Our Polar Bear Trip

Think about this... International Falls, Minnesota is considered the coldest place in the the "Lower 48." So why would a person who really hates cold plan a trip 1,000± miles roughly due north of International Falls? And in October? Easy answer... To see the polar bears that naturally gather there. But let's start at the beginning.

I had heard about this gathering of the polar bears, did some research, and found that in northern Manitoba (the province of Canada that stretches north from North Dakota and Minnesota) the polar bears naturally gather there during October near a town called Churchill. They are waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze over. (Hudson Bay is a huge body of salt water—1,000± miles across—and early explorers thought it may be the access to China from Europe, i.e., the Northwest Passage.)

When Hudson Bay freezes, the polar bears go out onto the ice and find seals (mostly baby seals—sorry) and feed. Apparently, the small seals are not mature enough to go far out into the Bay and must stay somewhat close to shore. Therefore, when they surface to breathe, the polar bears may be waiting. The seals know this, the bears know this, and it is the natural progression of life in this part of the north.

Hudson Bay freezes here first due to the numerous rivers (fresh water) flowing into it relatively close to Churchill. The fresh water freezes first, before the salt water, and allows the bears to be on the ice at the earliest possible time.

Back in the 1800s, fur traders found that they could ship their furs direct to England by sailing across Hudson Bay. The historical land route was south, toward the St. Lawrence river (through Toronto or Montreal). However, if the furs were shipped south, they were also subject to tax by the French. If they were shipped directly to England, they were not taxed.

So the town of Churchill started as a meeting place where the trappers would bring their furs, sell them to the fur traders, who would ship them to England.

But the polar bears had been gathering there for eons... and they still do. Apparently, they happen to put Churchill where the bears gather and the bears still gather there. We will catch up with the bears a bit later. First, getting there.

Sandy and I have been in Canada numerous times and go about every year. We have taken our motorhome across the border numerous time and have had good and bad luck at the border—going both north and south. We don't carry anything—nothing whatsoever—that could be considered contraband, we try to stay up with any changing policy and any of what we call "the item of the day" that is not allowed to cross the border.


An Overiew of Our Plan
For this trip, we plan to start at Grand Forks, ND, park the coach, take the car to Winnipeg, hotel one night, then an overnight train to Churchill, Manitoba (on the shore of Hudson Bay). We spend four days there including one all-nighter out on the tundra in a Tundra Buggy (Google this for a look). We will be viewing the gathering of the polar bears. They sort of collect here waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze over so they can feed. We fly back to Winnipeg, on Oct. 21st, drive the car to Grand Forks, and head south toward Texas and out of the cold. It should be a wonderful trip. Adventure Caravans is the tour operator. I will elaborate...

Okay, we parked our coach at Grand Forks, North Dakota AFB, spent the night, and drove our car to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Only 150 miles, it was an easy drive due north but that's because it's pretty flat. There's not much to hold you back!

We arrived at the Fort Garry Hotel on time and was supposed to meet the group on this Caravan for lunch. We pulled in the front of the hotel and the group was walking out. We quickly got with the valet parking, left our car there, and went to lunch with the group.


What's a Caravan?
For you non-RVers, there are a fews companies that put together caravans for RVers. On one type of caravan, you meet and then drive your RV as part of the group to some destination—like a tour. Another type of caravan you meet (generally with the RVs) but simply tour from a fixed site. We did this one time to see the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. On that caravan, about 30 coaches converged on a campground in Pamona and we were parked there for the week. The caravan company bussed the 60 of us everywhere including great seats for the Rose Parade.

This caravan was like that. We met in Winnipeg. Some chose to drive their RV, some (like us) did not.

But our group is actually made up of two groups. There are 38 people (all RVers) total. Most of us signed up for the caravan through a Monaco club called "Monacos in Motion." But this club partnered with Adventure Caravans for this trip since Adventure had all the northern reservations sort of locked up. Anyway, it worked.

Here's the group. We are the two in the upper left.

Sidebar... What will happen is that we stay a couple of nights in Winnipeg, and spend the equivalent of two days on the bus and train (Churchill is about 1,000 miles north of Winnipeg). There are no roads north of Thompson, MB so the only way to get to Churchill is by air or train.

We had packed lightly because we had driven our car to Winnipeg. Our plan was to carry "Winnipeg" clothes only while we were there. The morning of the bus ride, we left the Winnipeg dirty clothes in the car and packed our "Churchill" clothes in our roll-ons. On the return, we would fly from Churchill to Winnipeg, spend the night, and depart for our coach the next morning. We carried as few clothes as possible to Churchill—that's good.






The two first days were in Winnipeg—a nice city of about 750,000 (over half of the total population of Manitoba). The Fort Garry Hotel was one of those classy, older hotels that has been there forever. We stayed two nights here, had an extensive city tour, good dinners, fine lunches, and met our bus for the trip north.





We had tours (all day) of several places—museums, mansions, churches, gardens, etc. and all were well done. They hauled us around in a typical bus so there was very little walking. It was a classic city tour.






As always, one of the group cannot wait to purchase those special souveniers! This one was precious.















An 8/9-hour bus ride from Winnipeg to "The Pas" (yes, that is the correct spelling of the town's name but it's pronounced "The Paw") got us to the train station about 1100 hrs. Interestingly, the train was parked close by. Originally, we were supposed to take the train from Winnipeg but there was some glitch. Oh well, it all worked out just fine.




We had received our train tickets in a standard business envelope (back at the hotel). I tucked ours in our "carry-on" type of canvas bag. When everyone got off the bus, we all went into the train station to wait and I discovered our tickets were gone. Just gone. We obviously searched the bags thoroughly, searched around the bags, outside (where we walked from the bus to the station). No tickets. Nada.

The group leader, Don, and I talked with the person working the desk in the train station. She informed us that a whole set of new rules had just been put into effect and was attempting to look them up. Initially, she came up with a cost to me of a new train ticket ($400.00) plus a $40.00 penalty (now, double that for both Sandy and I). Finally, I said that they just had to be on the bus—the bag was in the overhead and the envelope had to fall out when I pulled the bag down to get off. Everyone's assumption was that the bus driver was heading back for Winnipeg. An employee of the railway (the only other one in the station) happen to overhear us talking about the bus driver and said that he lived locally. This guy also volunteered to drive to the bus driver's house and check the bus (for some reason, he did not phone). He did and came back with our tickets! They were in the overhead compartment of the bus. I am at least $840.00 grateful!!!


The Train


So, they brought the train to us, we boarded, got to bed about midnight, and the train pulled out about 0200.


We were on the train all the next day and night until after breakfast—nearly 36 hours. It was an experience. We were traveling through 400 miles of wilderness. We saw beaver dams, lots of landscape, and a really neat looking tree—the tamarack. This tree is among the few conifers that changes colors and ultimately lose their leaves in the Fall.

There were all types of accommodations on that train—cabins for one, for two, cabins up and down. Sandy and I were each assigned a "cabinette" across the isle from each other. This was a cabin for one person, period, one seat (reasonably comfortable), one sink, one toilet, one bed, one towel, and one window (large). There was a common shower down the hall. Everything (all luggage) had to fit inside your cabin.


The cabin was perfectly functional with no wasted space. As you can see here, my roll-on and camera bag are sitting on the toilet (this will help you judge the room size). The sink is folded into the left wall. My bed is sort of tucked under the next cabin. I am sitting on the seat (you can see my left knee and how close it is to the toilet. My pillow is on the bed (pushed forward).


When my bed was opened (my bunk-style bed was on rollers, it rolled forward, and locked under the next person's cabin during the day—a close fit just tall enough for the pillow). At night, the bed had to be pulled out and it locked in place over the one seat in the cabin. The padded back of my seat became my headboard for the bed—as I said... functional. If there was bad news it was that when the bed was open, ready to use, my TOTAL floor space to stand up was the size of a large shoe box—seriously. The first night, I managed (on one foot) to open the bed, got in it, and undressed. Interesting.

The second night proved I was up to the challenge. For some reason, the bed would lock in 3-4 positions (I guess with a child you could have more room this way.) So, I brought the bed out part way, undressed, got on the bed, and pulled it (and me) forward to the lock position. In the morning, I did the reverse. It worked. By the way, if you needed to go to the bathroom during the night, you had to get up and put the bed away first.

Train food was freshly cooked, we had a nice choice of entrees, and everything we had was excellent. One interesting side note was that approximately 15% of Manitoba has a Ukrainian heritage. One of the entrees offered was Pierogi.Pierogi are a dish consisting of boiled or baked dumplings of unleavened dough stuffed with varying ingredients—mine were stuffed with a mixture of cheese and potato and typically served with sour cream—they were excellent.






Arrive at Churchill

Winnipeg was breezy and about 40° F but no snow. The Pas was colder and windier but no snow. Churchill was really cold (to us)—in the 20s°—but the wind was unrelenting. We had a constant wind of 30–35 mph, snow on the ground (not much—it blew away), and a mixture of sleet (instantly freezing but not sticking) and snow—all blowing sideways.






"Bill" was our tour guide in Churchill (except out on the Tundra Buggy) and met our train in his school bus—not much heat but okay transportation. As expected, Bill was a character, had lived in Churchill for a number of years, and knew everything about the place—just what you want in a tour guide.




A brief tour of the town ended at the "Eskimo Museum." This was a nice collection of northern art, carvings, kayaks, and some weapons.





Then, to lunch at the Gyspy Bakery (and Restaurant) where we had an excellent meal (with the locals). The baked goods looked wonderful and were baked fresh. It was a busy place. There were three restaurants in Churchill and we were told that one stays open until mid-November and then they are all closed. I guess you cook at home!






The bus tour continued around the town (Remember, this town is not very big.). With Bill at the wheel, we ended up on Hudson Bay beach where the 10-12-foot waves were crashing in (helped, I'm sure, by the 30 mph winds). The wind creates lots of foam on the beach—it simply blows it from the surface of the water onto the beach. Bill told us this foam could get 6-feet deep! He also told us this foam was a type of "natural soap." You could actually wash in it.

There were rocks everywhere and many were covered by lichen. We were told that lichen only grows in conditions where there is no pollution. They had black, green, and this particularly striking color of red lichen everywhere.



Polar Bear Warnings
I haven't mentioned the polar bears yet. But, during the town tour and as you can see from the sign, they take their bears seriously—and rightfully so. We were told (several times and with the sternest of warnings) to be aware of where we are (if we were walking in town) and ALWAYS be looking for polar bears that meander into town. And there's always some coming in.

The polar bear is huge. The average weight of an adult male bear is around 1,000 lbs. A female is about 500 lbs. That's a lot of bear. They make no noise. They do not growl and are absolutely silent when they walk. The polar bear is the only know bear to actually track and hunt humans.

So Churchill has a polar bear patrol (several of them) on duty 24/7 during the gathering season. If they find a bear in town (and they do quite often), they capture it. The set off a siren and you can hear shotguns firing occasionally (to scare off the bears in town). They put the captured bears in "Polar Bear Jail." This is a holding place (with cells) in a building. They have no contact with humans and only given water for 3 months. They want the bears to remember this unpleasant experience so that they will not return to town. Eventually, they are taken away and turned loose.


This is serious business to keep both locals and tourists safe. Last year they captured 170 bears in town and had 17 in jail when we were there.

So (we were warned several times), if we were walking back from a restaurant or gift shop especially after dark, don't walk close to any object when you go around a corner of a building or a sign or a car... take the corner wide—just in case a bear is there. It makes you think and it is something so foreign to our normal style of living that it gets your attention.


Our First Bear

Bill took us out to a property where one of the locals (an apparently eccentric one) had the Churchill equivalent to a dog kennel or pound. They have the dogs chained up around water holes. They are bred with wolves and kept isolated out in the open to maintain their natural instincts. These dogs are meant to carry on the breeding stock of the Canadian sled dogs. Some dogs were left off the leash to protect their pack from predators (bears).


That's when we saw our first bear. Bill told us this bear had found the dog pound and manages to get some of the scraps the dogs miss. The bear meandered around and the 2-3 unchained dogs were slowly trying to maneuver the bear away. Apparently the bear and the dogs know exactly what distance to stay from each other. Fascinating.



The Hotel Finally
After our town tour, we checked into our hotel and a little free time. Dinner was on our own. Sandy and I ate next door (the food was fine and we got a glass of wine plus we didn't have to deal with any bears during our short-but-straight walk across the street). That evening, we attended an excellent talk by Myrtle de Meulles—a local artist. She was born in 1941, one of 12 Metis children (a person of mixed Indian and Euro-American ancestry). She was the daughter of a trapper and spent most of her life on the trap line in Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her orginal language is Cree. She grew up on the trap line primarily eating bannock (indian fry bread) and fried moose meat until she attended the convent school.

The second night in town we we on our own for dinner again. We were scheduled to gather at a local church where Bill talked us through a history of Churchill and the area. Very interesting.


Out on the Tundra
We are in the bus early after the second night in the hotel and Bill takes us to load into the Tundra Buggy. Our extra baggage is being stored for us until we actually go to the airport tomorrow afternoon. It is cold and blowing those biting snow crystals. Our buggy will seat 40 people on school bus-type seats—there are 38 of us so it works. We only have cameras and small packs with us. Our roll-ons are being taken to the "Tundra Buggy Lodge." Bill turns us over to Kevin who gets everyone aboard efficiently and will be our driver/guide for the next two days.



This is a no-frills, large (twice the size of a school bus in width and height), sort of lumbering vehicle that we take across the tundra. There is a "deck" on the rear so you can stand outside. We are in sub-arctic conditions so there are no trees (other than a very short species known as the flag tree), lots of water (ponds large and small everywhere that are mostly frozen), and snow. This is a protected area and we're confined to the trails. We slowly (5± mph max) make our way toward the coast (Hudson Bay) and the Lodge. The buggy contains one large gas furnace for heat, one "head" (toilet) that is just a basic one-holer, seats, and large windows all around—but no frills.

We learn that Kevin was born about 1,000 miles north of Churchill across Hudson Bay. He is a Canadian Ranger, helps test arctic gear for cold weather survival, and can live off the land efficiently. He turns out to be a great tour guide.

The Lodge is simply multiple Tundra Buggies hooked together. They comprise two cars for bunks (we will stay overnight out here), one cooking/eating car, one meeting/lounge car, and one car for the 3-person staff who live out there and take care of us plus Kevin who also overnights with them.

You can take day trips out here to see the bears (by the way, the local advertised price for a one-day trip was $299.00). The primary difference in the one-day trip and us (staying out there one night) was really exemplified later that day but more on that later.


More Bear

It was about a one-hour trip out to the Lodge. As we approached the Lodge, we saw three other Tundra Buggies close by the lodge. They were sort of surrounding a big male bear. Kevin did a strange thing... he announced that we were going to let those other tourists visit with the bear and we would go and look elsewhere. So, off we went.

While we learned a lot about the tundra, we did not see any other wildlife at all. Even at 5 mph, you can cover a lot of territory in 4-5 hours. We had food containers with us and of course, lunch was served. Hot soup and a make your own cold-cut sandwich hit the spot. Finally, late that afternoon, we made our way back toward the lodge.

As we were approaching, Kevin announced that the advantage of the overnight stay was that the other buggies had already left to return to town. We were alone and the bear was still on site so it was just us and the bear. Obviously, the bear thinks we are a food source, can very likely smell our lunch leftovers (and us), can smell cooking aromas from the lodge, and all of that holds his interest.

Sidebar... Our Tundra Buggy is quite tall. It is about 9-feet from the ground to the bottom of the windows. The fat wheels are about 5-feet in diameter. Our windows open from the top down so only the top half is open—enough to stick your head out. The outside deck is floor height and on some, is surrounded by heavy bars that reach to the roof. There plenty of room to take a picture between the bars.

So, the bear entertained us for well over an hour. We were only a couple hundred yards from the Lodge and in no hurry. The bear would walk around the buggy, raise himself up on his rear legs to be able to see in, sit a while, come back, and was just generally curious. It was an outstanding time.

Finally, happy hour called and we left the bear and drove to the lodge. Our roll-ons were sitting next to our bunks (one up/one down). We got the packs off the floor and headed for wine and cheese in the lounge car. It should be noted that alcohol is not sold on the Tundra Buggy (no license) but wine was provided at no cost. Some of the group brought their own drink. There was always plenty of tea, coffee, water.

They seated all but about eight of us for dinner. We waited—that was fine as there was nothing else to do. Finally, we were fed a lasagna made with bison. It was excellent. There was a vegetarian alternative, too. There was plenty of good, hot, freshly prepared food.

After dinner, we gathered in the lounge car and Kevin gave an excellent talk about the tundra, northern Canada, Hudson Bay, and some of his background. We had fun and learned something. That's good.

Finally, to bed. We found there was room to store the bags under the bottom bunk. Some couples chose to store their bags on one bunk and sleep in the other. The bunks are limited size. I could not totally stretch out. But the sleeping was fine.

Sidebar... The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are visible from Churchill. The best viewing is during February when the sky is perfectly clear. There was a standing rule in that if the lights happen to be visible, they would wake up everyone to see them. Sorry, but they did not wake us up... too much overcast and snow.

In each bunk car, there are three lavatories and one central shower. I don't think anyone showered. Oh, well, as they say... "Nobody stinks until the first person showers!" It worked just fine.

We were fed a fine breakfast, packed our stuff, and we went one way with Kevin and our bags went the other way. Those bags would meet us and the bags from the hotel, at the airport. We spent the second day on the tundra but did not see any additional bears. Our bear from yesterday was still there and was excellent entertainment so no one was truly disappointed.


Heading Back
Kevin got us back to our starting point and turned us over to Bill and his trusty bus. With some quick stops for souvenirs and things, we were taken directly to the Churchill airport where we met our bags. Everyone was checked in just fine and after a two-hour flight, we landed in Winnipeg. We were whisked to a local hotel for the night.

The next morning was our "departure breakfast" and about 0900, most of us were gathered in a conference room with a continental breakfast spread and, of course, coffee and drinks. This was an informal gathering and many offered their comments and good-byes.

Overall, Monacos-in-Motion did a good job. We got the info they promised us, answered our questions, and everything seemed to work as it should have. This is our second caravan with Adventure Caravans. They, too, did what they said they would do. We know there were alternatives and compromises but everything worked from our perspective as a participant. With the exception of one lost bag (not ours), if anyone got upset with anything, we were not aware of it—and they found the bag. The fact that this was our second trip with Adventure means that the first one was fine. I would go with them again.


Wrap Up
The chance to see polar bears in their natural setting is a rare treat, indeed. My not-normal perspective always has a brief thought of how many people have not seen this phenomenon.

I don't have a "bucket list" because they don't make a large enough bucket. But trips like this one would float near the top. Interestingly, I thought this as a "one time visit" place. It is sort of like basic training in the military... I'm glad I did it but wouldn't want to do it again.

If you read this, don't consider that a negative statement. I strongly recommend this trip if you have not been.

Thanks for reading and take a look at my new book, "RVing Alaska."

Ron