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Kamchatka Peninsula

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The Kamchatka peninsula, about the size of the UK, is a true wilderness area in the far east of Russia. It has more than 30 active volcanoes with a lot of the land covered by thick scrub and forest. Very cold in winter with lots of snow, yet very warm in summer, which produces lush vegetation in the valleys with hordes of mosquitoes.

Due to its secret military bases, Kamchatka was a closed area (even to the Russians) up until the collapse of the Soviet Union and still remains mostly unspoilt by human activity with the vast majority of the 250,000 population living in and around the capital, Petropavlosk.

I visited Kamchatka in June and July 2001, with a small group organised by Arcturus Expeditions and found it an enthralling place. With only one main spinal road, getting around is not easy and most of our travel was by helicopter or converted army truck. We spent time trekking and camping, staying in lodges whilst exploring remote areas. We visited a Russian hunter and saw bears, mountain sheep, arctic hare, eagles, osprey and other wild life. We landed by helicopter in a vast active volcano (a fantastic experience) and flew also to the Valley of the Geysers, where hot water, sulphur and steam burst out of the valley sides.

Further north, whilst travelling by converted army truck, our Russian guides had to hack and dig the way through the thick scrub before reaching a vast area covered by volcanic ash and ringed by snow capped volcanoes. It is the site of one of the world's largest volcanic eruptions of the last century (1975) and is the base of the former Russian moon programme. New life is showing  through in places with a wonderful array of flowers emerging from the black ash. From the village of Esso, we flew by helicopter to see the native reindeer herders in their summer camp and we also landed by a river at a fisherman's camp.

Although cloudy and wet at times, we had been lucky with the weather, for, when it really mattered, the sun had shone to allow us to fly and enjoy some remarkable experiences.