Churchill, Manitoba Northern Lights

This tour to Churchill advertised three great adventures. We had already seen the amazing beluga whales. Now we were looking forward to seeing northern lights and polar bears. Our first two nights were cloudy, so we never got a call for northern lights viewing. We had been told that if they are out, we would get a call in our room, and to be ready in the lobby in five minutes.

Our third night, the call came at 11 pm. We hurriedly dressed, and were in the lobby on time. Our group consisted of 29 travelers, and all of us were there. We were loaded into two vans, and headed out of town to find dark skies and northern lights. The next night the call came again, but at 12:45 am. Only 15 of us ventured out that second night. 

Neither of us have ever seen the aurora borealis live. The pictures I've seen were always very vibrant colors, mostly green. I'm not complaining in the least, but what we saw was not what the pictures looked like. What we actually saw looked like wisps of white smoke going vertically and horizontally across different parts of the sky with faint green and red colors in them. Still very cool!! I'm told by our friends who live in Canada that the bright, vibrant colors are much more prevalent in the cold, crisp winter skies. 

Surprisingly, the colors were more visible in the photos than to the naked eye. Some of our group members had much better camera equipment than others, and they were kind enough to share their photos with the group. Below are a lot of photos taken of the lights by myself and others in the group. Enjoy!!

This wispy white with a little color is mainly what we saw with the naked eye.

A gal in our group had a camera where she could take my picture. Love it!!

That's our guide, Joe, on the right with his polar bear gun watching out for us

Someone in our group put together these collages

Someone also was able to blend the lights with the stars. How cool is that!!!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one! (We definitely were reaching for the stars on this trip!!)

Churchill, Manitoba Beluga Whales

On our second day in Churchill, we were taken out on Zodiac boats to look for beluga whales. These whales spend most of the summer in the Churchill area in the waters of the Churchill River and Hudson Bay. In early September, they start to migrate north into the open waters of the Arctic. The waters in Churchill freeze, and the whales must be sure to get to open waters so they don't get trapped.

Our guides took our group out in two Zodiac boats. These are rubber type boats where you sit on the edge, which gives you a very up close view of the water. There were five people in each group, so we had plenty of room. Here's a picture of the other boat we were not in. The weather was quite nice and actually pretty warm, so we did not freeze.

As you can see, the whales come very close to the boats. Our driver, Joe, has become known as the whale whistler. He whistles and makes squeaking noises by rubbing the side of the boat. The whales are curious and friendly and come to investigate.

We were so fortunate to see hundreds of whales on this truly remarkable adventure. Our guides told us they had not been seeing many the last few days, and thought they had pretty much left. But, the whales made an appearance for us. Other members of our group went out two days later, and only saw a handful of whales. We were super lucky!!

The females tend to hang out with their babies. The larger males hang out in pods. We saw quite a large pod with at least 15 whales together. One of our group members got a picture of one of the pods from their helicopter tour. 

Adult beluga whales are very white. The younger ones are more of a gray color. Here is an adult with a young whale.

Most of the time the whales don't surface completely out of the water, and you only see their backs. They also don't flip their tales like humpbacks do. However, this guy was kind enough to stick his head out of the water and give us a smile. How cool is that!!

After another delicious lunch at the lodge, we headed out on foot to do some exploring. Churchill is not very big, so its easy to walk around the entire town. We came upon an exhibit about Churchill resident, Brian Ladoon, in one of the shops. 

Brian dedicated his life to the preservation of the endangered Canadian Eskimo dogs. Sometimes polar bears came onto his property. Instead of capturing or shooting at them, he found a way to get the bears and dogs to play together. Although controversial, this strategy worked for many years, and the dogs flourished. He died in 2018, but his legacy lives on. He was even featured in a 2015 TV series called Polar Bear Town.

This is Brian's polar bear suit. That sure looks warm. 

Polar bear research is a big part of what goes on in Churchill. Below is the Polar Bear International building. Unfortunately, they were closed while we were in town. I heard they have some interesting exhibits.

Churchill may be small and remote, but they have a lot going on. As you can see from their sign, they are the polar bear and beluga whale capitals of the world, as well as a birder's paradise and have the northern lights with 300 nights of northern lights per year.

 Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Churchill, Manitoba Heritage Tour

On September 2, 2024 we flew from Winnipeg to Churchill, Manitoba on a 2.5 hour Calm Air charter flight. This was part of a package tour we had booked with Lazy Bear Expeditions. 

We arrived at the small Churchill airport, and were greeted by our two excellent guides, Joe and Kelly. This interesting sign was posted in the airport. We were soon to find out that they take polar bear safety very seriously in Churchill. In fact, the people of the town leave their cars and homes unlocked so that if anyone encounters a bear, they can find refuge at the nearest place.

We were transported about 20 minutes from the airport to the lodge where a delicious buffet lunch awaited us. Churchill is only accessible by train or airplane with a population of under 800 people. It was amazing how delicious the food at the lodge was under these circumstances.

After lunch it was back on the bus where were taken on a three hour Heritage Tour of the area. Considering how remote and small this town is, there is a lot of history. First stop was the Northern store where we could load up on snacks and adult beverages as the lodge does not have a liquor license. Next we visited Canada Parks Cape Merry Battery to learn about some of the early history. Here was the sign we saw upon arrival.

Next thing we see is our driver, Joe, pulling out a loaded shot gun to sweep the area for bears before we could get off the bus. Safety first!! All clear, so we got off and walked to what remains of the walls of the battery. The British arrived here in the early 1700s to establish the Hudson Bay Trading Company. They built this cannon battery at the mouth of the Churchill River for protection. In 1731, they built the Prince of Wales Fort across the river for further protection. The fur trading business was very profitable.

Prince of Wales Fort

Our guides told us that Parks Canada has a promotion where red Adirondack chairs are placed throughout their parks for people to have their pictures taken at. Of course, we had to comply. The funny thing is none of our Canadians friends have heard of this. I looked it up, and it is a thing!

Next stop was the polar bear jail. This facility is for locking up bothersome bears who come into town and cause trouble. During the summer, the bears are in a waking state of hibernation. They eat very little all summer, waiting to migrate out to the ice in the winter to hunt seals. When they are caught, they are placed in a cage in this building for 30 days in the dark without food. It is meant to teach them that coming into town has unhappy consequences. Behind the jail, was a trap that is used to catch bears.

Polar Bear Jail building with beautiful mural

That's a big trap!

As we were driving around town, we saw lots of murals on buildings. In 2016, the town's port had closed and flooding had washed out the rail line. The town was suffering. A Winnipeg artist organized a massive art project where eighteen artists from around the world volunteered their time to paint murals on empty buildings all over town. There is a documentary called Know I'm Here about it. How amazing! Here are other murals we saw.

We stopped at the site where a cargo plane crashed in 1979 after experiencing engine failure. It almost made it to the airport.  Joe took his gun and checked for bears, and out we came. If you look closely, you can see him through the hole in the plane with his gun, watching out for us. The plane is nicknamed Miss Piggy because these planes were often overloaded and once carried pigs. It also has a mural painted on it.

Next we headed to a beach very close to town on the Hudson Bay. Once again, there were many signs warning of bears, and certain areas you could not go past. We actually saw these bear tracks in the sand. Wow!

There is an old shipwreck on the beach named the Beluga. You can climb around on it.

There is also a large Inukshuk sculpture on the beach. These sculpture were traditionally used by the aboriginal people as route markers. Today they are a symbol of friendship and welcome.

Across the street from the beach is Churchill's Community Center. It is a huge building which houses the school, health center, indoor playground, movie theater, swimming pool, library, curling rink, hockey arena and a gym. The winters are quite long and harsh, so this is a very nice perk for the citizens of this small town. Along the road in front of the community center are a number of painted rocks. They are beautifully done!

I found this "weather station" to be quite funny!

Here's a picture of the huge grain elevator which was completed in 1932, and was the second largest in the world at time of completion. They used to ship tons of grain out of the Churchill port. Grain shipments were stopped around 2010 for numerous reasons, and the town suffered greatly. The port has since been sold, and there is hope they will begin shipping ore instead of grain.

We ended our day back at the lodge for a delicious dinner. The food here was outstanding. I had elk stew, which tasted kind of like beef stew and was very tender. The lodge is rustic and charming. 

This is their postcard

We were given these cute chocolate polar bears at check in

They had this cute window in the restaurant.

Our first day was great. Tomorrow we are off to try and find beluga whales!

 Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!