Natourest - Bear and Wildlife Watching in Estonia

The bear showed up! Which is a better result than another visitor had, who went twice in the 2 preceding days when the bears were elsewhere and were overjoyed that they too saw it. Booking is easy, the meetup point accurate on Google Maps, the hosts on time, following which there's a short (1.7 km) hike to the hides. As the site stipulates: bring your own food and water, and if it's an issue for you to not use public sleeping bags and pillows, these too. The dry toilet is clean and odorless, the hides mosquito-proofed and quite comfortable. I highly recommend the light-gathering binoculars Natourest offers for a small additional fee of €5 - they make a remarkable difference. Note that falling asleep at a reasonable time is not a good idea. The bear arrived at 23:55 and stayed around until 00:50. Stay seated in a chair, where you will doubtless doze off, but you can check the area every when you wake up between these brief naps. The other couple who were on their 3rd night turned in at 23:00, and had I not woken them up, they'd have missed the bear yet again! Also spotted: a wild boar and 3 (invasive) raccoon-dogs.

Amazing! We were greeted by a lovely lady host (i forgot her name) who was very lovely and knowledgable. She took us to the hide, approx 1,7km. Tip: wear long trousers the forest is full of horseflies and they bite! The hide was very well set up. Windows on both sides. Sleeping bags and pillows available if you dont have your own. Everything clean and comfortable. During the stay bear(s) made an appearance 5 times, raccoon dogs were pottering around all night searching for food just outside the hide. Around 4am two rather large boars appeared! Tip: if you dont have binoculars make sure to hire a pair from the natourest in advance. They make a big difference 😃 Overall fantastic experience and well worth the money.

Great experience with my 9yo daughter! We were able to watch the bear for about an hour starting from ~10pm. And I'm pretty sure the guy was walking around our house for also about an hour around 4am (wasn't able to see him though)) Also saw a lot of racoon dogs. Definitely worth the stay!

What an absolutely incredible experience! The hide was in a beautiful peaceful place and we had a really relaxing time watching the birds, waiting and hoping to see some bears. Our patience was rewarded as we saw three different bears (at least) at dusk and lots more at dawn and into the morning. They were so beautiful and very near the hide so we had a great view and took lots of photos! Can't believe we were so lucky! Highlly recommended experience for any nature lover. Bring warm clothes though, as it was really cold in there.

Ok, we were told there would be no warranty of bear sightings but boy , were we some lucky group.
After meeting at the given point and taking the instructions we quietly hiked to the hide. Inside there is a bed and sleeping bag and a dry toilet, basta. More than enough because we spent most of the 10hours inside the hide with watchful waiting on the comfy chairs. Placed bevor the windows. The hide is noise canceled and therefore very closed, not letting air or mosquito in.
The first hour we engaged in unpacking our sleeping stuff and eating our food. This makes more noise then you are aware in normal situations.
After that it was quiet in the hide despite the six pearls and two cameras on tripods.
Only the noise of adjusting the camera, shifting weight on the chair , some whisper off there was a spotting and the clicking of the camera were heard.
The first raccoon dogs showed up!!! And boy, they were cuties. Great fun. Then came a Dachs and stayed at least one hour in the same spot.
And the a big husch from the unsuspected side where Peter sat watching; the 🐻 bear !!!
At the far corner of the place he came out of the woods and in and out again for some minutes.
And again a big husch an hour later;; another big one crossed the place on the other side!!! Stayed there for some minutes and strode away.
Aftee we r that it became so dark, that we slept some hours. The early morning rising was not. Gifted with another sighting but that is part of the experience.
At 7:30am we took a big fresh breath when we opened the door to be led back to our cars.
I highly recommend this trip to everyone patient enough to wait and watch thee fascinating nature in these woods of Estonia. Thank you NatourEst for these memories

Had an amazing stay in the bear watching hideout. Spotted bears at least 8 times. They are unbelievably close without noticing you. Unforgettable experience.

fantastic experience, well organized and customer friendly. Had the amazing chance to watch three bears for about 2.5 hours feeding and strolling around. Thanks to anybody who made this possible

Die Bärenhütte war die Krönung einer einwöchigen Natur-Estlandreise. Ich hätte nicht für möglich gehalten, verschiedene europäische Braunbären wirklich beobachten und fotografieren zu können. Dies war wirklich bis zur völligen Dunkelheit möglich.
Ein wirklich unvergessliches Erlebnis.

Sichtung von Bären und Luchsen aus Beobachtungshütten mitten im Wald. Fantastisches, einmaliges Erlebnis / gut organisiertes Arrangement. Ein Muss auf der Reise durch Estland!

Väga ägedad elamusmatkad, väga ägedad matkajuhid. Soovitan nii jagatud looduselamusi kui eraldi tiimidele või teistmoodi sünnipäeva tähistamiseks.

Einfach ein unglaublich tolles und unvergessliches Erlebnis! Danke Bert!

Come ready for an adventure on multiple fronts. We stayed here in October and it was super cold. The cabin/hide is very bare bones. It's not insulated, there's no running water and no electrical outlets. This would have all been fine had we been better prepared for it.

We think we saw one bear around midnight but it was hard to tell because the lighting was not good. There are a few lights in the area but they were very dim because they are charged by solar panels and there had not been much sun in the three previous days. We did see dozens of raccoon dogs and numerous boars.

I imagine coming in the summer would be a very different and more enjoyable experience.

The bears don’t make a 5 star review. There are a few things that could be improved by NaTourEst. At the moment I think this bear tour is overpriced. You go by your car to the meeting point in the forest and then you’ll walk a 1,7k road to the bear huts. I’d wish that the first meeting is already used to get some information about Estonias nature, the forest and its wildlife and the bears. How many are in the area? What’s done to protect them? When will you most likely see them? How should you behave while in the hut? The walk could be used for some more education about the forest and its plants. Arrived in the hut, we noticed that we were most likely the unfortunate ones as the toilet wasn’t cleaned and Nr#2 already quite filled. It wasn’t that pleasant to use the toilet. I’d wish for some info material in the huts, book and magazines about the bears and nature, etc. but there was none. I think that’s an easy thing to improve.
There is some food for the bears spread in the area so they come to this particular spots. We saw a bear at 6PM, at 9 PM and 11:30 PM. Only for a short time. After sunset it’s hard to see something even though there are some lights. In the morning, you walk back to the cars by yourself. Walking freely in this area is also something we wondered about when there are bears around? To sum it up: 115€ per person is way to overpriced for the experience given. You’re basically just brought to a very basic hut without any further information. We hope that the money will go to conservation efforts and measures.

Leider ist das gebotene "Programm" total überteuert. Man wird von einem Guide 1,7km zu einer Hütte geführt. Man bekommt absolut keine Informationen über den Nationalpark. Der Guide erzählt nichts über den Nationalpark oder über die Bären. Sehr enttäuschend. Der Guide setzt einen dann bei der Hütte ab und geht wieder.

Die Toilette wurde wohl einige Tage nicht geleert. Das hintere Fach war fast randvoll... sehr Schade.

Der Bär wird angefüttert, damit er jeden Tag kommt. Wenn man Glück hat, sieht man ihn vor dem Einbruch der Dunkelheit.

Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass das Geld in Naturschutzprojekte investiert wird.