Kamchatka

     ALL OUR PROGRAMS IN KAMCHATKA ARE SUITABLE FOR USUAL TOURISTS, JUST LOVING WILD NATURE AND ACTIVE WAY OF LIFE.

     ALL OF THEM ARE CONSTRUCTED OF SOME SEPARATE "BRICKS" WHICH CAN BE REPLACED, MOVED AND IT IS POSSIBLE TO CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN ITINERARY.

     HERE WE REPRESENT SOME INFORMATION ABOUT KAMCHATKA

     After the World was created it seems that Mother Nature felt another creative urge. It is a pity that no one will ever suspect the fantasies required of her. And then she created Kamchatka.

     It's not our job to judge how real legend is. But all serious scientists and researches during the last couple of centuries who have worked on Kamchatka research agree about one thing: this peninsula is a unique ecological museum under the open sky created as a gift to humanity.

     Kamchatka is without exaggeration one of the most spectacular regions in Russia. It occupies the area of 470,000 sq. km, which equals the size of France, Belgium and Luxembourg combined, and separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. One should not confuse Kamchatka with Siberia; this name is used for the peninsula itself and the closest part of the continent, including Karaginsky Island and the Komandorsky Archipelago.
    The mountain ridges - Sredinny, Valaginsky, Ganalsky and Kumroch - stretch from the north to the south giving the peninsula the shape of a giant fish. There are more than 160 volcanoes on the peninsula (29 of them are active), due to the fact that it lies on the Great Pacific “ring of fire”.

     Volcanoes and volcanic peaks, cyclones and underground heat created here a mixture of twenty climate zones and a great variety of flora and fauna which are separated from each other sometimes only by a few hours of driving or even walking. But the main attractions of Kamchatka are volcanic calderas, stone sculpture “parks” and lakes in craters, geysers and mineral springs, all in pristine condition.

     Maybe in some way Kamchatka decided to comfort people living in this territory for their isolation from the rest of the continent by creating a microcosm of different climatic conditions as well as the flora and fauna of Asian Russia. In any case tourists who decide to travel through Kamchatka should prepare themselves for a variety of weather surprises and bring an unusual selection of clothing.
     For example, at the end of June in the North of the peninsula you will walk on snow. In the East in a single day you can experience midsummer heat and autumn rain. At the same time, in the central part of the peninsula you will be charmed by summer warmth, blossoming bird cherry trees and high meadows and grass. In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski during a walk on the Avachinskaya Bay you will be freshened by sea breeze. Lovers of mountain skiing will find exotic runs here and will acquire a beautiful suntan. So please pack in you suitcase everything from a swimsuit to a warm jacket for all seasons and their pleasures. In describing winter travel in Kamchatka one of the popular topics is a blizzard. We need to admit that those blizzards are really for lovers for all sensations, people who would like to test themselves as penguins - for snow and wind. Well Kamchatka gives you sun no less generously than snowstorms. It compares with the average amount of sun hours in most popular resorts.

     Kamchatka is the land of mountains and river valleys, lakes and volcanoes, abundant wildlife and vegetation. The stems of giant grasses covering the big areas in July and August can reach more than 3 meters in height, many of them are edible. The ancient natives used to make salmon stew with more than 20 different species of green herbs, which are also good in salads. The abundance of wild berries of different kinds is amazing. The forests, composed of stone-birch trees, cover hills and mountains of Coastal Kamchatka areas. Under the strikes of sometimes furious Pacific cyclones, the trunks and branches of these trees are shaped in fantastic curved figures twisting like the bodies of frozen snakes. The marsh cedar and willow cover the whole fields by their thick bushes stretching sometimes for many miles.

     The fauna of Kamchatka represents about forty species of mammals, and little more than two hundred bird species.. Some species occur in unusually large numbers. For instance, the population of brown bears on Kamchatka, about 10,000 individuals, is the largest in Russia, and the bear itself is smaller only than the Aleutian Kodiak bear and the North American grizzly. Foxes and sables thrive in the forests. The Kamchatka snow can be observed here. There are a great many hares, ermines, and ground squirrel. Steller's sea eagle is the largest bird on Kamchatka. The various different salmon species, of course, are the true wealth of the peninsula and the population's economic mainstay. This account of the fauna of Kamchatka would be incomplete without some mention of those creatures, which are not found on the peninsula. There are no poisonous spiders, no snakes, frogs or toads. The total absence of reptiles is a mystery to zoologists and a piece of good fortune for the inhabitants; snakes living in the cover of such dense, tall grasses would be a great nuisance.