I don’t normally record ‘just’ travel experiences here but surely I can make an exception for polar bears. I had the privilege, yesterday, of seeing polar bears in the wild by Hudson Bay, Canada.
The one-day tour flew us into Churchill from where we boarded ‘bear buggies’ (the one pictured is from the other tour company but they each use the same kind of vehicle) to traverse the tundra in search of bear activity. It didn’t take long to find bears because a mum and her cub were crossing the road in the town. On the way to the wrestling bears and the mum feeding her cubs (see the pics in the collage), we saw an artic fox and some Willow ptarmigan, white birds with plumage right down to their feet; they are almost invisible against the snow.
The town of Churchill has a bear ‘prison’. When bears come into town and won’t leave when asked politely, they are put into a hangar, where they are given only lumps of ice (no gin and tonic). When they were fed there, in the past, they refused to leave at all. After a while they are transported by helicopter out onto the ice on Hudson Bay, where they belong. This system saves the bears from being shot and the population from being mauled – a win-win situation.
It was a great day in spite of the biting cold – it was minus 15 degrees celcius with a wind chill of at least another -20 degrees, making it too cold to be out of doors for more than a few minutes, no matter how warmly dressed. The buggies have observation platforms at the back but no-one managed to be there for very long. The trip included coffee, pastries, soup and sandwiches – all gratefully accepted by everyone!