Our Chef
Of course food is important, so we cannot go any further showing polar bear photos without mentioning how great a chef “Meesh” was.
Meesh cooking up another tasty meal for us
We ate well as evidenced by this charcuterie board
Great and fresh dinners
Sticky toffee pudding for dessert!
Meesh is also a photo bomber!
Our Inuit Guides
Our two Inuit guides, Cameron (Cam) and Moses, were a big part of finding the polar bears way in the distance as they walked towards us. Their eyesight, seeing a moving white dot far in the distance against the white snow, is incredible.
This is Cameron (Cam), scanning from our main building
Let’s learn more about him as he stands outside our main building while keeping an eye out for polar bears getting past the fence
This is Moses (his Inuit name is Pingkardjuak), pointing to Churchill on the map. We are in the yellow territory.
Let’s learn a bit more about Moses as he puts up with a camera thrust in his face unexpectedly
Arctic Kingdom Guides
We had two Arctic Kingdom guides. Both were experienced and highly competent, and were a big part of the success and safety of the trip.
Dave Briggs showing off his sealskin jacket
Dave in action photographing a polar bear
Scott, our always-alert-for-danger camp manager
Scott and Dave playing corn hole while one of the bears made sure they did not cheat me and Dominic
Gellini Camp Buildings
We slept in comfortable cabins equipped with heaters, a toilet and shower. The cabins were all a very short walking distance to the lounge that housed a kitchen and dining area. At night we had to keep a wary eye out for polar bears in the compound as we walked the short distance from our rooms to the lounge building.
This is a view of 3 cabins from the dining area
The inside of one of the rooms
Den area of the lounge building
Dr. P gave a presentation in this room
Our dining table at the other end of the lounge
On the grounds outside of the camp there were all kinds of interesting things.
Caribou skull and antlers
Arctic foxes sneaking around
All kinds of footprints to identify. We got all excited when someone said these are wolverine footprints. False alarm, our Inuit guides said they were goose footprints.
The Camp Fence
The camp had an electrified fence to help keep the polar bears from entering. It was not too electrified, lest we zap ourselves accidentally, or severely injure or kill a polar bear trying to get into our campground. It is best considered a “deterrent” at most, and would not keep out a determined bear.
You can see how close we are to Hudson Bay in the background. The ground between this fence and the Bay is the actual migration route of the bears.
Moses and Scott checking the wires
The curious polar bears would sometimes walk right up to and even touch the fence with their noses. With their bulk and power that fence is not going to stop one that wants to get in the camp.
The next post shows how our main guide Dave Briggs keeps the polar bears on the their side of that fence.