Churchill, Manitoba has one of the world’s largest concentration of polar bears. They gather there in the late October and November waiting for the ice to form on Hudson so that they can hunt their favorite prey – ringed seals. The ice forms early around Churchill because several large rivers feed fresh water into the bay.
We traveled to Churchill at the end of October in 2021. We saw our first polar bears from a “tundra buggy” – a large bus type vehicle with all terrain tires. The bears were fairly far away, but it was still exciting.
Churchill has been a trading post of the Hudson Bay Company since the early 1700’s. There are a couple of historical sites with cannon that remain from those days. Today the town of Churchill has an excellent deep water port. Grain from western Canada is shipped from the large terminal during the short shipping season. But it is tourism, especially polar bear viewing that is the basis of the towns economy.
Our best view of the bears was on our last day. The owner of the AirBnB we stayed at took us out for a drive. We found a pair – a female and her second year male cub, bigger than she was – just off the road, barely 30 meters away. It was thrilling to be so close to these magnificent creatures in the wild. The bears seemed to take no notice of us at all, but our host kept the car’s engine running anyway.
Inside the tundra buggy. 
A tundra hotel made by connecting a series of specialized tundra buggies. 
The grain terminal. 
Churchill rocket range was used for studying the ionosphere. 
A supply plane that landed just a bit short of the runway. 
Prince of Wales fort. 
Guards patrol the historic sites in case of bears. 
A mother bear with twin cubs. 
