Andrej brought us out on another early morning elk hunt this morning, with everyone piling into the van at 6 a.m. It was foggy and still outside, plus relatively warm – maybe 60 degrees. But we couldn’t find any elk at the stops in the marsh we made.
We came back for breakfast, which was the usual breads, meats, and cheeses along with fried eggs. Then we we left again. This time, we drove up north to the strict marsh reserve, in which access is restricted to only those with credentialed guides like Andrej. The strict reserve is an area with marsh plus vegetated sand dunes, so it was different terrain. We walked along a trail up to a couple of viewing platforms. We saw a Black Woodpecker and a Crested Tit, which were both new to me, but no elk at all. We were also able to view animal tracked in the moist sand and saw that roe deer, racoon dogs, foxes, wild boars, and badgers had been recent visitors along the trail. At one of the platforms, we ate our packed lunch. Then we hiked back to the car.
We ended up stopping at several viewing spots where Andrej had seen elk in previous visits, but no luck. As we drove through one village, we shared the narrow road with dairy cows being herded by farmers to get milked, which was amusing. We returned to the lodge about 6:45 p.m. It had been a long day.
Dinner was eggplant parmesan, the usual cabbage and beet slaw selections, and dessert was an unusual jello cake.
Tonight we packed to prepare to return to Warsaw tomorrow. And tomorrow morning we’ll try one last time before breakfast to find elk.
Lori's Travels 