The wilderness of The Kola is mostly devoid of Homo sapiens, they tend to live beside the sea in small villages or remote huts, some live a little way into the interior beside the big rivers. This state of affairs leaves an incredibly large amount of land free for the animal and birdlife that likes to wander around the forests and lakes of this part of the World.

We have the good fortune to spend some time in these forests in August, which is not long before the winter starts to begin its grip on the landscape here above the Arctic Circle. One consequence of this is that the animals that live here need to eat well during the summer months so that they can build up their fat reserves, allowing them to survive the white winters when food is difficult to find under the frozen snow.

Because of this we often have exciting encounters with the Brown and Black Bears that live here in The Kola. I remember once driving off the track to camp in a clearing only to find ourselves looking to share the space with a mother Black Bear and her two well grown cubs. She was only a little annoyed so I felt that we should put at least fifteen or so kilometres between her and her babies before we camped, as I did not want to have any “contretemps” during the night or over the next day’s breakfast!!

The Brown Bear in the picture is eating the black, red, blue and white berries that seemingly cover every inch of the ground between the trees in this rich landscape. He ignored us and seemed totally unconcerned as we sat close to our cars (just in case!!) to enjoy one of those special moments that we often have here between us and the wildlife of The Kola.