Travel Blog about the National Parks of Belarus

Although Belarus is still a blind spot for most travelers, nature lovers have find their way to
the country much longer. The country consists largely of vast forests, wetlands and swamps. Ideal for outdoor enthusiasts and those looking for game that is so rare in the rest of Europe; bears, moose, many deer, beavers, otters, badgers, owls, lynx, fox and bisons. Belarus is one of the last countries where the European bison is just wild.

No wonder large areas of nature have been declared a national park here. We first visited the Berezinski park, a classic Belarusian nature reserve with forests, swamps and lakes. Many beavers live here and it is the park where one third of the total number of bears in Belarus lives. The park itself has a center with a museum, a hotel, a small zoo with the most famous animals from the reserve, a restaurant and some (relatively short) walks and bike rides plotted. You can also take canoe trips here. You can go with specialists looking for bears and / or beavers, but such excursions must be requested well in advance.

The most famous park is the Beloveshkaya Pushcha National Park, on the border with Poland. The park has a similar design to Berezinski, but is much busier. Everything is also set up in a vaster area. The park is best explored by bicycle, bicycles can be rented at the entrance. If you want to see the bison in the wild, it's best to come in the winter when they come to the central part of the park in search of food.

However, we went on an excursion with a bison specialist early in the morning and were lucky to see a whole herd and a few stray zubrs. Also some foxes and deer. Unfortunately no wolves, although there is normally a good chance of that.

For enthusiasts who are really interested in wildlife spotting, we started looking for a real best kept secret. In the middle of one of the forests of Belarus, one of the world's most famous wolf specialists lives in a beautiful place. You can spend the night with him and his family and go on a safari. Great opportunity to see elk, wolves, beavers, otters, badgers. Reasonable opportunity to see lynx and bear. There are also many bird species, including various owls, grouse and black storks. You go on a safari early in the morning and late afternoon by jeep and during the day you walk through the forest to explore the camera traps that are installed everywhere. These are tough walks, you spend the night in a beautiful, but primitive place. In short, you have to take a beating and some hardships, but you are in one of the best places in Europe to spot these animals.