An encounter with polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba

Earlier this month, when I was planning for my Canada tour, I came across a book. In that book, I saw a picture of fascinating polar bear that made me thought to myself, “Wow, will I ever get a chance to be this close to the polar bears….?”

So, I planned for an once-in-a-lifetime journey to visit these majestic animals in Manitoba.Like many other travelers, I traveled to Churchill for polar bears as it is known as the “Polar Bear Capital of the World”. Even though Churchill is small, it caters to visitors in really good fashion. Before I even reached town from the airport, I spotted a mother bear nursing her cub. This was the first of many polar bears I was going to see in the next few days.  Then, within an hour of my arrival there, I found four-five polar bears climbing ice blocks.

Polar bears can be found in the northern part of Canada, where winter arrives in September. They wait patiently near Churchill for the sea ice to freeze on the Hudson’s Bay. In Manitoba, I saw many polar bears comprising young adolescents, large and single males, and protective mothers with their cubs.  I was lucky to see the bears as they played and strolled aimlessly in the warm sun. The bears were active during the day; but as a northern snowstorm blew onshore, they curled up in small snow pockets for protecting themselves from the fierce ocean wind.

I enjoyed my time in Churchill and learned a lot. It was a unique and interesting experience. For four days, I was with a group of eight travelers from Germany, Australia, India, England and the US. We spent two days on the tundra with our Canadian guide and Tundra Buggy driver, where I saw dozens of polar bears.

On our first day on the tundra, we spotted 10 bears and one snowy owl. Sometimes, curious bears pay a visit to the tundra buggies. I enjoyed riding in the Tundra Buggies. In Tundra Buggy tour, I got to see many polar bears as they roamed close to the water. Many of them stood along like sentinels while some moved about in pairs or trios, scratching in kelp for making a cozy resting place. I took about 1,000 photos of polar bears in Churchill. Almost all of the bears ignored travelers with their cameras out every tundra buggy window.

My brain was bustling from all of the facts of polar bears which our buggy driver shared with us, while I was watching the bears in their natural environment. It was truly an amazing experience to see polar bears strolling on the tundra, after spending years only seeing them in zoo enclosures.

It was really an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime dream adventure to see wilderness where only the skilled and strong animals survive!