9th – Back in the buggy

Before leaving the hotel at 0800 we checked out and left our luggage which would find its own way out to the airport. With that done we headed out to the buggy deck to go on a 6-hour buggy ride in the protected area – the same area where I spent a few days on my last visit.

Starting off with clear weather we kept our eyes on the surroundings, but we soon had to realize that the majority of what we would end up seeing would be bird life and less mammals. We did get to see a few caribous and at one point when taking a break our driver spotted a bear 1+ km away. Else we saw plenty of geese, tundra swans, ptarmigans, bald eagles, various types of ducks and numerous other more or less recognizable small birds.

Caribou.

Sandhill cranes.

Being on flat terrain the starting clear weather gave good conditions to spot anything, and despite it being a bit chilly and with the occasional breeze it was still nice standing outside on the rear outside platform. A few hours in, though, it deteriorated with rain, wind and decreased visibility. It made it harder to see things at far distances, but despite it clearing up again we did get the rain on and off for the rest of the tour.

Tundra swans.

Willow ptarmigans.

Finishing the tour we headed towards the airport to fly back to Winnipeg. On the way there we were informed that because the Churchill airport’s weather updates are a bit slow Winnipeg hadn’t been updated on the weather changes; the bad weather we had had had been present in the entire area preventing anything from landing and taking off from Churchill. So driving towards the airport expecting the plane to almost arrive in Churchill it was still sitting in Winnipeg.

Bald eagle taking off.

This meant we had some unplanned extra time which was spent as each wanted; buying souvenirs, getting coffee, and I and a few others drove around and saw the shacks, non-permanent buildings in town (where the mayor also lives), and had a look and walk in the activity center.

As requested by the airline we showed up in the airport in good time where we sat waiting for more than an hour for the plane to arrive. It finally showed up, we boarded and flew back to Winnipeg where we arrived almost 2 hours later than planned. Luckily the hotel was only a 5 minutes’ walk from the airport. Here we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways which meant that most people checked into the hotel for the night, but others who lived nearby left right away after getting their bags.

8th – Dogs and (more) whales

We all gathered at 0730 to go to breakfast together before leaving to visit Dave and his sleigh dogs. Dave, like last year, was a great story teller and talked about the principles and practical execution of dog sleighing. It was also part of the plan to do the Ididamile ride but now in carts as opposed to sleighs used in the winter – for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, due to the heat – I’m guessing 25-30°C at the time – he refused to let the dogs work as he pointed out they are built to work at -30°C. As he stated “Not even if the queen of England came by and wanted a ride!”. Instead we got to come into the pen and walk among the dogs and give them all the scratches they wanted – and they wanted lots!

We returned to Churchill where we had and 1½ hour break before lunch, so I went down to the beach in the hopes of seeing anything interesting. I managed to see a swimming polar bear in the distance (had I been there ½ an hour earlier I would likely have seen it pass right by the beach), multiple belugas, terns and the occasional seal.

Far out, but probably the most out-of-the-water beluga on the trip.

A non-flying fly.

After lunch we had app. 3 hours off until the next point in our itinerary, so our guide & driver took us out of town on the hunt for wildlife. We ended up primarily seeing birds; a few bald eagles including juveniles, ravens and a harrier.

Young bald eagle (they get the white head at around 4-5 years).

Returning to town once again we went out in zodiacs for an 1½ hours to get closer to the whales. We started off, though, with returning to the point at the Prince of Wales Fort where we got to see a single polar bear and not much else, before going up the river to the estuary where the whales were all over and we just drifted along and looked at all the whales when they came up for air. There were quite a few juveniles among them that could be recognized by their grey coloration, they don’t turn fully white until they reach an age of around 7.

Polar bear butt (and - I assume - the rest of the polar bear hidden behind).

Belugas.

Young beluga before getting its white coloration.

It was amazing to see how fast the weather changed. When we were heading out it was still sunny and warm, but when circling the point at the fort the mist suddenly rolled in and within 10 minutes the visibility dropped to less than 100m. At one point when going to the estuary we could see no land or markers for a while which felt pretty disturbing. This behavior wasn’t a rare occurrence so our driver didn’t hesitate at any time when navigating.

Returning to land we went to have diner and in the meantime the mist had rolled up through the town and everything looked quiet and eerie. When leaving for the hotel we were informed by our guide it was perfect polar bear weather so she highly recommended us to take the bus back even if it was less than a 5 minute drive. At this point the streets were mostly abandoned – it was around 2100 and the recommend staying inside from 2200 – as to confirm it was definitely safest to stay away from streets and especially back alleys. 

7th – Bears and belugas

At 10 we were picked up and brought to the Polar Bears International House where we received a presentation on polar bears; life, habits, reaction to change in climate and environment, etc. As opposed to last year they served cookies during this visit!

Lunch was a brunch buffet, a nice change to the usual ordered meals. After the meal we left to go out in a boat to cross the channel to get to the Prince of Wales fort where we did an hour’s walk and we told about its history and usage. It was a couple of 100 meters walk from the boat with several stops along the way for a few talks – and arriving at the fort we were hit by heavy rainfall. It didn’t last long – only a few minutes – but in that time we lost visibility and got very wet. There were discussions whether to return to the boat but the rain subsided and we stayed for a bit longer as originally planned.

A pair of terns.

... not a tern.

Being in bear country there were lookouts and patrols spread out around us and we had a guard with us at all times. It was standard precaution, especially now that it turned out one had been spotted in the forts vicinity. It could be seen when standing at the fort in the distance, and while we had the downpour it actually got up from the rock it was partially hiding behind and walk around for a bit before laying down behind another rock and disappearing from view.

Returning to the boat we were supposed to do a one-hour beluga cruise. The whales were surfacing all over so you couldn’t not see them buy just looking over the waters. So instead we started out by heading out to where the bear had been spotted – but instead we found two separate bears in the area. We spent maybe half an hour with them – one was just lying down while the other was moving around – before heading out to try to get close to some belugas.

A not quite adult cute-but-will-kill-you polar bear.

Getting close to the animals wasn’t particularly difficult, but seeing anything but their backs when they arched above the waterline was close to impossible. Fortunately, there were plenty of arctic terns around to distract from the failed attempts to get a good face shot of the whales. 

Arctic tern.

A peak of a beluga.

Returned to land – and the hotel – we had a short rest before dinner. During dinner a couple in the group talked about that the previous night they had gone down to the beach and in the process seen a snowy owl. I decided right there and then to try and do the same that evening, but all I ended up getting was more belugas, terns and a bonkers amount of flies and mosquitos. 

6th – White animals

Lingering jetlag let me wake up a few minutes before my alarm went off which made the start of the day a bit more pleasant than I had planned. Got ready and had the breakfast pack we were given last night before meeting with the group in the reception at 0600. We returned to the airport, did a very short check-in and eventually flew north to Churchill. It was a slightly odd plane; it was a 3+3 but the front half was made for freight so there were only seats in the rear half of the body. But with the limited traffic to Churchill optimizing the freight/passenger transport this kind of setup makes perfect sense. 

Other than a 15-minute delay the 2½ hour flight was uneventful and on arrival our luggage was collected by the travel company and we boarded a minibus – our home away from home during our stay here.

We passed by the polar bear holding cells where we got to see the traps they use to catch the bears that get too close to the towns and settlements, followed by a short drive around town until lunch right across the road from our hotel.

What happens to a tree exposed to constant winds?

While driving around we stopped by the beach where a local guide (who had joined us at the airport) had a little talk about something I don’t remember anything about. But when sitting in the bus half-listening looking out the window I realized that what I thought was waves looked suspiciously not like waves. I noticed others in the bus also looking out at the water but didn’t react to what they saw so I assumed first I was wrong – but with a closer look I realized that I was not. I grabbed my camera and on my way out of the bus the guide confirmed that yes – what we could see close to the shore was in fact a large pod of beluga whales. When realization hit the rest of the bus everybody piled out to have a look and photograph the view.

Because it's not only wildlife in the cold north.

After lunch we visited the Itsanitaq Museum and the Parks Canada Visitor Center. The former contained a large collection of carvings from the Inuit people, from Pre-Dorset to modern times. At the Visitor Center we were given a presentation by a local girl who talked about the fur industry in and around Churchill and how her family had been involved as the local Inuit people had been heavily included in the trades. 

Local corona restrictions.

Following this we checked in to the hotel, had dinner and went to rest.

Until the phone rang at 0100 as northern lights had been spotted. Within 5 minutes we were all piling back into the minibus and drove down to the beach. It wasn’t massive, but it was definitely there. It was also at that point I had to accept the fact that I hadn’t taken northern lights into consideration so I hadn’t packed the equipment necessary for such a situation – not even a tripod or gorillapod! A bunch of blurry photos – but it’s there.