“What is your favorite trip?”

Wendy Klausner Komarnitsky with a wild bear in Alaska

Well, I get asked that quite a bit after 22 years of planning trips for Natural Habitat Adventures, and I have done most of them. My answer was always our Uganda safari to see the mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and some lesser-knows primates such as the black-and-white colobus monkey.

Drew Hamilton guiding a small group to see grizzly bears

However, this past summer I went on our Wild Alaska Grizzly Encounter with my husband Alek and two teenage sons, Dirk and Kyle. Expedition Leader Drew Hamilton was our naturalist guide, and since he was also my guide when I saw the polar bears and northern lights in Churchill, Canada, I knew I was in excellent hands.

Watching wild bears up close

It was a true privilege to sit and watch the wild brown bears fish, graze on sedge grass and stake out their turf. Moms and cubs were my favorite, the bear cubs reminded me of my own boys wrestling and goofing off. Each bear had a unique personality, you got to know each grizzly, which was an intimate nature experience that the four of us will never forget.

Grizzly mother and cubs

This guest post was written by Senior Adventure Specialist Wendy Klausner. All photos © Wendy Klausner and Alek Komarnitsky.