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An account of our trip to this fantastic region of Canada, and our encounters with the majestic Polar Bear.

Churchill, the Polar Bear capital of the world

Djb1166
2004-03-11 16:38:12

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Caribou pizza! Lunch took a while as
the cubs were quite active around the lodge, coming to within a few feet of the window at times. At one point a screamer
shell went off round the back of the dining lodge so everyone rushed to the windows to find the cubs attempting a smash
and grab raid on the food store. Several cracker shells later the cubs are scared away but not before ripping a couple of
planks from the door.

After lunch we headed off on another walk across the frozen lake away from the coast. We had to stick to the edge of the
lake to keep to solid ice, but not to close in case a sleeping bear was just the other side of the ridge! Snow drifts made
the going quite tough but we were rewarded with plenty of tracks, Ptarmigan and snow bunting. On the way back to the lodge
we came across the tracks of the wolf we had seen earlier. Back at the lodge it was hot drinks all round again before
settling down to see what the cubs would do next. We were not disappointed as a few minutes later the cubs went, running
flat out, past the window and out across the lake. The only problem was Jeff, the chef, who was on his way back across the
lake having emptied the peelings well away from the lodge! It looked for a moment as if Jeff was going to be on the cubs
menu, but the smell of the peelings proved the stronger attraction and the cubs headed straight there and started eating
whatever they could find. Later that night another superb meal was served up by Jeff having made it safely back to the lodge.

Another day dawned and the weather had changed for the better, beautiful clear blue sky and sunshine, however the temperature
had taken a nosedive and the thermometer struggled up to -20 centigrade! Despite the temperature the group decided to go
for a long hike, into the boreal forest, and lunch over an open ...