Grad Snežnik
From Piran, our road trip turned towards the east. We split up since Anh Vu and Chi Nga weren’t interested in the activities we had planned for the day. Instead, they made their way over to our final destination Podsreda Castle in Kozjanski Regional Park. Lucky for them, they arrived early and were treated to a live concert in the castle.
Because our main activity wasn’t until the afternoon, we decided to visit another castle on the way. Sneznik is a smaller residential castle that was built some time between the 10th and 11th century. The little lake and the double-arch bridge leading up to the entrance gave the castle a bit of charm. Since the only way to view the inside of the castle was with an hour-long guided tour, we opted to stroll through the shady park full of linden trees behind the castle instead.
Slovenian Bears, Ložu
Slovenia has one of the highest populations of brown bears in the world. Brought back from the brink of extinction thanks to Slovenia’s strong conservation programs, there are now close to 1000 bears thriving in the country’s southern forests. Of course the growth and popularity of these adorable bears means that there is also a market for bear watching enthusiasts. Individuals and companies “train” these wild animals to look for food at certain times of day in certain locations, areas with observational sheds nearby. And once the bear behavior pattern has been established, companies can offer pricey tours that most likely will result in bear sightings in its natural habitat. And who can resist that? Probably most people but not us!
After arriving at the meeting place, we followed the truck up the mountain until we came to a dirt road. Then, we parked our car and climbed into the truck and zipped up the ziggy-zaggy mountain road at top speeds. We were holding on for dear life, but the driver knew the road well and knew when to slow down for harp turns. We had no choice but to trust her with our lives.
At the trailhead, we got out and followed the guide quietly through the forest for about a quarter of a mile to a group of sheds in the forest. There was only one other guy on the tour with us. He went into a separate shed beside ours. Our guide made sure we locked our door from the inside and repeated the instructions one last time before she left. Do not open the door for any reason at all except for when they come back to retrieve us. Make as little noise and movement as possible as to not startle the bears away. Then she went out into the forest about 50 yards from the sheds to check the hidden cameras and to lure our special guests by pouring dried corn kernels onto the forest floor in strategic locations that would give us the best views.
Lyle set up his camera through one of the two holes in the shed, and then the waiting game began. About 15 minutes in, I dozed off. In all fairness, it was afternoon naptime for me.
Not long after, Lyle nudged me awake. From the top right side of the forest, a big brown bear was casually lumbering down the slope to the log straight in front of the shed within our view where the guide had thrown down some corn. He started munching and digging with his snout all along the log. When he was done with that spot, he searched around the area for other pockets of sweet corn. Every once in a while, he would stop, perk up and freeze for a couple minutes as if he were listening or smelling for anything unusual. Once he determined that everything was okay, he was back to eating.
For forty-five minutes, he walked back and forth in front of us, a natural model even though he didn’t know it. The many different expressions on his face were at times so goofy and adorable. The cloudy skies from earlier in the day had cleared up and golden sunlight filtered through the forest right when our bear was posing for us. His brown luxurious fur gleamed in the sunlight. Such a perfect specimen of a brown bear!