Day 3 - Polar Bears!!!!
Sunday, November 10
We were up and out by sunrise for the 25 minute drive to the launch site of the polar rovers. The polar rovers are vehicles designed specifically for traveling across the tundra for the purpose of viewing wildlife in general and polar bears in particular. The tires alone are 5’ tall and the rovers are 14’ tall with an open viewing deck in the back. They also have flush toilets and are 14’ wide so there’s plenty of room to move around.
Within the first 30 minutes on the tundra, our driver spotted a large male bear in the distance. She stopped the rover and turned off the engine so we could watch and photograph him. And then he made his way right over to us! What an amazing way to start the day and our polar bear adventure!
In total we saw 6 different bears throughout the day, though none as close up as that first bear of the day.
This guy was making a meal out of the kelp on the shore of the frozen bay.
And here are two blurry pictures of a snowy owl, not often seen, so we were quite fortunate to have spotted it!
In the evening we heard a presentation from Georgina, a Cree woman who told us her story. She has endured hardship and trauma beyond imagining at the hands of a government which placed her and her siblings in residential schools all over Canada. Georgina has reclaimed her Cree heritage in her adult life and is passing her traditions on to her children and grandchildren, despite every challenge and setback. She is an inspiration.
Tomorrow we spend the day in Churchill, with dog sledding in the morning and (weather permitting) a helicopter ride in the afternoon, with an evening tundra drive!