June 7-8 2016  Kunashi, bears and sad farewells

This is nigh on the perfect volcano - a cone within a cone.

Today was our last day in the Kurils before heading for Sakhalin and the end of our 'expedition'. We spent the morning in the national park on the largest of the Kuril Islands - Kunashir. Three 'armed' rangers met us on the beach just as the sun was climbing out of the sea to escort us for the morning - there are lots of bears on the island as well as foxes and wolverines and particularly in the national park. And just to reinforce the potential for a dangerous encounter, a big brown bear made an appearance as soon as we arrived.

We split up into 3 groups - 2 to go birding and the third to explore the beach (that's me and a handful of others including a volcano devotee from Paris).

Total tranquility 

Bears and red foxes fossicked on the beach for delicacies 

The iridescence in the early morning sky provided a perfect backdrop to a magic morning. Our particular ranger-guard, Uri, is an entomologist and together he and I rescued a caterpillar crawling on the wet sand - bizarre. He and I strolled in companionable silence taking it all in.

We wandered for over three hours and managed to see 3 bears and 4 red foxes as well as a number of dinner-plate sized jellyfish and tiny krill and masses of sea and beach debris. It was quiet, tranquil and warm and just being out there with only the sound of the waves running back over rocks and pebbles was nigh on perfect. I collected shells, rocks and lava and Uri found some beautiful coloured pebbles for my bulging pockets. I tend to clink a lot when I go beach combing and have to keep hauling my pants up because of the weight of my specimens.

this was one of the big jelly fish I found (the tip of my stick for size comparison)

Leonid, our Kuril Island expert, was in his element. It is here that he brings school children to camp out under the stars, to learn to live as the aboriginals Kuril islanders lived foraging for food such as krill and shell fish on the beach and in the shallow waters, and to identify and collect edible herbs. What an experience!

I don't recall what this plant was but like many of our native plants, it is edible.

Back on board and after lunch Leonid gave the final lecture - Russia and Japan in the Kurils at the end of WWII. The conversation about occupation and 'ownership' of these islands continues - it's a bit of a hot potato politically, and I suspect the conversation between Leonid and Fujio is not over.

Our final night on board was quite festive. Passengers and staff dressed up a bit even if it was just adding a clean shirt, a scarf or a bit of lippy.  The atmosphere was definitely party and dinner was a special banquet affair.  After a bit of an informal debrief, we finished the night with a slide show of the entire cruise complete with passengers and staff caught in odd moments;  we all received a copy to bring home. What memories have!

Packing up and saying goodbye was quite sad. Leonid sought me out and he and I spent some final moments talking in our halting Russo-English about his family, us making a return visit, and having a few hugs.  He is such a lovely unforgettable man who helped make that part of our trip a bit more special for me.

Our journey continues westwards ............

Sadly we said farewell to the sea.

Thanks Wild Earth Travel and Heritage Expeditions for a voyage of a life time. We look forward to the next!