The Polar Bears of Churchill

In November of 2008, we traveled to Churchill, Canada hoping to see polar bears. We traveled with Frontiers North, and spent 5 days at their Tundra Buggy Lodge.

Getting to Churchill from Chicago is pretty easy. We flew direct to Winnipeg, overnighted at the airport Sheraton, and then continued on the 1.5 hour charter flight the following day.

When we landed in Churchill around 9:30am in what can only be described as a full blown blizzard. Our group was taken on a short town tour, which included the polar bear jail and some viewpoints. While we couldn’t really see the view, we did see our first two polar bears !

After the tour, we had some time to kill before our departure in the afternoon.

• We tried to find a grocery store to buy some beans for our camera beanbags. We eventually found one, but the person with the key had the day off.
• We also wandered a bit trying to find a store with chapstick. We were directed to the hospital complex, which included a pharmacy, playground, hockey rink, and library (which had internet).
• We did find a liquor store, and grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan’s to contribute to the bar car

We departed town around 4pm for the short drive to the Tundra Buggy launch site. From there, it was about an hour and a half to the “lodge”, which was a series of elevated, linked vehicles. There was a kitchen car, bar car, dining car, and two bunkhouses (each slept 18 people in upper and lower bunks and had a bathroom).

Staying out on the tundra meant literally round the clock bear sightings, so I was willing to overlook the shared sleeping area and bathrooms. Bears, we were here for the bears, and they were EVERYWHERE.

Each day followed the same itinerary:

• Get up around 6am (I’d say “wake up” except I’m not sure I slept much with noise from heater, draft from porthole in my bunk, and bears thumping on the side of the buggy. You’ve seen the videos of polar bears thumping on ice to break a hole and grab seals? It was like that, but on the side of the buggy, and they never broke through.

• Put on base layers (thermal leggings, thick jeans, base t-shirt, turtle neck) and have breakfast around 7. Breakfast was more than enough food (hot and cold options), and it was really good !
• Add a few more layers (fleece, down parka, hat, gloves) and board the buggy. The buggy pulls right up to the lodge, so you never actually set foot on the tundra (because, well, there are hungry bears out there!).
• Depart around 8am. Each buggy holds 40 people, but because we were on a specialist tour there were only 18 people which left us plenty of room to spread out with our gear.

• Drive around looking for bears and other wildlife (arctic fox, ptarmigan, etc.). The weather was -15f/-26c WITHOUT the wind chill, and the majority of the time we had the windows open on the buggy for shooting – so it was COLD.
• Stop mid-morning for a short break (coffee/cocoa/tundracinos). The first day we even had doughnuts from Gypsies bakery. I’m still not sure if this contraption was for cooking or keeping us warm(er).

• Drive around more and look for bears and other wildlife

• Stop for lunch, which always had a wonderfully warming soup (cauliflower, mushroom, asparagus, etc. )

• Drive around some more and head back to the lodge around 4pm
• Spend about an hour backing up memory cards and charging batteries
• Head to the lounge car for happy hour, which included plenty of boxed wine and yummy appetizers
• Dinner is served around 6:30, and you can sit wherever you like in tables of four. Entrees included bison bolognese, elk kabobs, chicken kiev, etc.)
• After dinner, there was usually a presentation of some sort (photography 101, polar bear biology, Baffin Island,
• Back to the bunkhouse, and bundle up for bed

Photographing white bears on white snow is challenging !

The thing about the photography specialist tour was that we were all there for the same reason. No one complained, everyone was where they were supposed to be on time, and people were generally prepared.

On the last day, we departed the Tundra Buggy Lodge early in the morning for the transfer back to the launch site and then a bus transfer into the city. We had a bit of time to kill before the charter flight back to Winnipeg, so we did a bit of walking (after being cooped up on the buggy all week), and also visited the local museum.

This was truly a once in a lifetime experience.