Day 1 on the Tundra

At 5:30am from a warm, comfortable bed in our super clean Churchill Hotel room, I awoke to the sound of ?gunshot ?fireworks   Polar Bear Police!

At the window, I was greeted with a pitch dark sky and plenty of street lights illuminating town. At the end of town, not far from us, 2 vehicles sporting spotlights could be seen. There were short-lived bursts of explosive light, not unlike fireworks 50' overhead. "Someone" was being asked to leave the area before another busy day here begins. In my mind I had hoped to see a bear meandering through town but to be fair, I might have also pooped myself a little if that HAD been the view from our ground level bedroom window!  (Turns out the beary curious visitor made a personal appearance at the NatHab staff house instead.)

There was a light dusting of snow and a Canadian flag blowing - not gently. I thought this to be good polar bear weather, so into my notebook I scrawled "today is going to be a spectacular day! I'll try to contain tears of joy.... Or will I?"

Maybe you're a regular reader and you already know I had high hopes for this trip. I'm well aware it's nature and wild things show up when and if they want to show up. But no harm in aiming high, dreaming big and expecting the universe to hear your voice.

If you time travel back to a post I wrote at the end of December 2023, you'll find my Polar Bear bucket list. The 5 items I wanted to photograph while on the tundra. 

https://dallice.blogspot.com/2023/12/t-300-seriously-seriously.html

Spoiler alert! This bucket list had been nailed within 36 hours of hitting the tundra!

Pre-dawn we were barreling down a rocky road at 5mph in our tundra rover. Robert was driving. An orange glow on the horizon, 16 passengers sporting cameras and binoculars, the air palpable with excitement and anticipation.

The amazingness began fairly quickly. Polar bear joy!

Day one was epic. Best summed up in photos:

The bears we saw spend a surprising amount of time with closed eyes. There were strict rules around making noise - calling them or enticing them with food. It resulted in relaxed bears that had zero issues with us being pretty close while they napped, played and enjoyed their environment. (The bushes are willow-brush)

The feet are my favorite! If you've ever thought that lean bears look like a guy in a onesie... you'd be correct!

Arctic ptarmigan, while hard to see, are actually more plentiful than I first thought. Super cute, hardy as heck and apparently tasty... these pretty little "chicken of the tundra" did not end up on my plate during our trip!

Last but not least, those flashes of bright orange on the tundra rocks that caught your eye? Absolutely striking in this season and environment. Lobed, frilly and leafy up close.

May I introduce to you, Orange Sunburst Lichen - one of Manitoba's most prolific lichen species. You think living here qualifies it as hardy? Get this; It survived for over a year and a half in an extremely cold and oxygen-deficient atmosphere attached to the exterior of the orbiting International Space Station! 

We have Arrived at Churchill Manitoba!

 Our charter flight with Calm Air was just under 2 hours. Who doesn't love a tail wind?!

Quick shout out to NatHab for the way they dealt with bags that didn't fit in the cabin overhead compartments but were a bit delicate for the average airport baggage handler. VALET bags. We dropped them off at the bottom of the stairs to the plane and our NatHab guides loaded and unloaded them to a secret spot on the plane. This is how they safeguard the camera gear of 35 people and ensure no tears and no missed opportunities for us in the coming week. Brilliant!

Upon arrival we broke off into specific tour groups - our guide was Garrett. A Winnipegian man who actually, literally has 9 jobs and by his own account has found a way to monetize all his favorite hobbies. He has his own canoe/camp business, media company, teaches videography at college level, is a trained chef, guides for Nathab and ... other stuff that I can't remember. Wowza! Smart and passionate. That's the perfect combo for a guide, am I right?!

You know I checked out his website too. Every guide and photographer has a 'style' and this gal will find something in particular with that style that she can learn from and benefit from. Garrett's pictures tell stories. I LOVE that. IMHO if you can find a moment that speaks to your senses in a multi-dimensional way, asks a questions, elicits an emotional response or triggers a memory, you have a winner... even if the focus is not sharp or the light is not perfect. Because we are not perfect either, it can still be just right.

Before lunch we traveled the road near the coast and checked out Miss Piggy. A long-since downed aircraft that has been lovingly muraled to death and sits as an aviators reminder (just shy of the airport) and a tourist photo-opp.

Then we met Dave ("big dog") and his son Wyatt, who run a dog sledding operation.  

Wapusk dog sledding just so you know, puts the highest priority on the DOGS. Good food and plenty of it, not overworked - in fact they are tethered to stop them from running themselves ragged. It's a thing, I learned. Most of the dogs are rescued and rehomed. This is not a puppy breeding facility and the dogs are not purebred anything. They are personality-assessed and take their place in a crew they they are best suited and happiest with... And their position on the harness is also determined by their strengths, weaknesses and comfort with the other dogs pulling closest to them.

Bob, our driver, oozed gentle energy!

The dogs were super eager (understatement) to run us a mile around the boreal forest area on carts (not enough snow yet) and frolic a bit as we got our photography fingers all warmed up.  The amuse bouche, if you will. 

Tomorrow promised to be all photography, all day. I was itching to see a polar bear!

Winnipeg... art and culture

Im confessing right here and now that Winnipeg surprised me. WAY more art and culture than I was expecting. What was I expecting? I dunno... something like an amplified northern version of the mid west? Agriculture, even-tempered, hard working folk who eat fried things for dinner?

But I guess if you scratch the surface of any area, you find a deeper and more memorable big picture. 

Day one was the "hairbrush tour of Winnipeg" since for the upteenth time, I forgot to bring a hairbrush on vacation with us. I know, I know. I'm a special broken kind of gal... missing the gene that controls 'looking nice' motivation! But it gave us the chance to get feet on the ground and find our way around the city, railway station, The Forks park along the Red River and Assiniboine River junction. 

Winnipeg is historically significant, blending indigenous trading routes and meeting places with sacred spaces giving free voice to generational trauma and lessons learned the hard way. Winnipeg's Human Rights Museum is a safe and architecturally astounding home to exhibits about our difficult, painful history with our fellow humans and it ignites serious conversations that need to be had in order to move forward in a positive fashion. We desperately need to be better humans!

We spent most of the day here. By early afternoon, having held back tears for a good deal of the time, I was ready to rest and renew, and get ready for our Welcome Dinner and to meet our 14 new Natural Habitat friends.

Did I mention we were staying at the Fort Garry Hotel - which is gorgeous. A step up for us!

It was also where NatHab sets up its base for the season and we borrowed parkas and boots. I lined mine with sheepskin inserts...  hoping for non-fatal temps but making ample preparations to survive the subarctic environment with a smile and all my toes intact.

Tomorrow held the promise of a fancy breakfast and a quick departure to the airport for our Calm Air flight to Churchill. 

Eeee!!! So excited.