Polar Bears - Churchill Manitoba

Apparently during the polar bear migration here in Churchill the Bears outnumber people. We expected to see them everywhere but trying to spot a polar bear in the snow proved to be more difficult than we had ever imagined. 

I couldn't believe we were here, for so many years we had spoken about this trip and dreamt of a lottery win so we could see wild polar bears, that hadn't happened. What had, was researching a way to experience this without shelling out at least 10k sterling!

So we decided to do this our way. We would fly independently, hire a car and look for the bears ourselves. Everyone said we were crazy, perhaps we were but you only live once, there were worst ways to go than living your dreams. Not that I relished the thought of getting mauled to death and eaten by a polar bear!

We arrived in Churchill early morning, tired but oh so excited , this really is a place we thought we would only ever visit in our dreams, or watch tv documentaries about but we were really here and I almost had to pinch myself to believe it. 

We expected our hire car to be waiting for us at the airport as promised but waited ages for it to arrive and when it finally showed up I could hardly believe my eyes, when I saw it, as it was a clapped out old truck that we would have had to pay someone to take away in the UK.

We were driven to their offices to fill in the paperwork, it looked like a truck graveyard, relics from a bygone age filled the parking lot outside but oh well, this was Churchill a place that was so cut off from the rest of the world the only way to get here was a three day train journey, when it ran or a two hour flight at exorbitant rates from Winnipeg. We had opted for the later.

Having sorted out the paper work we drove to our accommodation. There are no hotels here and all the best accommodation is block booked by tour companies for bear season years in advance. Bear season only really lasts for three to four weeks of the year. I don't  know why but I had a bad feeling about the place we had booked and when we arrived there I realised my fears were not unfounded. The site we had booked through hadn't forwarded my email to them and there was no room at the inn. My heart sank, this was bear season, how on earth were we going to find anywhere to stay? People booked this destination years in advance, trying to juggle accommodation, car hire and tundra buggy rides etc etc.  The owner of the b & b obviously sensing my stress smiled and said don't worry if we have to, we will throw a mattress on the floor of the office for you if it comes to it. I relaxed a little, at least it was warm in here and a mattress on the floor was preferable to the thought of sleeping in the truck during bear season with the temperatures due to drop to at least minus 25 degrees!

As luck would had it she phoned around and managed to find us somewhere else to stay, although we couldn't check in for another few hours. She said we could wait there but I didn't want to waste time sitting around, our time here was short and there were bears to be found.

We headed off out in search of the bears. We had a good idea where we might find them as we had researched long and hard. Churchill is quite a small town so I was sure we would find the bears without too much difficulty. I was wrong! We drove and drove around and around searching the snow for any movement and any variation in colour. Bears are a slightly yellow colour but then so are the many many rocks that are just about everywhere. We searched near and far, staring endlessly at snow really is hard work on the eyes. 

Our hire truck that looked as if it had come out of the ark, sounded like it too. Our mobile phones didn't work here and the place was pretty deserted. A recipe for disaster if the truck did decide to conk out and by the noises it was making it definitely wasn't far off doing just that. I was terrified of breaking down in these extreme temperatures, it was far too cold to sit around in the hope that help would arrive and the thought of having to walk back through the the ice and snow in this inhospitable place that was apparently full of wild polar bears didn't seem like a good option either. As much as I longed to see the bears sense prevailed and we decided to head back. We drove with trepidation as we slid down hills and skidded around corners, these trucks have no snow chains and pretty bald tires too and with roads like skating rinks slipping, sliding and skidding was inevitable. 

As the engine clonked and rattled, our only thought was to get back to the safety of the town, although how safe the town was this time of year was also debatable as it wasn't unknown for the bears to wander in. The rule here was to never lock your car or home just in case. It was the norm to jump into the nearest car or run into anyone's house if a bear was approaching.

It seemed to take hours to get back, the noises getting worse the further we went, I felt myself willing the truck to keep moving, please please don't break down, not here, not now! 

I don't mind admitting that I breathed a sign of relief when we finally got back to our B&B about an hour later. Our first day had certainly proved to be an exciting one but for all the wrong reasons. It was just as well we did return when we did as we later discovered the transmission on then truck was just about to fail!

We managed to change trucks with the hire company for one which looked even more dilapidated than the first but it did at least sound a lot better, I didn't have much faith in this company, nor in the relics from a bygone age they hired out to unsuspecting tourists but this was the only rental company here, so we really didn't have a choice.

Our new B&B turned out to be bonus. The couple running it were really nice. The garage was the smoking room and we stood talking to Rick, the owner, for ages, he was very informative about many things to do with the area and supplied us with many glasses of wine. His wife seemed more shy and retiring and didn't stay with us for long. Rick explained she was 'Cree' First Nation, so as we were retiring for the night I asked him to teach me how to say goodnight to his wife in her own language. As we passed her I said 'Memesh!' She looked so shocked, her mouth dropped open and she asked me to repeat what I had said. I did of course and she asked me how in earth I knew that word. I laughed and told her that Rick had just taught me. We became friends from that moment and I learnt much more about her and about the Canadian Cree aborigines. We burnt 'sweet grass' that apparently encourages positive energy, a beautiful smelling grass. It was the perfect end to an adventurous but somewhat disappointing day but we retired feeling happy, positive and excited about our next few days.

We headed off out before sunrise the following day, it is apparently the best time to see bears. The ground glistened and the sky lit up with shades of pale orange as the sun began to rise above the horizon, painting pink hues on the undulating snow. This inhospitable sub Arctic wilderness has a stark beauty, a silent stillness and an overwhelming emptiness as far as the eye can see.

We continued our search, staring at endless swathes on snow and ice, it was a magical kind of morning, there was something eerily enchanting about this undisturbed frozen white tundra but the vulnerable feeling that had crept up on me the previous day stayed with me, we had no way of communicating with anyone if something should go wrong and we hadn't seen another soul all morning. This kind of adventure certainly wasn't for the faint-hearted. 

We drove for hours before deciding to head back for some much needed coffee and having searched endlessly near and far in the snow we finally saw our first truly wild polar bear standing in the road right front of us! We sped up to him but he was already disappearing into the bushes, the only photo I managed was a bum shot before he vanished out of sight.

We had lunch and went husky sledding for the afternoons entertainment, I was still hoping to see bears either on the way there or back but I wasn't too sure I wanted to run into one whilst on a sled! The husky sledding was fun but a bit disappointing as we just rode around in a kind if circuit a couple of time. We had been husky sledding in Norway a few years back and that had been one of the best life experiences for me, this wasn't a patch on it, however, we did still enjoy it.

We arrived back and decided to head out again for another bear search, they have to be here somewhere. We spotted cars parked down a track and Hugh strained his eyes and said there was a bear there. I couldn't see it as it was much too far away and we didn't dare go down the hill to get closer look, we would never have got back up without snow chains, although it was tempting to try we resisted as there are apparently over a thousand bears here - somewhere!

We continued our search and stumbled upon a chain across the road, there were many cars parked up and bears! A truck arrived and charged us to undo the chain and go down the track to where the bears were. I didn't care we were going to see bears and I couldn't wait.

There were two huge male bears, I had expected to feel terrified of them but all I felt was sympathy. I wanted to get out of the truck and comfort them but my survival instinct kicked in. They looked so tired and hungry trying to sleep in the snow but what amazing beautiful creatures these were. So huge, so powerful but oh so cute. 

We had parked a few feet away from one he opened his eyes, looked totally uninterested and went back to sleep until the other bear walked past and wanted to play. We observed them for an hour or so as they rolled around in the snow. One wanting a sparring match but the other who had blood on his neck lay down, his body language saying leave me alone I am too tired for this. I just hoped the pack ice doesn't take too much longer to arrive and they can go hunting for a much needed meal.

It was so totally surreal being that close to polar bears I felt as if I was dreaming as one walked past out truck, just a few feet away. The size of them was astounding, their gigantic paws were much bigger than our heads! They were really not bothered by us but Hugh kept his foot on the gas for a fast get away, just in case and especially as we had both out windows open, hoping to get a decent photo. Unfortunately with snow falling from the sky the conditions for that perfect photo wasn't on our side but I am not sure we cared that much. We had seen bears and had got much closer to them than I had ever imagined possible. What an amazing encounter, I just couldn't believe how lucky we were.

We left the bears and chattered like excited kids the whole way back to the B&B recounting every second we had spent with them but we still didn't stop looking for more, despite our eyes being sore having searched the endless white snow for so many hours.

We had hoped to see arctic fox here too, we hadn't spotted any but on our return we saw, what must have been, the most beautiful red fox, its colours shone out against the white snow, its coat thick and shiny. We stopped for photos and watched as a lemming escaped his jaws although it wasn't long before he had dived into the snow and caught another, disappearing with a tail sticking out of his mouth.

We had, had a truly amazing time beyond our wildest dreams but our luck hadn't run out yet as on our last night, as we left our favourite restaurant, having said some sad goodbyes we looked up and saw the beautiful amazing aurora borealis. 

Our eyes were like saucers and ours mouths agape as we got into the truck and drove out of town for a better view. We stopped on an isolated track with no light pollution and took turns to take photos while the other kept a lookout, just in case there were bears about. That arrangement didn't really last for long as we were both too excited. Hugh put his camera on 'long exposure' and sat it on the roof of the truck, a few minutes later when he tried to remove it he found that it had frozen to the roof.

Our fingers froze, our nostrils even froze together in temperatures of -25 but we had a fantastic time trying to capture the amazing colours in the sky and luckily enough we didn't see nor get eaten by a bear.

We were sad leaving Churchill the next evening, the people here were all so friendly, so warm hearted and helpful in every way. Just before we left we saw a polar bear being released from jail and airlifted by helicopter into the very remote tundra, his crime had been walking into town. My heart broke for him but I understand the population of this small, remote town needs to protect themselves, it's a terrifying time of year for the locals. For the tourists it's probably one of the most amazing and exciting encounters they will ever experience.

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