Lynne's Travels : February 2024

Churchill

Churchill, on the shore of Hudson Bay, in the far north of Manitoba, Canada, is best known for the Polar Bears that inhabit the area in the fall, and safaris in reinforced tundra vehicles – is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World. In summer, almost 4000 beluga whales visit the Churchill River basin, whereas in the winter you can see the Northern Lights – what an amazing place! I had waited many years to visit this spectacular place and was so excited to finally be there.

Churchill is a small town and very easy to walk around and explore, but you must always remember you are in polar bear country, respect the warnings and never go out alone especially at night. People who live here don’t lock their cars, as if you see a Polar Bear, an open vehicle is somewhere it is suggested to get into as quickly as possible. It isn’t recommended to explore on foot outside the town without a guide; so, I was lucky to be part of a group with an experienced guide. Churchill lies at the southern limit of where Polar Bears are able to live all year-round and has one of the biggest denning areas in the world. In the autumn, Polar Bears gather on the shoreline waiting for the Bay to freeze – so they can venture north where their food supply is in abundance. Although the town is quite small, there is plenty to do if you are there for a few days.

Our first stop was the famous Polar Bear Jail (Polar Bear Holding Facility) - a special building where polar bears that are considered troublesome or dangerous are put before being relocated. It is a massive hangar (with a fabulous mural of a sleeping bear on it) of 28 block-built cells with steel bar ceilings and doors. Most cells only fit one bear in – to stop them fighting but two larger cells are reserved for mothers with cubs. Five cells are air-conditioned to make them more comfortable during warmer weather. Built in the 1950s when Churchill was an army base, the military arranged for the material to be shipped in to construct a building of that size and strength - in such a remote, inhospitable place.

Nowadays, rather than shooting bears that are considered dangerous, they are held for a few weeks or until the bay freezes. While locked up, they get water or snow through a trough that runs across their cells, but no snacks—to avoid associating humans with food. As soon as the bay begins to freeze, the bears are brought over to the ice, the trap doors lifted, and they are set free one by one - happily wandering off onto the ice. Not far from here, we stopped at “Miss Piggy”, a freight plane, which in 1979 carrying a cargo of pigs, developed engine trouble and landed among the rocks.

The wreck is in the most picturesque setting of pine trees and calm waters on the shore of Hudson Bay.

We continued along into the National Park for a dogsled ride through the boreal forest. Dave Daley, owner of Wapusk Adventures, is a long-distance dog-sled racer who has lived in Churchill his whole life, a proud descendant of the Metis. He has travelled and raced up to 1200 kilometres across the snow-covered northern regions of Manitoba; and was keen to share tales of his adventures. He has more than 40 huskies, most of which are rescues – and he knows every single one of them individually.

He runs his organisation with a very hands-on approach, sharing so much love with his animals who are brimming with excitement when they know it is their turn to “run”.

We had a ride through the forest on a cart with wheels – because the snow was late arriving; but it was still thrilling and invigorating – made even more special by meeting Dave. https://www.wapuskadventures.com

From here we went to our hotel, The Tundra Inn, located on a quiet side street, just off the only Main Street that runs through the town. There was no time to unpack, we had to get out and explore the town whilst there was still some daylight. It was only a matter of walking up one side of the Main Street and back down the other, but there was still plenty of interesting things to see.

There are a few churches, such as St. Paul’s Anglican Church, the first prefabricated building in North America, a designated heritage site, and is the oldest church in the North still in use. Lady Franklin donated a stained-glass window in memory of her husband Sir John Franklin, the famous Arctic explorer.

There is a visitor centre, a research centre, a museum, a couple of gift shops, a helicopter booking office and the supermarket. As this is one of the most remote communities to get food and supplies to, I was expecting the supermarket to be quite empty, but to my surprise although it was a large building – it had an impressive selection of goods. The main difference was that everything was in bulk packages, if you go shopping for something – you have to get a few months’ worth – which is understandable.

After making the most of every minute of daylight, it was time to head back to the Tundra Inn. My room was warm and comfortable, with all the modern amenities I would have expected. The only difference was that the window only opened a few inches and had locks of each of its 4 sides – to keep Polar bears out!

The following morning, our first stop was The Itsanitaq Museum, a wonderful place, where we had a talk about Inuit culture and saw some of the impressive carvings representing of the people of the North. This collection of Inuit carvings and artifacts that are amongst the finest and oldest in the world, dating from 1700 B.C.

We spent a delightful hour there, and then bought some locally made souvenirs from their shop. The next stop, just around the corner was Polar Bears International House, where we met scientists discussing their ongoing research into Polar Bears, climate warming and the urgent action needed to preserve them.

We had a film show and saw displays showing when the Polar Bears came onto land this year and how many days they had gone without food – whilst waiting for the sea ice to return. I was horrified to learn that it was about 140 days this year, and the longest they were able to survive was only another month – the sea-ice had to return soon. The work these people do is so important to ensure the survival of the Polar Bears.

From here we walked to the local Post Office and had our passports stamped with a Polar Bear! Walking around the town, I saw Halloween decorations outside houses, just like everywhere else in the world; but in Churchill there is only one block that is cordoned off on Halloween, with an armed person on each corner on guard – so that children can still go “trick or treating” safely.

I was surprised to see the number of fascinating murals painted on many of the buildings, some were cultural, some were meaningful and others just colourful.

We went to the Visitor Reception Centre in Churchill’s Railway Station next, to see exhibits about wildlife and natural history of the area and were given a presentation on health-giving plants found locally.

Then it was on the coach to go to Cape Merry (named after Captain John Merry, Deputy Governor of the Hudson Bay Company from 1712-1718); an excellent location for watching whales enter the river, observing migrating birds, or enjoying the panoramic view. We had a guide greet us when we arrived and gave us a Health and Safety talk – the most important piece of information was that “you always listen to the person holding the gun!!!”.

The guides all had guns and were constantly watching out for Polar Bears, which could appear at any time. They took us on a short walk to the remains of the stone battery constructed in 1746, to provide protection at the river mouth and supplement the defences of Prince of Wales Fort. The view was astounding; the sun was shining; the sea was mirror-like – it could not have been more perfect.

There was a seal spotted on banks of the river and I am sure a saw the back of a beluga whale submerging gently into the ocean. There were several red foxes darting amongst the rocks and everyone was getting excited to see some wildlife.

Driving back into town, we passed the Rocket Research Range, built in 1957 to launch rockets carrying experiments into space. Chosen for its auroral activity levels, it was the base for scientific research for almost 30 years. Akjuit Aerospace temporarily reinvigorated the Range from 1994 to 1998 and renamed it Space Port Canada. Our next stop was behind the Town Centre Complex, that holds the hospital, the library, theatre, a cafe, gym, bowling alley and swimming pool.

Here on the shingle beach is an Inukshuk - meaning “in the likeness of a human.”; for years Inuit have been creating these stone markers to guide travellers, warn of danger, assist hunters and mark places of importance. On the edge of the beach is “The Enterprise”, which is playground rather than a sea-going vessel. There are often bear sightings along this shore and we were reminded to keep in a close group near the coach.

The last presentation of the day was by a local Dene woman called Florence, who told us about the lives of the Cree, the Sayisi Dene, Chipewyan and Inuit peoples, and the routes they took following the caribou over the centuries.

Their ancestral homeland stretched west from Hudson Bay, and they are notable for living a nomadic hunting and gathering existence. As with many other native peoples, there were upsetting tales of how these people were treated and how the First Nation Culture is being kept alive today. We were constantly reminded the land we were guests on, was located in Treaty 5 territory, and we must remain mindful to uphold the principles of respect and caring for the natural wonders and cultural richness of Churchill and its surroundings. Our time in Churchill had ended, now it was time to head into the National Park and to the Tundra Buggy Lodge in search of Polar Bears. To say I was excited was an understatement – I had been waiting for this for 5 years!