Grizzly Bear Safari at Katmai Traveller Reviews

We went to Alaska, which Wildlife Trails sorted out for us. I chose Wildlife Trails because Allan was more knowledgeable than others I emailed, and more helpful. We went to Anchorage, Seward, Homer, Nikiski, Kodiak and Katmai. At Nikiski we stayed at Daniels Lake Lodge B&B in a log cabin by the lake. It was an amazing place and was the wildest and most remote of our journey. We saw a black bear and 3 coyote on the road. Had a great day out with Alaska West Air near there. We had bears right beside our boat at Big River Lakes near Wolverine Creek, saw bald eagles and plenty of salmon in the river. They gave us a scenic flight on the way back flying right over double glacier and its ice field - so close we almost landed on it. Really breath-taking. We booked up Juneau Mendenhall Glacier Ice Adventure Tour ourselves through Alaska Shore Excursions - local tour operator was Liquid Alaska Tours. This was excellent. We did canoeing, went in an ice cave under the glacier and used crampons to climb on top of it. A fantastic day out. Would recommend these. Also had a great day out at Brooks Falls watching the bears catching the salmon that were jumping up the waterfall. Well worth the trip. Wouldn't recommend Jayleen's Alaska whale watching trip. We didn't see anything but a lighthouse for most of the morning. Cost us a fortune for 6 hours when we saw more on the 2 hour cruise with Alaska Tales for a fraction of the cost. These are a new company. We didn't have many on the boat so didn't have to fight the crowds to see the whales and they took us straight to them so didn't waste any of our time. To see black bears close up we went to AnAn Bear observatory. A mother and cub came very close to where we were standing on a platform. At the other places we saw brown bears. A great trip all in all.

As I stated above Wildlife Trails are very knowledgeable and helpful. They always replied quickly to any emails I sent asking them a lot of questions (some I should have been able to work out myself). When we had problems they were always contactable to help us sort them out. The ferry they booked for us went on strike but Wildlife Trails had sorted us out a flight in its place before we even knew there was a problem, so the holiday ran very smoothly. I would recommend Wildlife Trails to anyone and I have already booked another trip with them next year.

A 7 night stay at Katmai Wilderness Lodge which was amazing both for accommodation, food, very friendly and helpful staff and of course seeing bears in their natural habitat. A 4 night stay in Juneau which included a visit to Pack Creek where we had good sighting of bears and 2 Whale Watching tours where we saw Humpbacks and seals and Stellar Sealions.

Wildlife Trails a small family concern run by Allan and Kirsty Blanchard. Very efficient and helpful. Listened to what we wanted and put together a good itinerary.

The primary objective was to photograph the bears fishing for salmon. Katmai lodge was a dream. The location, guides and facilities were excellent. Perry the manager/guide instilled confidence and was always looking to get the best positions and experiences. We were all able to capture some stunning images of the bears, as well as otters, seals, puffins .... We also visited Denali (fantastic scenery) and spent some time in and aroound Anchorage all of which really worked well. Overall a great experience.

This is the second trip we have done with Wildlife Trails. Alan and co have listened to our requirements and created an itinerary that fits. Our group are all keen photographers and he has always had good advice and our best interests in mind. Efficient, helpful and friendly, and infinitely patient as we 'tweaked' the itinerary. We would certainly use them again

This is the best holiday we have ever been on. We love bears and all wildlife. We can honestly say the 24 days were just adrenalin filled. Every moment was an experience never to be forgotten. Getting up close and personal with bears fishing, swimming, snorkelling, playing, mothers with their cubs and so much more. Humpback whales coming up close to our boat, so close you could smell their blow! Riding the bow with dall porpoise. Sea otters with their babies, and calving glaciers cashing in the sea! Amazing! I also need to mention the guides at Katmai Wilderness Lodge who were just amazing. Perry was an outstanding guide keeping us safe but making sure we had the ultimate experience!

Really helpful. Listened very carefully to what I wanted, helping me put together the best package for our ultimate trip of a life time.

For the serious wildlife photographer Alaska is a paradise with stunning scenery, bears, whales and amazing birdlife . It is impossible to do it justice in a few weeks. I decided to spend 3 weeks concentrating on the puffins on St Paul Island, the whales in Auke Bay and the bears in Katmai National Park. Some of these places are very remote and Wildlife Trails sorted out the logistics of my trip and made helpful recommendations. They were able to put a bespoke trip together for me at substantially less than packages I had found on the web. I was lucky enough to see a huge amount of wildlife including grizzlies fighting over a dead moose, Orcas making a kill, humpbacks breaching, countless cute Arctic fox cubs, tufted and horned puffins and sea otters. As a result I got stunning photos which can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22918294@N04/sets/72157634873113206/ .

Wildlife trails were able to put together a complicated itinerary which required a lot of planning over several months. They worked very hard to find and book suitable international flights for me so I would not have to transit in the USA. entry to the States in Anchorage was very quick (15 minutes) and courteous. They worked very hard in looking at suitable places for me to do a week's whale watching. They booked a package for me to visit St Paul Island which was a great place to see puffins and foxes. They cam up with a very good recommendation for a place for me to stay in Katmai National Park, the Katmai wilderness lodge, which was first class in every respect.