Polar Bear Photo Tour
Trip Details
- Duration: 8 days days
- Visited Areas: Arctic
Photographers have flocked to Churchill for many years to take advantage of the nature encounters this remarkable region has to offer. This new, special photography expedition is designed to provide the very best polar bear photo opportunities available. From the newly-constructed Tundra Lodge, situated outside of Churchill on the tundra itself, you can photograph bears as they approach your �hotel.� An on-site vehicle will be available for daily excursions around the tundra, and accompanying you will be some of the most accomplished photography leaders, all of whom have extensive experience shooting in Churchill!
Itinerary
Day 1: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Arrive in Winnipeg and transfer to the historic Fort Garry Hotel. This French-style chateau is a National Historic Site, built in 1913 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and still the grande dame of Winnipeg, offering first-class hospitality. Meet for an orientation dinner this evening.
Day 2: Winnipeg to Churchill / Tundra Lodge
Fly to Churchill and transfer to the Tundra Lodge via tundra vehicle, with your first chance to photograph polar bears and other wildlife along the way. Here on the edge of Hudson Bay, where boreal forest meets Arctic tundra, animals abound, even in the harsh climate that envelops this environment much of the year. You may see caribou, Arctic fox, Arctic hares, ptarmigan and snowy owls, as well as the undisputed lords of the north, the polar bears. Your expert photo tour leaders, intimately acquainted with polar behavior, interpret all that you are seeing. At the lodge tonight, they discuss Arctic photography and share their extensive experience in these environs.
Days 3-6: Tundra Lodge
The Tundra Lodge is strategically positioned at the beginning of each season in the best area for bear viewing. Every fall, some 300 polar bears congregate around Churchill, waiting for the ice to solidify on Hudson Bay to begin the winter seal-hunting season. There are ideal early-morning, late-afternoon and evening photo opportunities, with a chance to photograph polar bears at sunrise and sunset. Since the lodge has plenty of common areas such as a lounge with sofas and chairs, as well as a dining car, each with sliding windows, photographers will have plenty of space to shoot at will. Inquisitive bears often approach the lodge at close range, which features rows of windows and fenced observation decks to accommodate your own curiosity. Spend hours watching them interact, capturing their antics and rugged beauty. You may see mothers with cubs, and young adult males play-fighting. Your unique location, combined with half-day excursions in all-terrain tundra vehicles, affords the best possible wildlife experience in the Churchill area. At the end of each exhilarating day, retire to your cozy accommodations for dinner and presentations. If you are fortunate to have a clear night, you may get to experience the wonder of the Northern Lights. Once darkness descends, the lights often begin as a faint white glow, then intensify in scope and color as they undulate across the sky in shimmering curtains of color.
Day 7: Churchill / Winnipeg
This morning, you leave the tundra and head back into Churchill for your flight to Winnipeg. Depending on flight schedules, you may have time for some last-minute exploration of this frontier town, originally a Northwest Company fur trading post, with a chance to pick up native handcrafts at the Arctic Trading Company. Enjoy a farewell lunch in Churchill or dinner together in Winnipeg.
Day 8: Winnipeg / Home
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flights home.