Logistical information on the trip    BK travel's Polar Bear pictures from 2007

Where to start!  I have wanted to go to Churchill to see the Polar Bears for years. Finally I made it a priority. I wanted to try this out to see if it would work for a group as it is an exciting place to go but full of many unknowns. 

 Tailored made group plan
I needed a group large enough to see how flexible each operator would be in tailoring their tours to what I thought might be best.  I found that very few of the operators would be flexible. They sell out every year so there is little competition between the tour operators.  Also it was hard to get real quality information about what was included and how it would all work. Many of them had a day in town, visiting a museum etc I felt that was a waste of time. I wanted a trip with three full days on the tundra not two days on the tundra and one day wasted.  It was a night in Winnipeg, three nights in Churchill and then a night in Winnipeg. A five night trip. 

The Tundra Buggies
Also there are two companies that run the tundra buggies, “Great White Bear” and the original company “Tundra Buggy”  In researching I found that Great White Bear operated newer and superior tundra buggies. They were smoother and better built.  They also did not cram their buggies full. They take 20 people and there is room for about 40 people.  Most of us had a double seat to ourselves.  Only two tour companies used Great White Bear, Churchill Nature Tours and Natural Habitat.  So these are the tour companies where I focused my inquiries. I also met someone who had been out with both companies and said there was a big quality difference in the vehicles.  All the other tour operators use Tundra Buggy. I also saw some of the Tundra Buggies just jammed full of people. 

Natural Habitat and Churchill Nature Tours
Natural Habitat is a much bigger tour company and is the most expensive.  I was leaning this way assuming that the tour would be the best possible.  However, in communicating with them it was obvious that there was ZERO flexibility and looking at their program it seemed to be no better than what was offered by Churchill Nature Tours and for a considerable amount more – about $1000+ a person. The brochure was certainly better but when you really analyzed what was offered I could not see the value. The motel used by Churchill was rated as well as those used by Natural Habitat and Churchill Nature tours used a restaurant called Gypsy’s and it was rated as the best restaurant. 

Churchill Nature Tours was much easier to communicate with. I was working directly with the owner and she put together a package just as I had requested with 3 full days on the tundra and not time spent seeing the town and the museum.  The paperwork was sparse and very non impressive but I checked them out at the time and they got good reviews so I decided to move forward with this company.

 Once in Churchill we could some slight differences between the two operators
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The Natural Habitat people all had matching very nice parkas and they all wore a button with their name on their parkas. I found out that Natural Habitat did not use local guides but bought in their own guides and also handled making their own lunches for the day out on the tundra and did not use the local restaurants.  I could see subtle differences in how the locals responded to our guide (a local) and the Natural Habitat guides when we were dining in the same restaurant. I noticed we had the nice wood table in the restaurant and they served us first.  The Natural Habitat group had some smaller metal tables pushed together. There were little differences that you do note if you pay attention. 

Natural Habitat is a much bigger tour operator and would like to have full use of the Great White Bear company tundra buggies but there is a loyalty from the owner of Great White Bear to the owner of the Churchill Nature tours so fortunately Churchill Nature Tours is able to retain rights for their tours.  However, overall I think both companies probably provide a great tour experience I just cannot see the additional expense to get a parka, and a button with your name. 

The Food
Food was really good. The café they use, Gypsy’s is really excellent. They offer incredible pastries and deserts as it is primarily a bakery. We had one person join our group who had been with another tour operator the week before and said the food was barely passable elsewhere but the one meal he had at Gypsy’s was so much better he was delighted to be eating all his meals here.  Breakfast had everything you could want from made to order omelets, eggs benedict, pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, ham.  The pastries everyone was raving about.  For dinner they offered about five main items, Walleye and Char for the fish, Sirlion Steak (excellent) for the meat, chicken and a pasta dish. Always accompanied by a home made soup or salad and then your choice of dessert. All drinks except for alcoholic beverages were offered.  Lunch was on the tundra buggy. It was a hot soup (these were always excellent) and a variety of cold sandwiches and a dessert. 

The Motel
We stayed at the Aurora Inn.  Remember the old loft apartment complexes of the 1960’s.  That explains the room exactly. A downstairs with a full kitchen, refrigerator, stove, dishes and microwave. In the downstairs living area a table with two chairs, a couch and a TV.  Upstairs was the bedroom with a king size bed, large closet and bathroom with a single sink and tub/shower combination. It was clean and acceptable but nothing fancy.  They did have a washer and dryer for your use and also free wireless internet in the rooms and a computer with internet all free of charge.  We never saw a person at the front desk except when we check in and checked out. No room service or any special services, maid service came each day when we were out. 

How the Tour works.

You fly into Winnipeg Manitoba. 
We came in an extra day early as we were concerned about weather delays. There is not much to do in Winnipeg. We visited “The Forks” a tourist area with shops, restaurants and a river walk. Another couple said the museums were excellent but I am pretty tired of museums.  We stayed at the Hilton near the airport and it was a nice hotel. Large rooms with a front living area with bar with microwave, desk and TV then a bedroom with a great king size bed and TV and dresser.  The bed was REALLY comfortable. The food here was also very good. They had a wine called “little penguin” I selected it for the name and ended up drinking it a lot it was very good.  The first night there is a welcome dinner and the owner of the company is present at that meal.

The next day you leave early and fly to Churchill
The plane is a Saab twin engine prop.  Holds about 40 people and a very comfortable plane. The flight is about 2 ½ hours long. Arriving in Churchill is exciting as you fly over the tundra and see all the ice.

You are met by your guide.  We had STEVE who has been working for the tour company for 18 years. We will request him for all our tours.  Off you go to a rattling school bus. I had no idea windows could rattle that much. You get an overview of Churchill and some of the sights including the polar bear jail where they put the polar bears that wander into town and cause a problem for the residents.  Then it is off to Gypsy’s for lunch where you can order anything you wish off the menu. They have a HUGE menu including all types of burgers, sandwiches, soups, pizza, potato skins a big variety.  A helicopter tour is offered and Ken and I decided to try it out for everyone else who followed. I do love helicopter rides but at $500 a person for an hour this was not worth it. I do not recommend this tour.  Then we had a nighttime tundra ride. This I would scrap. I do not think this is that good a thing to do. It is 45 minutes to the place the tundra buggy leaves from and then about an hour in the dark bouncing around in the tundra buggy to a place where you park and have simple stew. I do not see the point.  It would be much better to have some down time and a nice meal at Gypsy’s. 

Three Full Days on the tundra
After a hearty breakfast at Gypsy’s it was great excitement as we set off for the tundra at around 8.00 am.  It takes 45 minutes in the rattling school bus to get to the tundra buggy staging area. Then about an hour in the tundra buggy to get to the area where the polar bears hang out. So it is nearly two hours from departure to the polar bear sighting area and you get there at around 10.00 am.  However, all is soon forgotten as you start to see the bears. There is no way to describe how truly amazing this experience can be.  They come really close to the vehicles and as you saw in one of Ken’s pictures a young adolescent is a curious animal and will come right up to the buggy if you are lucky, we were!  You see mothers and cubs, males sparring, and so much interaction between the bears. It is one of the few places in the world where bears congregate like this as they are normally solitary animals.  You are out on the tundra viewing the bears for about four hours from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm.  You arrive back at the town at around 4.00 pm.  The guide will then run you around town, to the shops, or the liquor store or where ever you want to go. 

Lunch is served in the buggy and we always stopped somewhere for lunch with a bear near the buggy.  Lunch with a bear view, it is amazing what happens when you just stop and watch. 

During one lunch time we were next to Snaggle Tooth. He has a tooth hanging down hence his nickname.  A very large male who was very comfortable in a kelp bed he had made and totally relaxed. From time to time he would stretch and once wiggled his large back legs in the air; he was so much fun to watch.  Along came a mother and two cubs. She kept approaching not realizing that snaggle tooth was in her path. We all held our breath as she got closer and closer. A large male may kill small cubs.  Finally they saw each other.  Mom got a little nervous and changed direction. Our lazy snaggle tooth slowly “fell” out of his kelp bed. He literally rolled over and out with legs in the air.  It was quite a sight.  Then he struggled to his feet. It took him a little time to decide to follow but then he started running toward the mother and cubs. We were all holding our breath. Mom and the cubs starting running.  That was too much for the big male he decided it was too much trouble and gave up and came back to the kelp bed. Such is the life of a lazy bear. 

Another time we were parked on the ice watching a mother and cubs. Then another mother and cubs arrived.  Within a short period of time an adolescent male came on the scene and started walking towards our vehicle. This was the male Ken got a close up of he was right next to our vehicle and then we got the picture of him standing up on the vehicle next to us. It was so exciting it is hard to describe when you see these incredibly beautiful and unique animals. 

We had numerous sightings and fun experiences. The picture of Linda driving the Tundra Buggy she was TRULY driving the vehicle that was not a staged scene. She was not talking on the phone however, she made the statement, I don’t know how to drive if I am not talking on the phone. One of our young fellow passengers obliged by giving her a cell phone. 

At the end of the last day we departed Churchill at around 7.00pm. No security, no need for a passport either. Only 750 people live in Churchill.  One more night in Winnipeg and then home the next day. 

Northern Lights
We saw SUN DOGS which I had no idea existed before.  The sun is shining and in the sky on both sides of the sun is a vertical rainbow that comes straight down from the sky to the ground. Ken should have posted a picture of that it was something I had never seen before. 

Northern lights evaded us. We had two very clear nights and one evening we boarded our trusty bus to the edge of town to see the lights that started to form but never made it to anything spectacular. 

How cold was it --- COLD
You need proper clothing particularly for your feet and hands. I bought some snow boots for $20 that were large enough for several pairs of socks. They were great. I had regular fleece gloves and they were fine. I did not use my leather thicker gloves.  Long underwear, a fleece top and a nice warm coat.  I also wore my waterproof pants I use  in the Antarctica, not because I would get wet but they are very warm. The temperature changes all the time. The buggy is heated so you are quite comfortable and then a bear sighting takes place, all the windows open, people are going outside and it gets cold quick. Little time is spent out doors. It is simply running in and out from bus to building and from bus to tundra buggy. You are picked up at the motel and taken to dinner you do not need to walk around in the cold.  We had two sunny days and one day with snow. Both were really quite beautiful.

 Positives
This trip exceeded my expectations. The accommodations and food were a nice surprise I did not expect things to be this nice.  The bears were remarkable and we were able to get so close and see so much behavior.  The guide was great, very natural, lives in Churchill and Winnipeg and just a really nice man.  Very knowledgeable but does not drive you crazy with facts.  We made excellent use of our time and got every ounce of time squeezed out with the bears. 

Negatives
So hard to get any information ahead of time just NO details at all, even a problem while we were actually on the trip. The itinerary said welcome dinner at the Hilton. No time or place. I thought something would be in our rooms, but there was nothing. I finally asked at the front desk and they said oh “usually about 7.00 pm or so just come down to the restaurant about that time”. So we are eating dinner, no information about the next day. Finally at dessert we started asking questions.  All through the trip we were always trying to figure out what would happen next. They are so laid back. I can solve this for those who follow because I can advise everyone of how things work. On our first lunch the guide said “get a soup, sandwich and dessert”. I looked at the menu and the bakery case. Is a sandwich a burger or is it just cold sandwiches. We found out we could have anything we wanted they even had escargot.  The “plans” were never clear and never anything in advance. 

Strict cancel policy and payment terms
There is a $600 per person deposit that is NOT refundable.  No credit cards, payments by check made directly to the tour operator. I argued this for this trip and there was no budging.  So if you decide to go you are really committed or you lose a $1200. That is a lot.  

Group size and details
Maximum of 20 people per group, perfect size for the Great White Bear tundra buggy, the Aurora Inn has 10 rooms and this gives some room in the school bus.  The time frame is perfect.