How long can you sit and wait around in a wooden box tucked in the woods without scrolling down cat reels?
We drove down south from Lake Bled to the region of Loški Potok. It took an hour and a half to reach the guest house run by a Slovenian naturalist who gave his life to Eurasian Brown Bears (I could be making it up) and built over 30 photography friendly wooden hides thoughtfully positioned around beech forests which covers more than half of Slovenia. He also collects bear poo. For stats.
We spent a total of three days looking at ancient trees in the forests of Snežnik where Eurasian Brown Bears often wander around. As for time spent in the hide, it really depends on what the guides had planned and how much the bears wanted to eat. It was all a surprise. We left to the hides at noon and stayed until sunset, which took at least 7 hours and a check list of not-to’s; move only if necessary, sounds and lights off, minimal snacking and as for bathroom business – your body might respond with a kidney infection. We locked the doors, non negotiable, because if you think humans are the only mammals who stick their paws around what’s none of their business, think again.
Day 1 – At 2pm, we headed to the first bear hide and arrived at 2:20pm. We waited in anticipation for hours, often interrupted by theatrical Eurasian Jays hopping on fallen tree trunks, one dominating the other. Chirpy birds lurking in the background softened whatever the wind was vibrating. We were disconnected and totally in tune with nature because text messages are so 90s and how do bears make an entrance anyway? Just when we were about to call it quits and unzip our bags infuriatedly, a brown bear poked its head out from behind a tree. It was 7pm. It looked around, found some food, ate, went away and returned a couple of times until the sun set. At one point it looked straight into my camera lens. The golden hour cooled us down.
Day 2 – From 6am we spent a few hours in the bird hide at the farm and saw a bunch of different birds; greater spotted woodpeckers, female and male chaffinches, black birds, jays, song thrushes, warblers, coal tits and a magpie. I would have never imagined to see them all at once, nor did I expect to identify them AND see cheeky Red squirrels jazzing up the morning atmosphere. Other bird species according to Merlin ID sang along.
At 12:30pm, we drove along sandy tracks into the mountainous region of Loska Dolina until we reached the hides a hundred meters from where we parked. It took 40 minutes and losing reception (phone and 5g) to confirm we were deep in the forest known as Slovenia’s green heart. Me and eleven bear loving guests walked up an incline quietly over dry leaves as quickly as we could because a big bear could leap out of nowhere or an impatient guest race walking on your heel breathing down your neck. I was set up in the hide that faced the sun but was closer to the bears. I thought of how my photos will be overexposed and bright. Nevermind, it’s called “art” these days. It could have been hottest day in Slovenia, the bears didn’t complain. Nor did I.
The sunshine radiated the entire forest. In about an hour, a mother and her two cubs showed up and hung around for 20 minutes, the protective mother was on guard the whole time. As soon as they left, a male bear snooped around and foraged for a while. After he left, the mother and cubs came back. The mother was on defense, as always. They left and a different male showed up; the meal rotation continued until it turned dark.
Day 3 – We went back to Loska Dolina in the afternoon after whiling away for hours and had no clue what was planned for the day. The guide popped by after lunch and drove us back to the mountains where we lost reception again at yesterday’s bear playground. This time, the lighting in my hide was stunning. As soon as we set up, mother bear and her two cubs showed up (the same ones from yesterday), the cubs abruptly ran up a tree. It was not until the mother made sure the coast was clear, she guided them to climb down and munch away. Sometimes the cubs rubbed themselves around the protective mother who stood up a couple of times showing off her size. The cubs rolled around playfully, stood up and ran up a tree whenever a male bear approached. We saw three different male bears and a sneaky fox who joined in on the feast, we binge watched until sun set.
Bear conclusion: They’re cute.
CRAYSCAPE 
Oh my goodness, Sarah. You always find the most fascinating places to go to and things to do. I love how nature inspires your travels. Those bear cubs are adorable. What an amazing experience it must have been. Did you do a bit more travelling in Slovenia, or was it just to go bear watching?
They were SO adorable, I could cry!! I went for three days to bear watch (full on all 3 days). Before we arrived, I spent half a day in Lake Bled and a full day in Ljubljana after to catch my flight back home. It’s so green Have you been? I will definitely go back!!
Glad to see you had a great time back home in SA!! I love the fox and cat drama on the land….
I haven’t, but I am definitely curious about that part of Europe. We’ve been fox watching last night again, but it didn’t come close to the house, and Lily didn’t spot it. Only Midnight and I, and we simply watched it going about its business.
What a lovely break you had. I must confess that I much prefer short breaks these days. That is one thing that is so easy to do from the UAE, but definitely way more complicated for me these days.
Aww, that’s great to hear – yes I prefer short breaks these days because I am back training for races in Feb 2025.
There are amazing places close to you too, I hope things settle quickly with your residency and you get to explore other parts of EU.
There certainly are lovely places in the EU, but most are rather complicated to get to from where I am. Sadly short breaks are only really possible if they are driving distance from me. But that’s okay. The flip side is that I live in a gorgeous spot.