Our staff and guests at the Tundra Buggy Lodge were all a buzz yesterday when an old friend wandered over and laid down square in front of one of the viewing decks. Dancer’s back in town!
Dancer has been coming around for years and has become a favourite because he is quite a character. Dancer usually doesn’t make an appearance until November so it was a thrill to see him a week earlier than usual. In addition to being quite the character, he is also often the biggest bear around the Lodge so he tends to stand out.
Dancer appears on the cover of this popular book about bear season in Churchill as well!
Notice how he’s got a few more scars on his nose since the picture for the book was taken!
A group of our Frontiers North Adventurers had a chance to visit Nunalla. And the trip did not disappoint!
Nunalla is an old Hudson’s Bay Company trading post, lying on the Manitoba/Nunavut border. Frontiers North Adventures offers a unique helicopter tour to Nunalla. Guests often spot moose, caribou, and of course, polar bears on the journey up to Nunalla. Nunalla’s two weathered Hudson’s Bay Company buildings give visitors a glimpse of life in an arctic trading post. The trip also includes a stop on the 60th Parallel where guests can grab a snapshot marking their visit and adding to their Authentic Arctic Experience.
Check out some of our guests visiting Nunalla. It’s definitely a remote post!
For those of you who have already had an Authentic Arctic Experience with Frontiers North Adventures, we’re sure you’ll be able to relate to some of these. Here are our top ten favourite things about Polar Bear Season.
- Bears!!
- Seeing our guests faces light up at their first glimpse of a bear
- Bears lumbering across the tundra, backlit by a Manitoba sunset
- Reconnecting with old friends as staff (and bears!) arrive in town for the season
- Northern Lights
- The clicking of cameras
- The people of Churchill
- The sense of adventure
- Nicest sunrises/sunsets you will ever experience
- Meeting people from all over the world
Aside from our top ten favourites, here is a sample polar bear season through the eyes of our staff:
- mother love (mother & cub)
- seeing our seasonal staff back in town and catching up
- A packed gift shop – this year there will be more room – hurray!
- the sound of the plane/train arriving into Churchill – sort of like “OK, everyone. All hands on deck”!
- bears sparring!
- Hallowe’en in Churchill, there’s nothing like it!
- softly falling snow
- howling winds
- helping our guests smell, taste and feel this environment
- empowering vastness, wilderness
- majestic animals living trough climatic changes
- exposure to a totally different environment
- anticipation
- Gypsy’s Bakery
- crisp air and snow crunching under your boots
- when a guest takes the time to stop by the office and say thanks for a great trip
- excited guests
- the smell of cold air
- the “whooshing” sound of the propane furnace firing up in the morning
- camaraderie and joking around while getting the buggies ready in the morning
- ruddy cheeks
- sun dogs
- exhilaration
- peace
- solitude
- driving a buggy through a storm and seeing the sun breaking through the clouds showing the way
The first question we have to answer is given our cold environmental conditions if Buggy exhaust is hot enough to facilitate the process. So M.J. Bradley, a vendor in the process, is sending up a thermal couple we’ll attach to a Buggy exhaust system and start logging temperature data.
Our cold temperatures are going to be a challenge, for sure. But we’re going to give this a shot. In the meantime, here’s a video of a Tundra Buggy exhaust system detailing where a DPF might go.
The renovations are complete….take a look at our shiny new Tundra Buggy Gift Shop. A great big thank you to the entire crew for all their hard work!
Lots of new items have been added to the shop.
Be sure to stop by soon.
As you can see from the pictures we’ve got lots of new items in the shop as well. When you’re in Churchill, be sure to stop by. Don’t forget, you can also shop online at www.polarbearstuff.com.
In 2009, long-time WWF volunteer Wanda Hall won the Earth Hour contest and traveled to Churchill with Frontiers North Adventures to see polar bears and other wildlife.
Wanda has travelled far and wide to see animals in the wild, but she said that this trip in particular, getting to see polar bears in their natural environment, made her realize how important it is that we decrease our footprint on the earth.
Wanda also happens to be the gal behind WWF’s panda mascot. Read all about Wanda’s adventure as the WWF panda mascot meeting Frontiers North polar bear. http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2010/07/20/why-i-volunteer-wanda-hall/
We’re thrilled to know that Wanda had such a great experience with us in Churchill.
Well, Loyal Readers, in the last few days the Churchill River broke and Manitoba’s north is springing to life! Hover your cursor over each image for its label.
During May, 2010, Air Canada Australia published an e-mail newsletter featuring our Belugas, Birds and Blooms adventures and sent it nationally to all Australian travel agents.
Dr. Andrew Derocher, Polar Bears International Species Expert, discusses with CTV National News Hudson Bay system polar bears and the population-health of this particular group of bears. It’s not good news folks.
On April 24th Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo hosted a Whirl in the Wilderness, this year to celebrate the opening of the Zoo’s Great BearWilderness Exhibit. As sponsors of the event we were invited to attend, though unfortunately we weren’t able to do so. What we decided would be a better idea is to ask a loyal guest of Frontiers North who resides in the greater Chicago area to represent us.
John W. has been our guest at Cape Churchill more times than he’s willing to admit and by all accounts he and his partner Anne-Marie did us proud! Thanks John!
