Ultimate Churchill

8 days London to London

Day 1. Arrive Winnipeg [D]

Depart London for Winnipeg. On arrival you will be met and transferred to Hotel Fort Garry.

Day 2. Churchill

This morning you fly to Churchill and have a brief presentation on Polar Bears before heading to the tundra for an evening among the bears. Your stay in Churchill will be at one of the small hotels in the town, all of which are clean and comfortable.

Days 3. Bear viewing [B, L, D]

Today you board a tundra vehicle and travel to the tundra to view the bears and other wildlife.

Churchill, the 'Polar Bear Capital of the World', is the only human settlement where Polar Bears can be observed in the wild and it lies right in the bears migratory path. Our tours here are planned for October and November, at the time of the annual migration towards the Cape Churchill area. The bears generally spend the summer along Churchill's coastline not hunting, but conserving energy and trying to stay cool - they will have been here since mid-June. As winter approaches they begin to move towards the Cape which is where the sea freezes over first and as soon as the ice is thick enough, the bears head north where they spend the winter hunting.

Day 4. Helicopter to Bear Dens [B, L, D]

Today, weather permitting, you fly by helicopter over the tundra to the female bears denning area. You may even have the remarkable opportunity to crawl inside an unoccupied Polar Bear den! In the afternoon you may enjoy a half day dogsledding excursion.

Day 5. Churchill [B, L, D]

Our immersion into the nature and culture of the north continues, as native hosts tell us about daily life near the top of the world. For millennia, the Inuit and Dene have existed compatibly with a daunting climate. Historically they relied for sustenance on the animals, fish and berries of the region, while now their lives are characterized by both traditional practices and contemporary ways. This presentation offers a look at the changing north through the lens of these enduring cultures. If conditions permit, we may even help build a traditional igloo. We also visit the Eskimo Museum, with artifacts collected from centuries of local habitation. If skies are clear, we???ll visit a heated aurora dome to experience the natural wonder of the Northern Lights. The lights often begin slowly, as a faint white glow, then intensify in scope and color as they undulate across the sky, shimmering curtains of electric green, waves of blue, or even red. The Hudson Bay Inuit see the lights as the magical display of their ancestors??? souls dancing in the sky. Though we now know the aurora borealis is caused by the interaction of the solar wind with the earth???s magnetic field, they are no less entrancing.

Day 6. Churchill to Winnipeg [B, L or D]

After some free time you return to Winnipeg for a final night at the Hotel Fort Gary.

Day 7. Homeward [B]

Transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Day 8. Arrive Home