The Waterfall “Black Shaman”

Extra charge: 

- air ticket Vladivostok-Terney-Vladivostok 

- Excursion to the Cape North or Lake Blagodatno - the territory of the Sikhote-Alin Reserve. (3-4 hours)

The Amginsky waterfall is a natural monument located in a narrow (sometimes up to 2 m wide) and winding canyon with known rocky sides (up to 100 m high). The height of the highest of the Great Amga waterfall is 37 m. The canyon extends for 1.5 km, with a gradual decrease in the height of the rocky sides from 150 m to 8-10 m to the upper reaches. On the right bank of Amga river there is the Amginsky waterfall, which was first described by VK Arseniev in October 1906. The waterfall is located in a narrow stone corridor, the upper edges of which are slightly curved inwards, the water is like a pipe. At the base of the waterfall, the water swirls, creating a large foam boiler. The rocks here have a brownish-red coloration and in some places are covered with bright green moss. This gives the waterfall a special beauty.

Terney is a small town in the northeast of Primorskii Krai in 650 km from the city of Vladivostok. It’s situated on the right bank of the Serebrjanka River, in 3 km from where it overflows into the Sea of ​​Japan. The Terney Bay was open to Europeans by La Perouse on June 23, 1787 and named after the French navigator Admiral Charles de Ternay. The population of the village is 4000 people. The main activities are timber harvesting and conversion. Since 1992 the Sikhote-Alin Reserve had a joint Russian-American program for the study and protection of the tiger - "WCS" - "Siberian Tiger".

The Kema River is well known to rafting enthusiasts for its rapids of the I-V category of difficulty. It’s a good place for fishing and traveling. Kema springs from the eastern slope of the Sikhote-Alin Range, near its main watershed, and flows southwards, pouring into the Storm Bay of the Sea of Japan near the village of Velikaya Kema. The length of the river is 119 km, its entry width before the river’s influx into the sea is 50 - 70 m., and the depth comes up to 3.2 m. The main side streams: Severyanka, Porozhistaya (Sitsa), Dolinnaya, Western Kema (Takunzha), Brusnichnaya (Chima), Talnikovaya (Ilmo), Geologicheskaya (Sekunzha). The entire territory of the basin is covered with dense taiga flora. The mixed forest (spruce, silver-fir, oak, birch) and shrubs are predominant. The slopes are steep, sometimes scarp. The bottom of the riverbed in the upper reaches of the river is composed of large stones and boulders, and in the lower reaches – of shingles. The width of the river in the upper reaches does not exceed 15 m, spreading out near the mouth to 50-70 m. The river is popular among water tourists, having obstacles up to the 5th category of difficulty. In the middle reaches of the river, where there are several difficult rapids, “Kema-rally” competitions are held. Picturesque landscapes of the Far East taiga in combination with the purest water make recreation on the Kema River vivid and memorable.

Cape North. The tour provides an introduction to the life of larga seals. The rookery is located on the cliffs of the Cape North. Seals are here all year round, and a gathering of up to 400 seals could be seen on the stones during the summering and the autumn-winter migration. The route starts from the upland fringe of the Suhoi Klyuch spring, the spawning grounds of the salmonid species of fish. The route then goes through the forest and meadow. Tourists will be able to see the Manchurian walnut, alder, ash, maple. A lot of flowers blossom here in spring and summer. The whole trail abounds with traces of activities of wild boars, dapple deer, wapiti, hares, roe deer, as well as bear and tiger tracks. The path leads to the observation deck, where tourists would be able to watch birds and seals. The rookery at the Cape North is one of the few places on the coast of the Sea of Japan, where a large number of these sea animals gather. Tourists are treated to beautiful views of the Sea of Japan, Lake Blagodatnoye, Udobnaya Bay.

The trail goes down from the observation deck to the shore of the Udobnaya Bay, the sandy beaches of which often hold traces of foxes and raccoon dogs that like to feed on dead marine invertebrates and fish thrown out on the shore by the storm. Here on the shore the tourists could see the remains of sea shellfish, hedgehogs and sea plants.

Lake Blagodatnoye is rightfully considered the gem of the Sikhote-Alin Reserve. There is a good reason why the first settlers called this picturesque lake-like lagoon a "Lake of heavenly grace." Located on the coast of the Sea of Japan, it has the form of a picture-postcard bowl, surrounded by mountains. Lake Blagodatnoye is a unique creation of nature; it was formed on the site of a sea lagoon and is separated from the Sea of Japan only by a narrow shingle spit that erodes away during heavy storms. At such time, especially in the first few days, large flocks of fish can be observed going into the sea. On the tour visitors will learn about the unique ecosystem that represents an important and distinctive part of the sea coast. The path runs through the wet relict meadows, left behind by a dried out sea lagoon. Springs and summers there are lush with flowering of mixed herbs, resulting in a great variety of bright colors worthy of the artist's brush. During the excursion visitors will learn about a variety of valuable plants growing in the reserve, among which are rare species of orchids, Far Eastern orchid, Asian pogonia, sundew, thymus ternejicus, legendary Palibins Edelweiss. Many of the plants are subject to special protection and are listed in the Red Book of Russia. Dense thickets of reeds framing the lake are a nesting place for many species of birds, including very rare ones. Here they are provided with abundant forage reserve and can live in peace. The lake is often visited be whooping swans and several species of geese and herons. Various kinds of ducks join them for a short rest, including the most beautiful of them all - mandarin ducks. The lake attracts a variety of animals; bears and wild boars can find a lot of food there - the shore is always filled with a huge number of their tracks. And in the evenings and early morning roe deer, red deer and dapple deer can be seen venturing out of the forest surrounding the lake. The traces of foxes, badgers and raccoon dogs are very common on the trail. Such large predators as lynx, wolf and tiger are also frequent visitors in this place. The lake has an observation tower for the convenience of visitors and for watching birds and animals frequenting the shore.

The Sikhote-Alin state natural biosphere reserve is the largest in Primorye (310,000 hectares, including the sea water area), and is located in the sparsely populated northern part of the region. The reserve was created in 1935 to preserve and restore the sable population almost hunted to extinction at the time. Today the main object of protection is the Amur tiger. Nowadays, when there are fewer and fewer corners of untouched nature on the planet, it is very important that each geographic area had a preservation zone - a reference template of primeval landscape, the comparison to which makes it possible to gauge the consequences of human anthropogenic activity. This task is placed on biosphere reserves. Sikhote-Alin was given the status of a biosphere reserve by the decision of UNESCO in 1979. There are 63 species of land mammals in the reserve: the Amur tiger, serow, dapple deer, brown and Himalayan black bears, musk deer and wild boar, Far Eastern red deer and moose. As well as 342 species of birds, 8 reptiles, 5 amphibians, 32 species of freshwater fish, 1100 species of plants, including 38 rare and endangered (yew, devil’s-club, rhododendron fauriei, moccasin flower, etc.).