Polar bears and more
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2008
1
11
Trip End
Oct 27, 2008
Churchill,
Manitoba,
Canada
Monday, October 20, 2008
The tundra buggies are very large - seating at least 40 people with a large aisle, washroom, propane heater, and an open viewing area in the back. The ride is very bumpy - although the buggy goes on "roads", these are very rough with large pools and rocks. They are the remains of roads created by the army during cold war days when Churchill was one of the posts for the distance early warning system as well as a location for practicing arctic warfare. The tundra buggies, restricted to no more than 18 operated by two companies, are only allowed to operate on these roads.
On our way out to Polar Bear Point, we saw several bears in the distance, a mother with two cubs and another single bear. The bears are usually quite solitary and in warmer weather are quite lethargic, as they easily overheat. Also, at this time of the year, they are conserving energy as they haven't eaten much for the past four months.
Just foolin' around
They are so well-insulated that only their noses, eyes, ears and mouth show up on infra-red film. Also, their guard hairs are hollow, increasing the insulation value and contributing to the bear's buoyancy. We spent the whole day in the tundra buggy, returning to town about 4:30 or 5:00. In addition to seeing a number of bears at fairly close range, we also saw ptarmigan, lemmings, snow buntings, a snowy owl, a bald eagle and some ravens. The land is incredible, very similar in appearance to the land around Yellowknife, with large swaths of exposed granite interspersed by stunted trees, tundra and lots and lots of water. We ended our day at the Tundra Inn restaurant, where we enjoyed a dinner of pork chops (Larry and Murray), fish and chips (Maggie) and Arctic char (Joan.) We tried to do a bit of souvenir shopping, but the stores were closed by eight, so we did not buy much.On Monday, we started out at 7:45 and spent the whole day on the buggies. Overnight, the weather had become colder, making the bears much more active. Very shortly after reaching the viewing area, we saw bears at close range. One was a female, who walked across a rocky shoreline toward us, then found a dead bird on the beach, played with it for a while and then settled down for a rest. I got some great pictures of her rolling over, lying on her back with all four paws in the air, and then watching us from time to time. Another bear got up on its hind legs, looking for all the world like a gigantic prairie dog looking at the surroundings. These bears are enormous, males are up to 1500 pounds and females much less, usually 400 to 500 pounds. When they stand up on their hind legs, their noses can be up to nine feet off the ground. We came across another two bears, who entertained us by sparring with oneanother. One was clearly quite territorial and kept annoying the other. Finally, when a helicopter flew over, one was spooked and started running away, not stopping for more than 500 m.
Then, it was time to go back to the airport and back to Winnipeg. This time our flight was on a Convair turbo-prop plane as there were fewer people returning that day. The flight was very cold, but soon we were back.
