To Churchill!
NHA picked up our luggage outside our rooms in the morning, and after breakfast, they shuttled us off to the airport and onto the charter plane heading to Churchill. We were met at the airport in Churchill where we and our luggage were taken to the Polar Rover launch site, boarded two rovers and transported to the Tundra Lodge.
The Polar Rover launch site is about 30 minutes outside of Churchill and at the edge of the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. There are limited permits owned by two tour companies allowing access to the area.
The Tundra Lodge is comfortable but not so comfortable sleeping area and beds (but what to expect in the wilderness). The food was great.
De plane, de plane! Our charter ride from Winnipeg north to Churchill. |
Straight from the airport in Churchill, we went to the Tundra Lodge for two nights. |
My (uncomfortable) cubbyhole on the Tundra Lodge. |
The lounge car on the Tundra Lodge. |
Why Polar Bears in Churchill?
What we learned about the bears in the Churchill area: Churchill is in the area where the ice starts to form on the Hudson Bay. Polar bears do not hibernate during the winter; rather, winter is their feeding season. Polar bears feast on seals. They travel across the ice hunting seals in various ways, but primarily they wait at a breathing hole where seals must surface to breath. And when they do...
The hunting and feeding season lasts from about December to June when the bears get more than 90 percent of their calories for the year. As they hunt, they and the ice move south hundreds of miles. As the ice melts and they come ashore, they are hundreds of miles south of Churchill where they must migrate back north in a semi-zombie state and arrive in Churchill in October-November to start all over again.
Even the 20-degree temperatures we experienced are warm for the bears and they are less active and lie around much of their time to cool off as they continue to make their way north.
We learned much more about polar bears, but I will save you the discourse.
Our Tundra Exploration and the Tundra Lodge
The group of 29 was divided between two Polar Rovers with a guide (Fred or Teresa) along to educate us and make sure we didn't get into too much trouble. We never actually got off onto the tundra. We were on the Polar Rovers with an outside viewing deck or at the lodge with outside viewing decks.
And we found polar bears! We saw 12-15 bears over two days of exploring.
My first polar bear sighting. We were greeted by this bear |
"Hey...what are you guys looking at?" |
Our sister Polar Rover crossing a pond on our way |
A look back at the Tundra Lodge. |
I came to Churchill to see a duck??? |
"I want the ice to freeze." |
"I'm so hungrey, I could eat a seal!" |
"Is it winter yet? I am sooo hot." |
Another beautiful-looking bear. |
"Ha, ha, ha, you can't catch me" |
Another bear waiting for winter. Hudson Bay in the background. |
A Ptarmigan (the "P" is silent) looking out from the brush. |
Another bear racing across a frozen pond, but Hudson Bay hasn't frozen yet. |
Yet another bear waiting in the heat. |
A Snowy Owl in flight. |
Yes, the tundra has forests! Our sighting of a forest in the tundra. |
As we arrive back from our day on the rover exploring, a sleepy bear awaits us next to the lodge. |
The bear at the end of the lodge imitating being a polar bear rug, trying to stay cool. |
Continue - 2018 Polar Bear Adventure, part 3