We boarded our CalmAir charter flight and were under way by about 10 am. They served yummy cookies (from Costco!), snacks, soft drinks or hot drinks. We didn't notice that Tobey sat down in a seat with a "DO NOT SIT HERE" sign in it until we were well underway. He mentioned it to the flight attendant and she moved him to a new seat. Apparently it didn't recline, so they didn't want it used in case there was something else wrong with it.
Leaving Winnipeg we could see the river winding its way through the countryside. It was interesting to find out that the Red River which goes through Winnipeg actually flows north through southern Manitoba into Lake Winnipeg!For most of the flight we were above clouds, so there wasn't much to see! As we approached Churchill, we were able to see snow and tundra. It was so desolate!
After arriving we waited for everyone before boarding our bus.
There were two groups on our plane - 16 each with two guides each.
Miranda, our guide, told us to be on the lookout as we made our 20 minute ride from the airport to town. We were so lucky! We saw five red fox as we made our way into town! We stopped and watched as they were hunting and moving around the area.
The last one way up on a hill, sleeping when Krista, our assistant tour guide spotted it. We watched for quite a while and it got up and stretched before settling back down.
We went by lots of empty spaces!
In town, we stopped for our lunch at the Seaport Hotel before heading to the Itsanitaq Museum. It isn't large, but there are nice displays of local art as well as artifacts and taxidermy animals.
We didn't know that narwhal actually existed, but they have a skull and tusks on display (standing up against the post in the picture below). The narwhal tusk which is most commonly found on males, is actually an enlarged tooth with sensory capability. It has up to 10 million nerve endings inside! Some have up to two tusks while others have none. The spiraled tusk can grow as long as 10 feet.
This display were actual polar bears - the first little one at 15 days old. The sign said it was a poor job of taxidermy, but they wanted to include it so you could see the size!
We had about an hour there then we went to our hotel, The Churchill Hotel. We had a couple hours before our evening program and dinner so Tobey and I walked over and went through the grocery store and one of the gift shops. It is SO expensive here because everything has to be brought in by the train or air. There are no roads to Churchill. A 2-litre bottle of Coke was $6.99 Canadian or $5.10 USD!
Our evening program was at the local train station. Eric from the Canada Parks system gave us an interesting 45 minute talk about Churchill, Wapusk National Park, the wildlife, and conservation and education research in the area. It was really interesting. We had a little time to look at the displays before heading back to the Seaport Hotel for dinner.
Tomorrow morning we depart the hotel at 7:25 to head off to our tundra buggy hoping to see polar bears so goodnight and sleep well!
We went by lots of empty spaces!
In town, we stopped for our lunch at the Seaport Hotel before heading to the Itsanitaq Museum. It isn't large, but there are nice displays of local art as well as artifacts and taxidermy animals.
We didn't know that narwhal actually existed, but they have a skull and tusks on display (standing up against the post in the picture below). The narwhal tusk which is most commonly found on males, is actually an enlarged tooth with sensory capability. It has up to 10 million nerve endings inside! Some have up to two tusks while others have none. The spiraled tusk can grow as long as 10 feet.
This display were actual polar bears - the first little one at 15 days old. The sign said it was a poor job of taxidermy, but they wanted to include it so you could see the size!
We had about an hour there then we went to our hotel, The Churchill Hotel. We had a couple hours before our evening program and dinner so Tobey and I walked over and went through the grocery store and one of the gift shops. It is SO expensive here because everything has to be brought in by the train or air. There are no roads to Churchill. A 2-litre bottle of Coke was $6.99 Canadian or $5.10 USD!
Our evening program was at the local train station. Eric from the Canada Parks system gave us an interesting 45 minute talk about Churchill, Wapusk National Park, the wildlife, and conservation and education research in the area. It was really interesting. We had a little time to look at the displays before heading back to the Seaport Hotel for dinner.
Tomorrow morning we depart the hotel at 7:25 to head off to our tundra buggy hoping to see polar bears so goodnight and sleep well!
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