BEARSAFARIS

Wildlife Safaris Finland, partner of the Diamond Idea Company, is
Finland’s first commercial operator of a special hide photography
with three decades of experience.

The majority of customers of the family business piloted by Lassi
and Sami Rautiainen have traditionally been foreign professional
photographers with their groups. That’s why all hides are so-
called professional stalls, i.e. they are great for observing and
photographing wild animals.

Every hide has a tabletop, on which a heavier camera or lens can
be attached with a ball head. You can also get good photos with
mobile phone cameras, because the animals are usually in a
distance of 10-30 meters away from the hides, but sometimes even
closer. In the silence of nature you can well hear the breath of a
bear.

The bear safari starts in the afternoon at Kivikiekintie 938,
Kuhmo. Everyone is expected to arrive by their own transportation
from 2 p.m., when the rooms will be available.
At 3 p.m., the program includes an introduction, welcome and
safety instruction session, and at 4 p.m., a buffet dinner will be
served, from which one can also make sandwiches and snacks for the
evening and night in the hide and fill the thermos with coffee or
tea.

We leave for the hides around 5 p.m. You can stay in the hide
either until sunset or all night, in which case it is a good idea
to take a sleeping bag with you.
The hides are of different sizes, most of them for 2-3 people.
Hide placement and distribution is done on site by Wildlife
Safaris Finland.

There are hides in two different landscapes; in open swamp
landscape and on the shore of a forest pond. On a two-night
safari, one evening/night is spent in each landscape.
The largest of the hides is for 6-12 people. If you want a
specific hide or a (bigger) hide for your private use, it can be
booked for an additional fee and arrangement in advance according
to availability.

Every evening and night is a different adventure enhancing the
excitement of the experience. The first animals can appear in
sight half an hour after arriving at the hides, or sometimes one
might have to wait for a couple of hours. During the evening you
can see bears and very often wolves, and often also wolverines and

sea eagles. There are usually zero no show nights, except for the
mating season of early summer.

If you stay in the hide overnight, you leave at 8 am. Breakfast is
served at 9 am. During the day, you can rest and enjoy the
beautiful nature around Kuikka’s base camp, take a rowing boat on
the lake or enjoy a sauna besides the lake or take a swimming
tour.

There is no scheduled lunch, but coffee, tea, juices and fruit are
available in the main building during the day. You can bring your
own snacks, the accommodations are equipped with refrigerators and
a microwave oven. The second evening’s program is the same as on
the day of arrival. The accommodation facilities are available
until 12 o’clock noontime on the day of departure.

Meals at Kuikka base camp are Finnish home style food served from
a small buffet. The main course is usually meat, sometimes fish.
Breakfast includes omelette, yogurt, bread and cold cuts. Coffee
and tea are available from morning to evening.

Accommodation facilities are 2-4 person rooms with bunk beds.
Showers and toilets are shared between a few rooms. Bed linen and
towels are included in the Safari price.

For an additional fee, you can rent camera bodies and telephoto
lenses, sleeping bags, binoculars and as well mountain bikes.
Many people have come to the safari with the idea of ”Once in a
lifetime”, but ending up booking the next summer’s Safari even
before they left for home.

The price of the two-day experience is 650 euros/person and it
includes everything at Kuikka base camp:

– Accommodation, bed linen, use of sauna (shared showers and
toilets)
– Meals and snacks at the hide
– a special Place in the hide (going up by your own car, the
distance is about 10 km on a sand road)
– Päivi’s guide and tour leader services at Kuikka

Available for rent: camera body, telephoto lens, binoculars,
sleeping bag, mountain bike
30 % discount for customers under 16 years staying in the same
room with their parents.

The safari reservation is confirmed by paying the reservation fee,
which is 20% of the entire safari price. The booking fee is non-

refundable, but the Safari can be rescheduled according to
availability. The final payment is due before the safari.
Wildlife Safaris Finland will send the invoice by email.

(photography & sightseeing huts)