16th – 18th – Dogs and flying home

Breakfast at 0800 meant that we could get an extra hour of sleep which apparently was much needed as I woke up at 3 with all the lights on and my phone lying on my chest. I managed to sort myself out quickly before passing out again and swearing at my alarm that went off 4 hours later. The beds in the lodge were nice but apparently my body preferred an actual soft bed. 

We left at 0845 and first point on today’s schedule was dog sleighing. The owner of the place we were visiting – who himself is a creator and main coordinator of one the rougher dog sleigh races – introduced himself and family, who are also involved in the business, background and the art of dog sleighing. We were sent out on a course on 2-passenger sleighs with a driver in the rear. The weather was crisp clear with light clouds and the run – though short, less than 10 minutes – was a fresh and beautiful ride. The course is called Ididamile, and the owner pointed out that some people take scarily long to figure out why it’s called that. I honestly didn’t have much expectations of the experience but I honestly had great fun the entire time. And despite the dogs being working animals the were very social and never shied away from getting a bit of extra petting.

Probably the best weather on the tour.

Those eyes....

From there we went and picked up a bear guard (who was naturally armed) and an extra lookout which let us go drive out of town and go for short walks. We got to see a few historical locations and multiple murals. In between this we got to visit a local artist and have lunch.

A fox was hiding in the grass and keeping a close eye on us while we were taking in the sights.

A 4 hour old foot print from a decently sized bear, compared to my (size EU 45) foot.

Having driven around in the afternoon we both managed to see a silver fox in the distance and a few more bears. What a great end to the trip. Though a snowy owl or two would have been a great bonus. At around 1700-ish we were back at the airport and got a flight back to Winnipeg. As opposed to coming north this time the flight was almost full. 

More murals.

Silver fox.

Back in Winnipeg we checked in at the airport hotel we started at and had dinner before saying goodbye. After a very good night’s sleep a few of us had breakfast before I left for the airport and got my uneventful flight back home.

A light breakfast before departing.

Huge thanks to Maggie and Rick for letting me stay at their place and showing me Winnipeg for a few days before meeting up with the group - I don't think I ever managed to fully express my happiness for seeing you again since my first trips north and south. Big thanks to our guide Mike Gere and buggy driver “Buggy” Bob – you two were a great team and knew exactly where to be to get the shots. Thanks to the team at the lodge – great service and amazing food (and wine included – and they let me help get rid of excess dessert!). Big thanks to Dave Daley for introducing us to his human and canine families and letting us try riding a dog sleigh. So much fun! And thanks to Bjorn, Kim, Sylvie, Shelly, Yuka, Tom & Sue, Brenda, Jane, Harriet, Bonnie, Tom & Heike, Karsten & Sybille for being great travel friends and help making this trip amazing.

When typing this out in March 2022 (only slightly delayed) things have happened since the trip. The travel company has an annual photo competition, and while I never partake in such competitions (a mix of me not thinking my shots can keep up with the competition and the fact that the winner is often found by the number of likes and not actual quality) I was pretty proud of my bear-in-sunrise shot, and as people from the tour badgered me to add it to the competition I ended up thinking that it couldn’t hurt. And to my surprise I actually ended up winning! Not the first place, mind you, but the runner-up place and that absolutely good enough for me! A photo I took actually won something! I was absolutely full of myself in the days after I found out. 

Full album can be found here.

13th – 15th – Polar bears en masse

3 days at the lodge where we every morning had breakfast from 0700 and boarded our buggy at 0800. In the morning at some point we would be served coffee/tea/chocolate and cookies (and Kahlua/rum if you wanted that added – and who doesn’t?). Lunch was brought from the lodge and was served as it fit into our driving, but usually around 1300-1400-ish. It would be soup followed by a simple but delicious main course; samosas, sandwiches and tortellini. We returned to the lodge at around 1600-1630, and while that does sound early on paper, at that point it had gotten too dark to really be able to easily see anything, anyway.

The two first nights we were the only guests at the lodge, and being 16 people at a place that has a capacity of 40 it never gets crowded. The last night a second group arrived, but as they were only 10 it wasn’t too bad having them around, too. The lodge was built up by several units; One end was two accommodation units each with 20 beds, 3 toilets and 2 showers, followed by a lounge and dining hall. After that the kitchen, staff quarters and workshop. Each accommodation unit had its own buggy access so two groups arriving at the same time wouldn’t get in each other’s way, and apart from those there was also the water buggy and the staff’s transports always available.

If there ever was an animal that represented the feeling "Mondays"...

The food was absolutely delicious; snacks when we returned from a drive and 3-course dinners where everything clearly was made with care. House wine was even included in the price!

The conservation area was quite small (relatively speaking) and it was not unusual to find ourselves at the lodge hours after we had left it, simply because that moment’s hunt had naturally led us back. Considering the heavy bear traffic around the lodge you could probably have stayed at the lodge all day and still have gotten some great views. And when looking at the area in general it was all quite flat, so you would almost always have a clear line of sight to the lodge.

Sparring.

So we drove around and looked at (mainly) polar bears. And if you had any expectations of having to spend time hunting for anything to see you’d be mistaken. Many, if not most, bears were not very shy so you could get quite close to them and it wasn’t uncommon to be able to see 5-6 of them at once. A large number of bears were lying around, resting, playfighting/sparring or just being downright curious when we drive by. The buggy was basically a large box with a platform in the rear with a grating floor and tall enough that a fully grown male bear standing wouldn’t be able to reach the windows or past the railing. Curious young individuals would stand up below the platform and have a close sniff of us – and trying to figure out what all those phones lying on the grating filming the close encounter were. Moving the phone during and feeling the bear’s breath on your fingers is something else.

As can be seen, even when on their hind legs they won't be able to reach.

Polar bears are a solitary creature unless they are mating or if it’s a mother with cubs. Churchill is the only exception and only at this time of year. All the bears are gathering in the area and waiting for the ice to form on the Hudson Bay, and them all being there together they tolerate each other’s presence and it’s not uncommon to see them actively socialize and cuddle together. 

Socializing.

Foxy walk.

We ended up seeing two mothers with cubs – that was our conclusion, at least. It could technically have been the same mother and cubs, but during some sightings the bears were very skittish, and other times they didn’t care about our presence. It makes no sense that it would be the same family we saw that acted so differently between sightings, hence the conclusion. 

A mother with her two cubs.

We also managed to see a few red foxes but no arctic ones, though. The latter are being pushed away by the former, as due to the heating climate the reds can go further north, pushing the arctic foxes away even further north. While we did have a few sightings, we saw significantly more tracks from foxes than foxes themselves. We were lucky enough to also get to see a snowy owl, albeit at a far distance. Technically we probably saw two, but the first sighting was just a quick white flash past the window when we were in the diner having dinner. 

Owl sitting in the tree.

So overall, the number of polar bear sightings greatly exceeded my expectations. To be honest; after seeing a bear in the middle of the sunrise on the third day (which was also during the only few hours it wasn’t completely overcast while we were there) I was ready to go searching for owls even if it meant that we wouldn’t se another single bear on the trip. I was happy for all the encounters we had, but I wouldn’t have minded a bit more variation at some point, even though it was the bears we had come for. 

Sunrise.

More sparring.

On the last day, instead of returning to the lodge we drove back to the dock (the fox was there again!), got back into our minibus and returned to Churchill. We checked in, had dinner in the restaurant and ended the day.

The fox was still present!

12th – Captivating murals

A quick glance outside when waking up (with a view of the airport tarmac) showed plenty of snow blowing horizontally past the window, but as planned we met in the reception at 0615 to hand over our checked luggage before having breakfast. With no hesitation we boarded the bus that didn’t only take us to the airport but all the way out to our plane. 

Then we sat in the bus waiting for a bit while watching the ground crew running around doing their thing getting small planes ready and sending them of in snow and high winds – visibility was maybe 100m. Finally it was our turn, maybe an hour delayed but being the only 16 passengers in a 40-seater we had plenty of room.

The flight north went off without a hitch and a bit past 1100 we arrived safely at Churchill airport which was nothing but a short landing strip and a small building. On the way in to Churchill – which has a population of app. 900 people – to have lunch we passed by a polar bear internment facility which basically is a containment building for bears that are caught in town where they are kept before transported away and let loose. As opposed to Winnipeg it isn’t snowing, but there is snow everywhere and it’s still quite windy.

Bear trap. It's like a humane mouse trap (enter in one end, nibbling at food triggers the gate that closes), but slightly bigger.

Mural on the holding facility. 

Following this we visited Polar Bear International to have a small lecture/speech on polar bears before we got to an ATM and a chance to buy beer and wine. Before leaving town we had maybe ½ an hour by ourselves to roam around before meeting at 1600 to go to the buggy loading dock. The town is full of murals all over the place, depicting primarily wildlife, but also historical people and events, among many other things. On the way there we went by a rocket facility they have been using to launch rockets used for measurements and tests of the atmosphere. 

We finally arrived at the loading docks where we loaded into our buggy – but not before being charmed by a red fox sitting in the parking area not being bothered by the presence of vehicles or people at all, just minding its own business. The 1½ hour long bumpy drive to the lodge was dark, with only the head lights of the buggy and lights in the far distance as light sources. We did manage to spot a bear in the headlights close to the lodge, though, so great success already!

"Is it windy?". Well....

Arriving at the lodge around 1830-1900 we quickly found our beds (I, and a few others, got two beds as the capacity is for 20 which will make it so much easier to spread out and not have to tidy up when going to sleep) before having dinner. This was followed by a safety briefing where I and another ended up being designated emergency buggy drivers. We were quickly introduced to the workings of the buggy but crossed my fingers that this would end up being unused knowledge.

Throughout the evening polar bears were walking around being their curious selves so before we made it to first daylight out here we had already seen the first 5-7 bears. 

8th – 11th of November – Reunions

I was flying out on the 9th very early in the morning so I decided to spend the night at one of the airport hotels so I could sleep in and not wake up until 0400. The morning went as planned and I was soon on my way to Frankfurt for my first layover. The distance between the gates was long but having considered this when booking I still had time to grab a handful of snacks at the lounge before boarding and settling into the seat that would be my home for the next 8 hours. My second layover in Toronto went just as smooth as in Frankfurt and I was happy to find out that all the paperwork, most of it due to Covid-19, was put to good use so all the planning wasn’t a completely waste of time. Got a few hours in the lounge with a view of the tarmac before grabbing the last leg of the trip going north to Winnipeg. Another easy flight and arriving at my destination it was a short walk to pick up my checked bag, and fortunately it had made it all the way, too.

Crossing Greenland on the way to Canada.

Here, with a bit of difficulty, I managed to locate my friend who had shown up to pick me up, and we were soon on our way home to her and her husband’s place where I’d be staying the next two days. Unloading my bags we went for a short walk around the neighborhood letting me stretch my legs after spending 20 hours on getting there – regardless of leg space a good post-flight leg stretch is highly appreciated. 

The following day – the 10th – we had breakfast at a nearby diner before we drove to the Human Rights Museum. A quite interesting exhibition, but having seen several similar museums previously it’s hard to avoid some repetition. This one did unsurprisingly have a strong focus on Canada’s past, though. To be honest, at times the building itself and the layout of the interior seemed more interesting that the exhibition it contained.

Looking out on Winnipeg from the Human Rights Museum.

Leaving the museum we continued forward to a café in the falling snow where they had some excellent cakes. We followed up on this by going to a neighboring pub where we had dinner – visiting Canada I had to get the poutine. French fries, cheese curds and gravy, topped with shredded smoked meat. A massive portion – even big enough that I didn’t manage to finish it.

My bedside lamp seemed to have a bright idea.

The following day – on the 11th – we had a lazy morning with snow still falling outside. We met up with a friend of theirs for lunch before heading to the Manitoba Museum, a history museum of the local area (hence the name…) and Canada in general. After spending 2½ hours there they let us know they would be closing in 20 minutes which unfortunately meant we had to rush through the last quarter of the museum. Too bad – it was actually quite interesting. When leaving at around 1700 to even more snow they drove me to the airport to deliver me to the hotel where I’d spend the night before leaving for Churchill tomorrow. In the evening I met with the group for introductions by our guide & photographer and dinner, and soon after we went our separate ways for the night.

Getting ready for tomorrow’s early morning I got all the necessary stuff out so it would require minimal effort to get out the door. This included getting my boots out. Now; these were some a friend have given me after having found them practically unused in her dad’s house they were cleaning out a few years ago, and I hadn’t had a chance to use them until now. I wasn’t planning on going trekking, but they would be great at keeping my feet warm and dry in the potentially snowy landscape further north, meaning that breaking them in wouldn’t be much of an issue. But all that worry turned out to be unnecessary, as when I pulled them out of the bag the soles just crumbled away between my fingers. I had a quick talk with our guide and he convinced me that my current shoes would be enough, though walking in Churchill might get a tad chilly. Satisfied with that I tossed them in the bin and went to bed, ready for the following day.