Japan - the home of endangered and endemic wildlife the hidden wildlife paradise of Japan Japan's Winter Wildlife Safari A winter ballet of cranes, swans, stellar sea eagles, snow monkeys and more Jan 28 - Feb 09
2011 Join WANT Expeditions on another incredible tour to see the most amazing natural phenomena that exist on our planet. This time our destination is Japan. The snowy winter grounds of Japan create a surreal environment to observe and photograph the ballet of endangered Red-Crowned Cranes feeding in the early morning lights, pink-faced, sweet Snow Monkeys soaking their cares away in steaming hot springs, majestic Stellar Sea Eagles swooping out of the sky to snatch up fish out of a slushy, ice strewn sea, and hundreds of elegant Whooper Swans gliding in and out of reflecting, flat waters. We’ll also have the opportunity to view several endemic mammal species, such as Japanese Serow and Squirrels. On another exciting note, we’ll have the benefit of the author of “Birds of East Asia” to accompany us on this unforgettable excursion. See you there! Detailed itinerary: | Jan 28 | arrive to Tokyo |
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| | The first day of our fascinating Japan safari is dedicated to our international arrivals. We are welcome to arrive throughout the day, and will be met at Narita airport and transferred to our hotel in Tokyo. The rest of the day is free for exploration on foot or to take a rest, before our first organized event, the Welcome Speech and Welcome Dinner, which will take place at our hotel. After dinner, we will make sure that we all have adequate equipment for the various winter activities we intend to experience during our journey, before we retire in order to save enough energy for the adventurous next two weeks that are ahead of us. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Grand Palace
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| Jan 29 | Tokyo/Tateshina |
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| | For those of us who are ready for an early morning rise today, we are going to take off at 5 am and visit Tsukiji, reputedly the world’s largest fish market! This market is at its busiest between 5 and 7 in the morning, so for us, in order to experience the real bustle of it and see and photograph all the amazing (and unfortunately often endangered) sea creatures that exchange ownership, we certainly need to be here during these hours. Once we have taken all the images we wanted to and our stomach calls for us to breakfast, we return to our hotel for breakfast at 7:30 and an 8:30 departure. On our way out of town, we will visit two more fascinating cultural places of Tokyo – the shrines of Meiji and Asakusa. Once we have experienced these spiritual places and taken our outstanding winter images, we’ll depart from Tokyo and drive westbound, towards the central region of the Japanese Alps. Our destination is a protected area in a pristine, forested mountain range, called Tateshina. A very nice roadside restaurant will serve us lunch en route, and we expect to check in at our lodge by mid afternoon. One of the main attractions here is an excellent animal attraction that is frequently visited in daylight hours by up to a dozen bird species and the endemic Japanese Squirrel, then Raccoon Dogs and Japanese Martens by night. As soon as we have checked into our lodgings, we’ll be able to comfortably settle in and enjoy the rest of the evening, excitedly watching, identifying and photographing all the species visiting the feeders, and we’ll continue to do so after dark (just before 5 pm), when the nocturnal species appear. Once we have taken all the images we wish we’ll return to our rooms to refresh, then gather in the dining room for an authentic Japanese dinner. | | | Accomodation: Resort-Penshon Berg-cot
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| Jan 30 | Tateshina |
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| | Once again, our keen photographers and wildlife enthusiasts will be up just before the rising sun, in an attempt to watch and photograph the last nocturnal animals foraging in the rising dawn, before they disappear and give way to the first arrivals of their diurnal relatives. At around 9 in the morning, we all meet for breakfast, and within an hour or so, we take off on the extensive trail system of the forest, in search of the unique and rare wildlife that inhabit this region. The most exiting species residing here is the Japanese Serow, an endemic goat-antelope, which frequents the forests around us, giving us the best opportunity in Japan to get to know this unique animal. While we are searching for the Serow, we’ll keep a sharp eye out for woodpeckers and other forest birds, including the beautiful Copper Pheasant. We also expect to have several opportunities to photograph endemic, amusing and playful Japanese Squirrels. With all of our stops, our hike is expected to last more than four hours, so we will be equipped with a great picnic lunch and a thermos with refreshing hot drinks to enjoy enroute. We return to our lodge in the middle of the afternoon, just in time for a hot shower and for another two hours of wildlife photography at the feeders. After dinner, we’ll have another chance to observe and photograph the behavior of all the nocturnal animals in the area. As exciting as today has been, some of us may choose to retire to save energy for our upcoming iconic experiences of Japan – Snow Monkeys in the hot springs. | | | Accomodation: Resort-Penshon Berg-cot
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| Jan 31 | Tateshina/Jigokudani |
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| | Since we will have to cover a reasonable distance today, our morning will mimic yesterday’s events. Early risers will gather around the feeder at or before sunrise, then we’ll gather for an early breakfast, followed by an early departure. Our destination is a delightful local Japanese hotspring inn at Kambayashi Onsen, the closest such establishment to Jigokudani, the small protected area preserving the habitat of the Snow Monkeys. We arrive at our lodge for lunch, and as soon as we have satisfied our dietary needs, we take off on a one-mile icy trail, leading us to the famous hot springs. We are going to spend the entire afternoon here, enjoying, watching, observing, learning, and interacting with the incredibly michevious and photogenic Snow Monkeys. On a sunny day, we can expect the monkeys to be very playful and very interactive, on a snowy, gray day, we can expect them to be more ‘attached’ to the hot water, giving us more opportunities for those classic shots of snow-covered monkeys relaxing in the hot bath. Once the fading daylight pushes us back to our lodge, we have the opportunity to slip into a relaxing hotspring bath ourselves, followed by another delicious far-eastern dinner. | | | Accomodation: Jinpyo-kaku
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| Feb 1 | Jigokudani |
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| | As we have now familiarized ourselves with the trail to and from Jigokudani, today we are free to design our own activities. As sunrise comes late down into the valley, and as the monkeys arrive even later, we take a liesurely start today and have breakfast at 7:30 before setting off for the hotsprings. There we have the whole day to enjoy photographing and observing our „relatives“ playing in and out of the steaming waters. Today is another opportunity to find the Japnese Serow. If you choose, you may also arrange for a few more hours of beauty rest, and arrive later in the morning. For lunch, just ten minutes from the monkeys site, we visit a very rustic mountain lodge , – in fact monkeys sometimes clamber over the roof of this – then return to the monkeys for the afternoon. Regardless, of your preference to spend the afternoon, we are free to return to our inn at any time following lunch. Dinner will be arrange in advance by your expedition leader. | | | Accomodation: Jinpyo-kaku
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| Feb 2 | Jigokudani/Tsurui |
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| | Today we set off heading to another world famous Japanese winter scene in the northern island of Hokkaido to see dancing Red-crowned Cranes! Breakfast will be served from 7:30, followed by our departure at 9 am. Our long drive to Tokyo will be broken up by a fascinating cultural experience – a visit to the 400 years old Matsumoto Castle. This perfectly restored lowland castle offers outstanding photo opportunities in the winter, with its black towers, walls and roofed passageways standing out against the stark backdrop of the snow covered Japan Alps, it will be difficult to resist taking too many photos. Once we have fully explored the grounds, including the gun museum on the second floor of the main tower, we drive to a roadside restaurant for lunch. From here we journey to Tokyo’s domestic airport and check in for our late afternoon flight. We are scheduled to land at Kushiro, in Hokkaido, at 7:30 pm, and will then drive about 45 minutes to our family run hotel in Tsurui Village. We will be served a late dinner, and have the opportunity to soak in another hotspring (this one is known to have be best hotspring in Hokkaido) before retiring, so that we can start the next day early with the world famous Red-Crowned Cranes. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Taito
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| Feb 3 | Tsurui/Akan/Tsurui |
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| | The endangered cranes of the Tsurui area have a very specific daily routine. Each night is spent roosting at a safe riverine site before flying out later in the morning to their foraging grounds. In winter, they are provisioned with supplemental food by rangers at three separate sites. Their roosting site at Tsurui is a small riverbed, so the best viewing is from a bridge, specifically built for visitors to enjoy this scene. This bridge is where the rising sun will greet us for an hour or two of crane watching, before we return to our hotel for a fulfilling and warm breakfast. After breakfast we spend some more time at the bridge, then as the cranes slowly move to their foraging grounds at Ito Sanctuary, we’ll follow them and continue to observe and photograph from a designated viewing area. As difficult it will be to tear ourselves away from this beautiful spectacle, another amazing wildlife experience occurring in the area awaits us for lunch time. About an hour’s drive away from Ito, in Akan village, the rangers feed live fish to the cranes. Our goal is to be in Akan prior to lunch, in order to leave plenty of time to grab our “front row” seats and have equipment set up well before feeding happens. Whooper Swans also sometimes gather here, but once the feeding frenzy begins– the cranes busily attack the fish, while White-tailed Sea Eagles swoop in from above to try and snatch their share, occasionally joined by wily Red Fox (a local subspecies) dashing in from the sidelines. This amazing scene will last for about an hour, after which we return to Tsurui for additional wildlife viewing and photography before the lack of daylight pushes us back to the hotel. A well-deserved soak in the hot spring and a pleasant traditional Japanese dinner will conclude this fantastic day in ‘north country’. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Taito
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| Feb 4 | Tsurui/Lake Kussharo |
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| | This morning is another opportunity to enjoy and photograph the majestic cranes. Our day will start on the bridge at the crane roosting site prior to breakfast. For those of you catching a few extra winks, or spending the morning packing, you can meet us at breakfast, then after breakfast, we quickly check out, and drive to the Ito Sanctuary once more to catch the cranes arriving to their feeding grounds. Then, late morning, we’ll set off for yet another famous wildlife encounter – Lake Kussharo and its hundreds of beautiful Whooper Swans. Our first stop en route is at a caldera lake -Mashu-ko, ringed by impressive mountains, where we enjoy the superbly photogenic scenery and a delicious local lunch. Next stop is at Mount Iwo, with its impressive sulfur springs and similarly great scenery. Then, at around 2:30 in the afternoon, we check into our hotel in Kawayu, before heading out to the shores of Lake Kussharo to enjoy the 200 Whooper Swans gathering here for their winter meal provided by local rangers. A beautiful mountainous backdrop provides a great scene for the large white birds, approaching us by air and land, confident in their belief that we possess an additional afternoon snack hidden amongst our gear. As the night falls, we head back to our accommodation, a rather western-style hotel, with hot showers and other amenities we will appreciate. Dinner will also be served here, followed by a short presentation about the majestic Steller’s Sea Eagles, our main target species for the next two days. | | | Accomodation: Pension Papilio
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| Feb 5 | Lake Kussharo/Shiretoko Peninsula |
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| | By now everyone will be in the early morning wildlife viewing groove, and the group will be hedging bets on who will be the first to rise. We’ll enjoy the beautiful Whooper swans as soon daylight breaks, then everyone can meet for breakfast afterwards –prior to checking out and heading northeast, towards Shiretoko Peninsula. On our way, we will attempt to find some roosting Ural Owls (the second largest species in Japan), and then check in at our lodge in the town of Rausu, on the Shiretoko Peninsula, for a late lunch. Following lunch, we will be back on the bus, exploring the Shiretoko coastline, looking out not only for the iconic Steller’s Sea Eagles, but also for many other species of birds, including indigenous Sika Deer on the forested slopes overlooking the ocean, Largha Seals, and Steller’s Sea Lions offshore. All-in-all, today will be a leisurely, enjoyable, safari-style afternoon, inside our heated vehicle. We return to the hotel after dark, enjoying a delicious dinner and keeping fingers crossed for favorable ice conditions the following morning. | | | Accomodation: Pension Rausukuru
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| Feb 6 | Shiretoko Peninsula |
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| | During the winter, large amounts of sea ice drift down on the current from the Sea of Okhotsk into the Nemuro Channel, sometimes reaching Rausu. This ice acts as the perfect platform for the endangered Steller’s Sea Eagles to feed from. Unfortunately, due to climate change, the accumulation of sea ice has grown less reliable in the last decade; however, if it is present we will take the opportunity to go out by boat to the ice edge this morning in the hope of getting up close to the eagles. When the ice conditions are favorable, we will have two options to choose from – a sunrise cruise departing at around 6 am, or a later cruise at 9 am. Our trip price includes one boat excursion this morning, but for those of us who would like to participate in both, you can purchase the second ticket on site and go out again, as soon as we are back from the sunrise cruise. Under favorable conditions, we expect to see as many as 50 Steller’s Sea eagles round the boat. Regardless of boating opportunities, we’ll see plenty of eagles along the shore and over the sea. After lunch in Rausu, we will spend the afternoon driving again along the peninsula, to explore the many harbors for ducks, seals and of course, for more sea eagles. We return to our accommodation in Rausu for a delicious dinner and overnight. | | | Accomodation: Pension Rausukuru
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| Feb 7 | Shiretoko Peninsula/Yoroushi |
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| | This morning is dedicated to a second opportunity for a boat tour out to the sea ice, on the same basis as before with one tour included. Those eager to take a second trip this morning, can also by an additional ticket locally. However, those going on the 9 am boat will have to be packed beforehand, because as soon as the group has returned to shore, we will leave immediately, this time heading for the interior of the island. Our destination is a lovely remote lodge, with bird feeders and unique wildlife to be seen. After a quick lunch break on the road, we will arrive at our lodge during the early afternoon, giving us two hours of daylight to enjoy the multitude of birds on the feeders. However, the main attraction here is only likely to show as dusk falls and afterwards – the elusive Sable. This boreal mustellid will hopefully visit the feeders, giving us a great opportunity to observe and to take images. Dinner will be served at the lodge, after which we are welcome to stay at the feeders’ window as longs as we like, especially because yet another unique species of the area, the Blakinston’s Fish Owl might come by. | | | Accomodation: Yuyado Daiichi
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| Feb 8 | Yoroushi/Sapporo |
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| | If we are lucky, some Sables will still be around the feeder as dawn breaks this morning, so we will be able to take a few images with favorable light conditions. Breakfast will be served at around 9 in the morning, allowing us adequate time to observe and enjoy our last morning around wildlife. After breakfast, we check out and drive to a nearby airport at Nakashibetsu, for our flight to Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture. The reason for our visit is to attend the largest snow statue and ice sculpture-making contest in the world, commonly referred to as the Sapporo Snow Festival. Upon arrival, we transfer to our hotel, enjoy a great lunch and head out to Odori Park -a park which runs right through the center of the city and the main site of the contest and exhibit. There we will be able to enjoy the hundreds of pieces created by a large number of international teams. We continue our exploration into the evening, until our hunger draws us back to the hotel for a fascinating Farewell Dinner and final night with our team members. It will take us hours to recap the large array of great experiences we have had in Japan, and probably several weeks after our return for editing our amazing photographs. | | | Accomodation: Renaissance Sapporo Hotel
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| Feb 9 | Sapporo/homebound |
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| | This morning is the official end of our Japan Winter Safari, however, those of us who would like to extend their stay and spend another day or two in Sapporo, are more than welcome to. There are international flights leaving Sapporo twice a day, which makes it easy to book our homebound flights directly out of town. Whichever flight we have chosen, we will be transported to the airport for our check in and departure. Our trip finishes at the airport, have a safe flight home! | | | |
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