Well, here we are back home once again. Although the trip was cold, we had a great time. We had the pleasure of some good company with our travel group and an amazing guide in Eric, our trusted photographer and leader. His knowledge of the wildlife, area, and people is amazing as is his photographic knowledge and skills...his jokes, well, maybe not so much!
As usual, Natural Habitat Adventures did a fantastic job with the arrangements taking care of all the details. I am adding some links to our page here, please check them out if you are thinking of doing some exploring of the natural world. They won't steer you wrong.
I feel like we should say a few things about the bears and the North. People who live there are noticing a difference - it's staying warming there later in the year and getting warmer earlier. The ice isn't the same as it used to be and ultimately this is going to signficantly threaten the survival of these amazing animals. These bears survive in an area where little else does or can and have been for thousands of years. Yes, there have been fluctuations in temperature before, colder and warmer, but the rate of change is not allowing these animals to adapt. One can argue about the cause, but the reality is there and can be seen by visiting these places. We hope that we have a new appreciation for this and have passed on some of that to whomever may be reading this. That's all for my Al Gore-soap box for now.
So ends another of our tales...until the next time. Stay tuned...Peru in February 2010!!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Last Day in Churchill
After breakfast this morning at Gypsy’s, we drove out to see the sight of a plane crash from 1979 and then went to the Eskimo Museum, which had lots of native art and carvings depicting their daily life. We then went dog sledding at Kelly’s dog yard. This was great fun and the dogs were raring to go! The Canadian sled dogs are smaller than the typical Alaskan sled dogs. Today the team consisted of eight dogs and each one can pull about 50 pounds. We had lunch at the Trader’s Table restaurant and then made a stop at the polar bear jail. The polar bear jail is where they keep polar bears who are too persistent about coming close to town and causing problems. These bears are trapped in special polar bear traps, tagged, and then kept at the jail until the ice freezes when they are released. We then boarded our propeller plane at the airport and arrived back in Winnipeg. We are now back at the Fort Gary Hotel.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Day 3 on the Tundra
We started out under a gray cloudy sky after breakfast at the Seaport Inn, our hotel. Fortunately, the cold weather did not deter the polar bears and we had our first sighting by 8:30 am. We saw some young males wrestling and a few came up to check out the Tundra vehicles. In the short time that we have been here, the Bay has become significantly more frozen. We saw a few bears out checking the ice. The sunset was amazing again with red lights reflected under the cloud cover for an amazing end to the day. Before dinner, Jonathan and I walked through the town, which takes about 15 minutes. We had dinner at the Seaport Inn and then listened to Caroline, who is a woman of the Denay tribe. Now, we are back at the hotel getting ready for tomorrow’s adventure - which will in part be a visit to a dog sled camp.
The weather today was the coldest yet...about 20 degrees at the high, but with the wind chill was in the teens.
Today's trivia:
The largest recorded polar bear measured over 12 feet long and weighed 2010 lbs. Polar bears will walk an average of 50 miles per day, can swim up to 6 miles/hour for over 10 hours without resting, and the bears we have been seeing over the last few days have likely not had a good meal since the spring.
The weather today was the coldest yet...about 20 degrees at the high, but with the wind chill was in the teens.
Today's trivia:
The largest recorded polar bear measured over 12 feet long and weighed 2010 lbs. Polar bears will walk an average of 50 miles per day, can swim up to 6 miles/hour for over 10 hours without resting, and the bears we have been seeing over the last few days have likely not had a good meal since the spring.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tundra Day 2 Photos Part I
Photos:
Polar Bears (duh)
Caribou (aka Reindeer - this one was fairly young, therefore only the little twiggy antlers)
Day 2 on the Tundra
My two cents on yesterday: Jon forgot to mention the amazing sunrise and sunset. On the flat barren tundra punctuated only by a few stunted white pine, the entire sky seems lit up by the sunrise and sunset. He also did not do justice to the Northern Lights, which were amazing. They started as barely a smoke like wisp in the distance – outshined by the airport lights in the distance and then became brighter and brighter. Like a mist or smoke they change shape from snake like to swirls and to cloud-like. Even Jon’s photos do not do this justice.
Today, it was another predawn start with breakfast at the log cabin Lazy Bear Inn. There was more cloud cover, so the sunrise was not as spectacular and we joined Brent, the Tundra Vehicle driver, for another day of polar bear sightings. We saw a lone caribou walking along and lots of polar bears. There were several sightings including two males briefly wresting, a mom and a 10 month old cub walking across the ice, a mom napping with two larger cubs, a large male sleeping with his head on his paws and a few that were curious about the Tundra Vehicles. We even got a brief sighting of an Arctic fox as it ran by. The day ended as we watched a red sunset sink below the clouds from the “machine.”
After a brief stop at the hotel, we walked to dinner (about a block) at Gypsy’s, braving the COLD temperatures and the arctic wind. Dinner was followed by a presentation by Myrtle, a 10th generation Metis woman, who told some of her stories. She makes artwork out of caribou hair, a more modern spin on the traditional caribou and moose hair tufting artwork that the Natives did. Unfortunately, our drive out to look for Northern Lights was unsuccessful so we returned to the hotel to rest up for another day.
Today’s trivia: Polar bears have black skin to help absorb any light that might reach it. The tongues are also black. The polar bear hair is actually fairly translucent and looks different depending on the light. Polar bears do not hibernate, unlike other bears; however, the pregnant females will den to give birth to 1-2 cubs in January.
Today, it was another predawn start with breakfast at the log cabin Lazy Bear Inn. There was more cloud cover, so the sunrise was not as spectacular and we joined Brent, the Tundra Vehicle driver, for another day of polar bear sightings. We saw a lone caribou walking along and lots of polar bears. There were several sightings including two males briefly wresting, a mom and a 10 month old cub walking across the ice, a mom napping with two larger cubs, a large male sleeping with his head on his paws and a few that were curious about the Tundra Vehicles. We even got a brief sighting of an Arctic fox as it ran by. The day ended as we watched a red sunset sink below the clouds from the “machine.”
After a brief stop at the hotel, we walked to dinner (about a block) at Gypsy’s, braving the COLD temperatures and the arctic wind. Dinner was followed by a presentation by Myrtle, a 10th generation Metis woman, who told some of her stories. She makes artwork out of caribou hair, a more modern spin on the traditional caribou and moose hair tufting artwork that the Natives did. Unfortunately, our drive out to look for Northern Lights was unsuccessful so we returned to the hotel to rest up for another day.
Today’s trivia: Polar bears have black skin to help absorb any light that might reach it. The tongues are also black. The polar bear hair is actually fairly translucent and looks different depending on the light. Polar bears do not hibernate, unlike other bears; however, the pregnant females will den to give birth to 1-2 cubs in January.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
First day out on "The Machine"
Today is Rememberance Day in Canada – similar to our Veteran’s Day (which is today too) – but interestingly is widely celebrated and commemorated across the country, very much more than we do in the United States. For us, this will certainly be a day to remember for a very long time…our first day out on the tundra vehicles, or “The Machine” as they are referred to up here, was unbelievable. We came for bears and there were bears aplenty. Within the first few minutes out on the tundra, we came across our first bear. Of course, we all took more than our fair share of photos - you never know, it may be the only one you see! As it turns out, this poor guy that was a ways off didn’t stand a chance next to the rest of the sightings throughout the day. To try and sum it up, there are over 1000 photos from today alone…we’ll try to pick a few to post.
We spent the entire day from about 7:30 am to about 4:30 pm out on the vehicles – with snacks and lunch out there on the tundra. The bears were particularly interested in the minestrone soup – bears that we sat and watched for over an hour that did nothing but sleep, actually got up and came up to the cars to get a smell. One rather large guy came up and stood up to stick his nose through the window – to give some perspective, the windows on the vehicles are a good 8-9 feet off the ground. Fortunately, that’s about all they can get in the window. Realizing that he wasn’t getting his serving, he moved on.
We returned briefly to the hotel to warm up and then went to a nice dinner at one of the local restuarants in town. After dinner, because the night was clear, we made a short trip out of town a bit to get away from the lights to see if there was any sign on the Northern Lights. At first, there was nothing, but as we waited they appeared…it was an amazing sight. We ended up spending about an hour out there taking pictures and watching. A spectacular end to the day.
Today’s trivia: The Northern Lights are formed by electromagnetic activity from the sun emitting electrons that react with the Earth’s atmosphere to form the lights…different colors are associated with different elements being released with the reactions. No, they are not aliens.
Last minute note...no pictures tonight since it's late and we have to get up early. There will be some tomorrow from today and tomorrow hopefully!
We spent the entire day from about 7:30 am to about 4:30 pm out on the vehicles – with snacks and lunch out there on the tundra. The bears were particularly interested in the minestrone soup – bears that we sat and watched for over an hour that did nothing but sleep, actually got up and came up to the cars to get a smell. One rather large guy came up and stood up to stick his nose through the window – to give some perspective, the windows on the vehicles are a good 8-9 feet off the ground. Fortunately, that’s about all they can get in the window. Realizing that he wasn’t getting his serving, he moved on.
We returned briefly to the hotel to warm up and then went to a nice dinner at one of the local restuarants in town. After dinner, because the night was clear, we made a short trip out of town a bit to get away from the lights to see if there was any sign on the Northern Lights. At first, there was nothing, but as we waited they appeared…it was an amazing sight. We ended up spending about an hour out there taking pictures and watching. A spectacular end to the day.
Today’s trivia: The Northern Lights are formed by electromagnetic activity from the sun emitting electrons that react with the Earth’s atmosphere to form the lights…different colors are associated with different elements being released with the reactions. No, they are not aliens.
Last minute note...no pictures tonight since it's late and we have to get up early. There will be some tomorrow from today and tomorrow hopefully!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
One more photo...
Sorry about the formatting...not sure why the photos are getting all screwy. Can't seem to figure out how to make them look nice with the text.
Enjoy! Hopefully more from the tundra tomorrow...
Churchill Arrival
This morning, we flew to Churchill on an “upgraded” plane – which meant one without propellers (yea!) and landed on a snowy runway around 11:30. We briefly toured Churchill, which is essentially five blocks on one street with a handful of hotels and shops, one local hardware store, and one local general store. There is also a community center with a health clinic and a hockey rink. We ate lunch at Gypsy’s, which is a diner restaurant and then headed out to start seeing the sights.
The lighting was lovely and the low afternoon sun creates fantastic shadows off the snow. The blue sky and high clouds created a beautiful background for the snowy landscapes punctuated by the granite rocks. We started at a lookout point near the Hudson Bay with the local inshook. The inshook are stone shapes used by natives as signposts, direction markers, and cache places for meat and supplies. The Hudson Bay is still unfrozen at this point. However, when the pack ice sets in, the polar bears will cross this expanse of water on the ice and head north to hunt seals. The ice on the shore reflected the light and ranged from clear shapes like glass to more opaque and milky colored. Then, we went to Cape Merry, which is a national park. We caught a glimpse of a sleeping red fox, curled in a fuzzy ball between the rocks. In the snow, there were polar bear tracks, which are easily as big as human footprints. We saw some of the buildings left from Jockville, which was the housing for the people who built the grain shipping building in the 1920s. At the tip of the cape, between the Hudson Bay and the Churchill River, we went to the remains of Prince of Wales Fort, one of the original strongholds of the Hudson Bay Company. Finally, we headed back to our hotel, called the Seaport Inn. The hotel is small and the rooms are small but comfortable. By 4:30, the sun had set and it was dark.
Just in case you are wondering it is COLD here. After being outside for a few minutes, my fingers were feeling stiff and numb. We have two guides, Eric from Natural Habitat Tours, and Paul, our local guide. They are extremely careful about how far we wander and walk around. Paul checks for polar bears at every stop armed with a shotgun before we are allowed out. Clearly encountering a polar bear can be dangerous.
Tonight, we are eating dinner here at the Seaport Inn and then have a lecture on the wildlife. Tomorrow, we head out in the tundra vehicle for a full day trying to see the polar bears. Keep your fingers crossed!
Today’s trivia: Of the 65 men sent to build Fort Prince of Wales, they were woefully underprepared for the winter and only 3 survived. Amazingly, in the spring, those three boarded their ship and sailed all the way back to Europe.
Photos:
Polar Bear Tracks (no actual bears seen today!)
Those signs are not just for tourist to take photos of...they are very serious.
Ice
Winnipeg Day 2
After breakfast in the hotel, we set off at 8 am for our tour of Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a city of approximately 725,000 people and the city had its heyday in the mid-1800s, when it served as a center for trade. Initially, the trade was between the native people and French explorers. Their offspring, known as the Metis, played a large role in the history of the area. The Hudson Bay Company then came into the region and the area boomed, with the main industry being the shipping of pelts of the beaver, snow fox, caribou, and buffalo that once were plentiful in this area. Apparently beaver hats were all the rage in Europe. Many of the city’s buildings were built in the Chicago style, as they were built when Chicago was rebuilding after the great fire there.
Our first stop was the Legislative Building, which is built of Tyndall stone. This is limestone that formed when the area was at the bottom of a warm sea and contains fossil remains that are 445 million years old. Throughout the building’s walls, you can see fossilized shells, corals and sponges. The building has a rotunda with a beautiful ceiling. The building was built by a Freemason and has lots of symbolism that would inspire another Dan Brown novel. It is topped by the “Golden Boy,” a guilt statue that was a gift from France in the 1800s.
Next, we headed off to the Nunavut Gallery, which features Inuit and Native carvings. We learned about the different stones used in these carvings. These Native artists live north of Churchill and transport the carvings 7 hours by boat to sell them.
The Museum of Natural History provided a nice overview of the history of the area, starting with the time when Giant Sloth roamed the land. There is a skeleton of a giant sloth that rivals some of the dinosaurs in size. We saw our first polar bear! Well, okay, it was a stuffed one in the museum… but it was a polar bear. The museum has some lovely native beaded outfits from the time that trade started with the Hudson Bay Company, as well as other items which would have been traded with the local people. The museum features a full sized replica of the type of boat that the Hudson Bay Company would have used. The boat is amazingly small (considering it made trans-Atlantic journeys) and was staffed by only about a dozen crew members, who made the 3 month journey from Europe for trade. We saw some of the traditional Inuit tools and toys and learned about how they made their igloos.
After lunch in a restaurant in the French Quarter, we went to St. Boniface for a brief look around and then back to the museum for a Planetarium program on the Aurora Borealis and stars in the Northern Sky. Next, we saw polar bears… well, okay, they were painted ones that are in a park behind the Legislative Building. Finally, we saw a piece of the original wall of the Fort that was here. Now, it is pitch black and we are back at the hotel. Tonight, we have a welcome dinner in the hotel and tomorrow we leave for Churchill, which is about 800 miles to the north on the shore of Hudson Bay. There are three ways to get to Churchill – by plane, by train (36 hours), or by boat. There are no roads that lead into Churchill. We will be traveling by plane, of course.
Today’s trivia: All of the water from this area drains to the north into the Hudson Bay. Today’s high in Churchill is -4 degrees Celsius and the low is -12 degrees Celsius. Brrr…
Photos:
Polar Bear Sighting!!
Manitoba Legislative Building
Winnipeg Day 1
After an early morning pitch black start, a flight to Minneapolis and a second flight to Winnipeg, we met up with some people in our group and a Natural Habitat staff member to head off to the Fort Gary Hotel in Winnipeg. After checking in and freshening up, we walked through the eerily empty train station, which has a lovely domed ceiling to The Forks. This is a shopping area with park areas and trails at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, which was an important trading area and a gathering spot for the Native Americans. All of the buildings were originally used by the rail yard, that was originally at this site. We had lunch at a place similar to Reading Terminal Market and walked around the trails and along the river. We saw Canadian geese, which look amazingly similar to those in our yard. Across the river in the French Quarter, we explored the ruins of St. Boniface Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire. Behind the ruins, a much more contemporary church was built. By about five in the afternoon, it was getting dark, so we returned to the hotel. We had a casual dinner at a sports bar called the Keg and then turned in early after our travel day. Hopefully, the sunshine and relatively mild weather will stay with us throughout the trip. Tomorrow, we have a tour through Winnipeg.
Today’s trivia: In Winnipeg, we are about 60 miles from the U.S. border above Minnesota and North Dakota. More than 90% of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border.
Photos:
St Boniface Cathedral
Red River
Canadian Geese (in Canada...get it?)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Welcome to Canada, Eh?
We arrived in Winnipeg today - from Philadelphia, through Minneapolis. It's a nice small city - we got to walk around a bit this afternoon. It gets dark here around 4:30, so not a whole lot of time. Tomorrow, we'll have the day to see the city more. There's a better posting and some photos to post, but they'll have to wait until Tuesday probably since we only have the lobby computer to use here and can't upload the full posting and photos from here. We hopefully will have easier internet access once we arrive in Churchill on Tuesday.
By the way - we leave Winnipeg on Tuesday morning for the 2 1/2 hour flight north to Churchill - a town of about 700 residents that has no road access. On the shores of Hudson Bay, though, it makes it a prime polar bear viewing location as the bears wait for the bay to freeze. As it's actually been fairly warm up there (in the 20-30's) the bay has not started to freeze, which is good for us - means more bears that haven't headed north yet for the winter feeding season.
More details to follow - stay tuned!!
By the way - we leave Winnipeg on Tuesday morning for the 2 1/2 hour flight north to Churchill - a town of about 700 residents that has no road access. On the shores of Hudson Bay, though, it makes it a prime polar bear viewing location as the bears wait for the bay to freeze. As it's actually been fairly warm up there (in the 20-30's) the bay has not started to freeze, which is good for us - means more bears that haven't headed north yet for the winter feeding season.
More details to follow - stay tuned!!
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