Certain animals achieve iconic status. They become a symbol of the wild nature of the area - where you haven't just taken a walk in a well-groomed city park and seen a sparrow, but you feel that NOW you've seen something special.
We've travelled up to North East Estonia to get acquainted with bears and see what else they have to offer.
Our small dog is travelling with us, which is both a benefit and a challenge.
Part of the challenge is that wild animals are notoriously shy and will be almost impossible to encounter when the dog is with us. And then there's the fact that the Big Bad Wolf lives in the woods...right where we'll be camping.
Before the rooftop tent is even pitched, deer have wandered across the forest road. 30 minutes later, a mature moose trots across one of the many firebreaks in the forest.
This bodes well.
Johnny is the first to get an overnight stay in the photo shelter while Sus is dog-sitting in the camp. You go to the photo shelter at 15:45 and are not allowed to leave until 8:00 the next morning.
The first few hours are spent looking eagerly at an empty landscape, tweaking your setup a bit and then hoping intensely that you get lucky...
Slowly but surely, the first animals start to appear. Well, not the mosquitoes - because they keep you with enthusiastic company all the time. But gradually something is stirring.
A handsome fox appears, lurking in the evening sun. A raccoon dog also makes its entrance. They keep a respectful distance from each other.
Then the first brown bear appears... and suddenly the mosquitoes get zero attention and are free to suck on arms and legs.
Time passes quickly, it all becomes a very intense experience when you have to let the camera follow the animals around. By 11pm, the light is so dim that even the new camera struggles to produce usable images. At midnight it was time to grab some sleep - the alarm was set for 3am in the hope of being able to take some pictures again.
At 3am the alarm clock vibrates and I sleepily shuffle towards the viewing hole for the camera.
Great, there's still a bear out there.
Still a little clumsy due to fatigue, I push a chair and the sound it makes...scares the bear away...
At 08:00, I can walk out of the photo shelter to the guide waiting to give me a lift to Sus's forest camp.
Estonia's forests are big, wild and full of animals. A moose had woken Sus last night and held a 15-minute lament, complaining that there was an adventure car with a roofed tent right where it wanted to go. A wolf had left large footprints where the little dog was walked.
The next afternoon it was Sus's turn to try her luck in the photo hide.
At first, only our old friends - the mosquitoes - show themselves at the photo shelter.
But after a few hours, nature unfolds again. Birds, foxes and raccoon dogs are the first to feel safe. After a while, the brown bears overcome their natural shyness and decide to pursue a career as a photo model.
Photo sessions tend to take place in waves, there can be a long period of time where the animals are a little distant and difficult to photograph. Then suddenly everything changes direction and everything is set up for good shots. It's all about being constantly aware and reading how things develop.
Apparently Sus is a bear whisperer, because she captures many situations that only last a few seconds - and then disappear forever.
It turned out to be a huge advantage to have divided the photo sessions between us. Not only did we have more time, but we each had the optimal gear for the situation.
Estonia is a wild and excellent overland destination.
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