After travelling 4000 plus miles from Phoenix, AZ I arrived in north western South America, at 1am. My expedition liaison, Charles, was awaiting my arrival with a paper bag fully stocked with trail mix, chocolates, and water with “gas.”

I’m sure he was delighted for my arrival as 1 week prior the originally planned journey was cancelled at Skyharbor due to the upcoming expiration of my passport. You have to understand that I’m a master procrastinator and the older i get the worse it becomes. I had 2.5 months left and hoped the foreign government would overlook the mandatory minimum 6 month requirement- like Dominica did several weeks early. This was not the case. I was turned back at the ticket counter and drove 3hrs back home with my camera equipment fresh, clean, and intact. Luckily, the Western Passport Center in Tucson was able to renew my documents in under 3hrs several days later. I immediately contacted Charles and the game was once again “afoot.”

After getting my covid test at the airport I continued my journey. Several hours after rolling back and forth on a twin mattress in the back of a Hyundai passenger wagon, I had arrived. Miguel, a Peruvian biologist and Inca trail guide, was ready to take me hiking down a 300m gorge in search of the majestic and seldomly seen Spectacled Bear.

Simply viewing these beasties from the lookout platform might suffice for the pedestrian wildlife enthusiast, but I’m an extremophile. Go hard or go home. So upon hiking down this steep gorged I had to bring all my heavy artillery including 2 full frame Nikon bodies with 2 very large lenses, 2 GFXs with their lenses, and carbon fiber tripod with gimbal head. I’d estimate 50lbs or more of equipment. Bravado inherits a tough guy persona, but I happily shared the load with Miguel.

At the base of the gorge a river camp was set up 20m from a makeshift bridge disguised as a fallen tree, which I like to call the bear highway. This highway served as a travel route between the foraging and resting grounds and our most reliable spot for photography.

Day 1

Slow start. 3-4 bears were spotted from the lookout. 2 were 100 meters above the gorge and 1 was walking underneath a fig tree. The plan was to reach the base camp and wait for them to cross bear highway. Not much action from 7am to 11am other than serving as a smorgasbord for voracious black flies. Our local guide, the bear whisperer, who was our main spotter, suggested that we return to the lodge 300m up, have lunch, and try again later. We all agreed and I started to pack.

I turned by back and started disassembling the largest kit. Once the Z7II was disconnected, the bear whisperer shouted “CHREES!!” and pointed towards the highway which was behind me. I didn’t have time to reconnect the kit and instead immediately reached for the second largest kit and started spraying and praying. No time to adjust settings. I rattled off maybe 10 shots. Several with it standing on the rock inspecting us and the more of it walking across the bridge to eastern region of the gorge. It was a small bear, maybe 1.5yo and 150lbs.

Naïve and inquisitive as we later learned that it did not venture far after our initial encounter. We later found it 50m from out base camp resting in a fig tree. The light was dim and ISO was high. Up to 3200 on the Nikon and 5000 on the GFX 100 with exposure comp from 0.7- 1.3. I was able to acquire a beautiful full body shot of it sitting on a branch about 2m from me.

The most challenging part was maneuvering through the dense lowly lit forest. It was reminiscent of trekking Sifakas in Ranomafana or cutting through bamboo forests of Kahuzi Biega. The main contrast was that we needed stealth and silence in order not to spook the animals.

Day 2

I believe yesterday was the young bear’s initial encounter with us bipedal long-legged primates. Most likely intimidating and threatening as we suspected that it communicated a warning with the other bears to maintain great distance.

Despite spotting 7 bears none were less than 250m from the base of the gorge. The most successful image I could acquire was 225m away at 1000mm.

Day 3

Expectations were low. I had an ok first day and a fruitless second. I’ve been skunked many times on these trips… landlocked in Kaktovik as my guide refused to enter the bay to photograph Polar bears due to strong winds... 8 safaris in Bandhavgarh with 1 shot of a Bengal tiger’s ass 100m away which was quickly shrouded by an incoming gyspy jeep filled with loud tourists. To have left with a couple “ok” shots would have been disappointing, but that’s the nature of this hobby.

The first couple hrs at our base we spotted 1 bear 300m high peeking over a cliff and a quick glimpse of another slightly lower. Then late morning as I was standing up to balancing my gimbal I saw a fig tree 50m to my right shaking vigorously and a dark furry shadow at the top. My catecholamine discharge directed Miguel to cross the bridge and find which tree held the bear. After affirmation I jumped into the forest and found the same young bear from 2 days ago feasting at the peak of the tree. I guess she wasn’t as intimidated by us as I earlier thought.

As I reached the base I fired off several shots from 15-20m below. It maintained eye contact and was slowly building confidence as it kept creeping closer. It reached the trunk’s bifurcation 2-3 ft above the ground. It’s inquisitiveness raised my anxiety. Should I risk life and limb by switching to the 100-200mm lens or give it more respect and leave? I did both and only decided to retreat down my escape route after it had all 4 limbs close to the ground, vocalizing baritone warning grunts and salivating.

I re-positioned myself opposite my previous location to fire off shots of it’s face peering through the trunk’s bifurcation. I probably spent 1hr with it until i decided to back off in order to reduce it’s stress level.

Soon after the bear whisperer told us of another bear maybe 50m from us. A larger older bear in a fig tree. I needed that shot. I brought the 2 biggest lenses and as quietly and briskly rushed to the sight. Lo and behold a massive beast maybe 350lbs agilely maneuvering 15m above us within a fig tree breathing heavily, drooling, and urinating over our heads. Miguel, the bear whisperer, and I were climbing, slipping, repositioning and shooting through loose dirt and steep walls. Success!

I called an early end and hiked 300m vertical with heavy gear, 2400m altitude, and warm midday temperatures. The exasperation of the climb was overshadowed by the unforgettable encounters. Bear Gorge, like pumaland and the pantanal, is the next high profile destination of south america. No place offers unadulterated interactions and peaceful solitude. I’m glad to say that my gear returned to Arizona caked with dirt, sweat, and pesky black fly carcasses.

November 2021