Adventure in Churchill

Written by Dieter SchefferI had the pleasure of seeing one of Manitoba’s, if not the world’s most incredible sights with my cousin from Germany and my daughter in October… Polar Bears in Churchill!This has been on my bucket list to do for many years and when my cousin called to say that she was wanting to do thetour, I was in!  We booked a 1-day tour leaving Winnipeg at 6:45am for a flight to Churchill.When we arrived it was overcast, windy and about -5… it felt colder as we were right by Hudson’s Bay and it was damp.  There were shuttle buses which took us past the town of Churchill to the viewing area where we boarded our tundra buggy, one of many, that was filled with some Europeans, Americans, as well as a few Winnipeger’s… 42 of us in all!

Our driver was from the north and had 32 years experience doing the tours.  He is very knowledgeable about the area and we sure learned a lot from him.  We spent about 6 hours on the buggy and were fortunate enough to see a mother bear, her 2 cubs and a young male walking on the smaller ice surfaces inland.  Not only did we see the bears, we also saw a silver fox on the hunt, 2 owls fighting for territory and Ptarmigan birds… it was an incredible experience.

We had a great dinner in the town of Churchill followed by some shopping.  Many of the local artists items were available and I must say the workmanship and the beauty of the local’s work was impressive.  We boarded our flight home at 8:30pm and were back in Winnipeg by 10:40pm.

I highly recommend this journey to anyone who wants to see one of the most amazing natural events in the world… and sadly we are slowly losing it as the ice melt changes the patterns of the bears.

Thanks to Heartland tours for putting together a great day trip, Calm Air for the great service and to the town of Churchill for supporting this annual event.  And a special thanks to all the animals we saw, I am grateful for the experience!