Polar Bear Safari - October 10, 2024

We met downstairs with our properly tagged luggage at 5:00 AM for a continental breakfast.  I had a bit of angst over my carry-on bag which was limited to 20 Lbs.… laptop, iPad, medications and camera with extra batteries are quite heavy.  Checked luggage was limited to 50 lbs. but our newly purchased wheeled 90 L duffel bags were well underweight.

We headed over to the airport for our flight via Calm Airways to Churchill, Manitoba. Luckily my carryon was just 20 lbs!  Our flight was uneventful, and we landed in Churchill after a 2.5-hour flight.

 

After collecting our luggage, we were divided into 2 groups (we were in group 1). We were then shuttled by a small bus to a nearby private airfield where our group boarded a 9-passenger plane for our 20-minute flight north to the Seal River Lodge. Group 2 remained in Churchill for a tour and waited for our plane to return and pick them up.

 

Upon our arrival at the lodge, we were picked up by an ATV pulling open people carrying wagons.  On the short drive to the lodge, we had our first polar bear sighting.  The bear was seated nicely on a rock pile adjacent to the runway and watched us pass by, of course with a short stop for photos.

 

As we arrived, a prior group was taken to the plane for their trip back to Churchill and when our second group eventually arrived, another group of guests left. 

 

The lodge is rustic looking but contains all the creature comforts.  Our room is simple but contains a very comfy bed, snacks, drinking water and nice toiletries in the bathroom.  My only complaint is the one plug in our room…we really do need 2 plugs but luckily there are two in the bathroom. 

While we waited for the other half of the group to arrive, we enjoyed a view of a polar bear right adjacent to the lodge.  The lodge has an outside porch and outside areas with viewing platforms, all surrounded by barbed wire.  The porch is also protected by electric wire as are the windows of the building not contained within a fence.  So, we are the ones fenced in, not the bears.

 

Polar Bears have big feet

Once they arrived, we were served a delicious lunch.  There are two cooks, 3 hospitality staff, a maintenance person, Ben and Nichole the lodge managers and 3 seasoned guides (Boomer, Marko, and Jess) and Josh, a guide in training.

 

Chris, Connie, Susan, Bob ready for trekking!

After we finished lunch, we were given rubber boots, light weight waterproof pants and access to a lighter weight coat than our heavy parka although we wore the heavy parkas most of the time. Temps were around freezing but it was always windy and thus we had a significant wind chill.

We headed outside for our bear avoidance training.  All the bear viewings here are done on foot, no vehicles like other lodges use.  When we go out on our hikes, we form a straight line, no gaps with a guide at the front, one at the back and one patrolling the middle.  With Josh in training, we have two guides beside the line.  We were taught to step a shoulder out of the line for better viewing and photography, how to pivot to the line but stay close, etc.  The guides also demonstrated bear deterrents.  They bang rocks together, yell at the bear, ask the group to step forward two steps, yelling Hey bear.  They also have starter pistols that made a noise and fired sparks. But they do carry rifles as a last resort.  

 

After our training, we headed out on a walk to observe the wildlife adhering to our training.  Much of the terrain is low lying peat which is very spongy to walk on, but also lots of mud and rocks.  At first glance, the landscape looks barren but there is lots of vegetation upon closer examination.

During our hike, we had a polar bear watching us from a nearby rise by the road.

After our hike, we headed back to the lodge for more polar bear viewing from the lodge.  Cocktails and snacks were at 6:00 PM and dinner was at 7:00 PM.  As we were hoping to see northern lights, we were given some tips on photographing them with our phones.  As they can appear at any time during the night, we were asked if we wanted to be woken up...all of us, of course, said yes!

Luck was definitely with us that night.  The lights appeared before 10 PM and due to the strong solar storm, they were spectacular.  The guides told us they were some of the best they had ever seen.