headed Geese, Loons and an Elk. After that, we were at Pikla Birdhouse – even though the weather was so-so, the place itself was really nice. From there we drove to Soomaa and on the second day to Nigula Bog, with a stop at Rannametsa Bog.It was raining a bit in Nigula Bog, which did not bother us much, as we found a shelter on about half of the way. In Soomaa we did practically all the tours from the tablet. Among other, we had observations of black grouse, a crazy Nutcracker, a Golden Eagle (passing by, only 20m away!). At Pikla Birdhouse, we saw Bearded tits, White-tailed Eagle, and on the last morning in the bog, a sunrise with fog and no wind, absolute class! On our way to the bear hide (again with stop and hike in Soomaa NP) a Capercaillie stood directly on the roadside. We almost did not believe our eyes! The bear hide was great again! A total of 2 or 3 different bears came again really early (about 17:00 PM) in good light conditions, and even from the west side of the hide, it came out when the light conditions were still good. One of the bears was extremely relaxed and laid down several times next to the hidden bait and ate in peace. The night was bitterly cold – in the morning, there was ice on the car (we probably caught the flu from there). In the morning, on our way back from the hide to the car, we saw a Hazel Grouse (flying from the edge of the road) and Capercaillie (directly on the way in about 50m distance from the barrier chain). Afterwards, we also saw Black Grouse from the car – thus 3 grouse species within 2 hours – just crazy! At the end in Palmse, we both had caught a cold. Therefore, we had to take it a little easier there. Therefore, we could not stay for the third planned night in the bear hide. Thanks again to Peep for the uncomplicated cancellation of the bear hide. In the north, we were again at the points where we were already during the group tour. It was partly very windy and stormy. At the primaeval forest trail, an old spruce fell down about 10m away from us. (Lucky!). Therefore, we finished the trail a bit faster than usual (in addition, there were 2 more really loud crash-noises nearby). We hiked to Majakivi on the last day before the departure – also a very nice trail! During the last part of our trip, we had sightings of Black Woodpecker, Oystercatcher (Purekarri – the middle finger of Lahemaa) and flocks of Brent Geese, Eurasia Wigeons and Velvet Scoters. So, that was our short summary. Thanks again to you for the great impressions on the group trip and the great compilation of the private tour. Everything went very well and we really enjoyed it. We will come back and recommend both of them to other! “Thank you, thank you, thank you … the trip was the coolest!” many Greetings Julia and Daniel

The car was absolutely fine for us, the right size, nice to drive and economical. A couple of suggestions, maybe for the representative from the hire company. It might be an idea to tell customers, at least English ones, that it is compulsory to drive with lights on at all times. Also, perhaps explain that the only way to put fuel in the tank is to pre-pay a set amount using a machine next to the pumps. In the UK we put in as much as we want then go into the shop to pay. But it was fun learning what to do! And of course, there is so little traffic that driving is easy and a pleasure. All the accommodation was very good, and everyone was kind and helpful. Breakfasts were all good with plenty of choices – we enjoyed Estonian porridge! We had an evening meal at Klaara Manni and all our evening meals at Loona Manor and they were all good. We found good restaurants which we enjoyed in Haapsalu and Tallinn. It was really good to have the tablet with all the information we could possibly need, along with the ability to use Google maps to get us to any location. Sightings: Soomaa was a disappointment, but that was probably our fault. The weather there was so hot, around 30/32c with no breeze and a lot of times no shelter, and the mosquitoes were troublesome, and so we probably were not out and about and concentrating as much as we should. We loved Haapsalu, Poosaspea and the National Parks north, and also Matsalu, although we only explored the Northern part around Matsalu lath. Also, we enjoyed Vilsandi on Saaremaa, especially the trail at Harilaid. (The information centre there was excellent.) We also hired bicycles and looked for orchids, but I think we were a little early. We found Military, Green-winged and Early purple. About wildflowers generally, it was lovely to see them in such profusion. Cowslips were amazing and Lily of the Valley ( Convalaria), but we were a bit too early to see them in flower. Pasque flowers were also fantastic. For us, who see geese and wildfowl in cold winter weather, it was great seeing huge flocks of geese, ducks, grebes cranes, etc in the sun. We enjoyed red-breasted flycatcher, scarlet rosefinch and, surprisingly, rose-coloured starling. I think there has been a westward movement this year. Below is a copy of the list of our sightings reported on Birdtrack. It’s hard to say if the tour could be changed. We normally rent a house for two weeks and explore an area from one base. I think if we come back we might do that in the Haapsalu area. On the other hand, without touring you never get to know a country to find out where you like, and of course, there is a great deal we haven’t seen. Anyway, I hope that this helps. If you have any questions or want more information about our sightings please let me know. I expect we will be at the Birdfair in England in August and if so we will call in to your stand and say hello – this is where we found about you last year. Kind regards Ken

Dear Peep, I would like to tell you that we saw the Flying Squirrel. It was amazing.

Thank you very much for arranging the squirrel excursion. Uudo is a great guide and a very dedicated biologist. We had very good views and a great time 👍It showed three times and once was out running up and down the tree. Parts of the group saw it flying! We went back in the night but saw nothing.

We found the starting point with no problems – I had downloaded it from your website to my phone before we left. Andres was waiting for us and so we knew we had arrived. The weather was not great as it was raining and the overcast sky made it a little too dark for photographs. It also made the mosquitoes particularly troublesome. However, we found the hides and once we had changed our wet clothes we settled in. We saw what we came to see. About 21.30h, a raccoon dog visited 4 or 5 times staying a few minutes each time (searching out the bait that had been left). The light was good enough for viewing through binoculars and we watched it for a about 30 minutes in total. That was really good as I didn’t expect to see a raccoon dog. Each time it visited, it took away some of the bait it could drag from where it was placed under the fallen tree. Had the light been better, it would have been easy to photograph. Even though the light was quite good for viewing but for photography – iso set to 2400 and with F4.5 lens – the resulting shutter speeds were still too slow. About 23.30 a large brown bear visited. We had a good view of the bear for about 1 hour. Even at this time of the day it was not very dark and so we could watch the bear easily (Even though it was too was too dark for photography – 1 s exposure times at ISO 3200). Again, it took the bait that was left (the bait the raccoon dog had left behind). Clearly the bear found no problem in moving the tree and revealing the bait. Again, the bear would take some bait and go and eat it a few meters away and then return. We also saw a fox 3 times and had a visit from a group of 3 wild boar – they looked young to me and were quite entertaining. Also seen, 3 visits from a fox, a small bat, and pair of woodpeckers. So, overall we were very satisfied. Clearly, if we want to see bears in daylight, we need to think more about the best time for a possible visit in the future.

he adult male (Brown Bear) came out at 21:03 PM and stayed there for almost half an hour! Before there only was one red fox, a goose hawk, ravens and one magpie.

I was determined to see my fist brown bear. Not least because bear tourism has become big business in Europe, with hides in Sweden and Finland offering success rates of higher than 90 percent. By now, our party had recorded bear prints, scats and claw marks raked across tree bark, and even the remains of a boar that had been stripped to the bone by these opportunist omnivores. So we were quietly confident of observing the real thing. Waiting for the bears to appear was nerve-racking. Two ravens and, bizarrely, a nuthatch of the ghosty northern race visited the site to pick at its flesh, while a pine marten zipped across the cleaning and vanished up a tree. And then, illuminated by the setting sun, a mother bear and her cub ambled into view.