Blogs from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, North America

At last the day had come to fulfill my dream of seeing the polar bears in url=https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Churchill,+MB/@58.749511,-94.1860019,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x526fd949c8f9f537:0xd10c44d8423762dd!8m2!3d58.7684112!4d-94.164964?hl=enChurchill, Manitoba! Visiting Churchill as a tourist can be done anytime, but the polar bears are there only in the early winter and early spring. Our charter to Churchill, Manitoba left at 6:30, a little late. The shuttle from the Holiday Express was kept busy with myself and others who hadn't wanted to drive in the very early morning. The Canadian North 737 was full of excited anticipation. As we ate breakfast, a naturalist talked about the polar bears and their plight caused by climate change. Seeing the bears is never guaranteed. In November they are waiting for the ice on Hudson's Bay form and thicken enough to let them walk... read more

NOVEMBER 19, 2018 Today we spent the whole day on the polar explorer traveling over the tundra looking for wildlife. The polar explorer is s large vehicle on a fire truck chassis with 6foot diameter wheels. The front wheels are on a fixed axle and the back four wheels are each independently mounted. They were very large inside and comfortably furnished. We each had our own row of seats with a window there was s washroom in the rear. Our guide was Sam who is quite good. Our driver was Ol’ Bill. Everyone was quite congenial and they told some interesting stories. The beginning of the Hudson Bay Company From 1550-1850’s men’s beaver hats came into fashion. These were very expensive but highly sought after. The end result of this was that the European beaver was ... read more

What a trip! The belugas were out in the hundreds and the polar bears came out twice to say hello. Overall, an excellent trip. On the final day we had a torrential downpour and we spent the day in town. The museum is small but packed with interesting artifacts, including the narwhal horn which you'll see in the pics. There is definitely a religious presence in town as evidenced by the Anglican church, with the beautiful stained glass windows you'll see in the pics.... read more

Hello, oh happy days! Much to report from today's adventure. Today we went out on to the river and saw the star of this entire show - the belugas. At first we saw just a spattering of them - a few here, a few there, but after awhile we came upon a large pod of a hundred or so and were right in the think of them. The males tend to run together, while females are more likely to be found with child in tow or in some sort of supportive role after they have stopped childrearing. Their colors vary depending on their sex, age and also their molting process. Yes, beluga whales molt. Perhaps it is because they come into the estuary, but there isn't a definitive answer as to why these mammals molt. As ... read more

Geo: 58.7691, -94.168We did another day on the tundra rovers today. Unfortunately, we only saw bears way off in the distance, out on the ice. We saw a mom and her cub but they were too far out to get a picture.When we got back to town, we went curling.....yep, curling. Awesome.In the evening, the sky was completely clear. There were millions of stars. And then, the aurora borealis (the northern lights) put on an incredible show. We also saw about 6 different foxes darting through town....not sure if the northern lights made them more active or not. ... read more