A date with nine grizzly bears: the Canadian wildlife encounter I'll never forget

We're barely 10 minutes into the bear tour when a whale surfaces near the boat. And then, another. Two humpback whales, cruising through the islands near Campbell River on Vancouver Island.

We're actually on our way to see grizzly bears on a day out with Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours, but I'm not complaining about a little whale-sighting on the way.

We've just left the harbour of Campbell River, a small town on the east of Vancouver Island. The day is soft and grey, clouds hanging heavy over the mountains as we speed through the Inside Passage.

Our guides Cassie and Guy are part of the Homalco First Nation, the people of the fast-running waters. Their territory stretches from Campbell River through the islands and glacial valleys to Orford Bay, where the nation's members guide travellers along the river to see grizzly bears in the wild.

On the way the boat stops at Churchill, an abandoned First Nations village on the very edge of the mainland. We arrive to see a bear cub playing on the grassy hill near the jetty, before its mum ambles through the trees into view. The pair climb an apple tree, wander on to the beach, and clamber through the rocks as we watch from the safety of the jetty - there'll be no walks along the shoreline today.

We eat our lunch on the boat to give the bear and her cub space, and watch an eagle sitting in a tree on the island as we float along.

Guy tells us that the glaciers on the mountain peaks used to extend all the way to the water, but most have receded kilometres back, and some have disappeared entirely.

Cassie tells us the story of the cedar tree, which, according to her nation's story, used to be a friendly and helpful man living in a village on the water.

The creator came to Cedar in a dream and told him to ask his tribe to bury him at the top peak, where the first sunlight fell every morning. And so after his death, the tribe buried Cedar at the top peak, and returned a year later to find a tall cedar tree.

For the Homalco, cedar trees were used in everything from canoes to cradles, paddles to ornaments.

After lunch, we arrive at the grizzlies' home. Guides load us into buses and we drive through the forest, eyes peeled. The rivers are filled with salmon, exhausted from their journey upstream. We drive to the very edge of the river, the bus coming to a sudden stop as a guide points ahead.

A mama bear and her cubs are watching us from the other side of the river.

They scamper off quickly. Our guide tells us to put on our "marshmallow shoes" as we climb up stairs to a viewing platform and gaze across at the valley. A pair of bald eagles perch in a tree, while other birds dive for the salmon swimming upstream. It's a North American dream.

Our guides usher us back into the bus and we drive a way down the road before the driver abruptly stops again. We tiptoe out of the bus to the viewing platform as a mother and her cub amble out of the bushes.

We're barely five metres away. It's the cuddliest-looking bear cub I've seen. I'd like to hug him like a teddy bear. He and his mum lazily catch salmon in the river, feeding up before they go into hibernation for the winter. Standing high above the river, we watch in awe. It's National Geographic, but real life.

We see nine bears during the tour, a record for the guides. On the way back to Campbell River, we gaze out at the islands, spinning through rapids as the sun sets.

The writer was a guest of Destination British Columbia