A Warning to Churchill Visitors

The only polar bear I saw was this stone one

If you pick up Manitoba’s brochure on Churchill, don’t be fooled like I was. It states the highest probability of spying polar bears is in November but that’s not true.

Reading that piece of information, I booked a journey to Churchill towards the end of November only to discover when I then made enquiries about a tour, everything finished on November 18^th! Once Hudson Bay froze over, the bears started to hunt. I found nothing on this date in the brochure yet every tourist operation in Churchill was aware of the time line.

Arctic Char in Churchill

I walked a circuit of Churchill. That meant I traipsed only nine blocks in one direction because the town was that small. It was safe because the polar bears had deserted the town two days earlier with the cold snap.

Towards Hudson Bay

The morning after my arrival in Churchill, I ventured on foot, with layers of clothing from head to toe. It was slightly “warmer” only -30 degrees. As I plodded towards Hudson Bay, a block away, a grater passed, smoothing the icy street. One other pedestrian hiked in the opposite direction in half the gear I was wearing.