"Bear with me," joked "Stu" Kelsey, our driver/guide, as he slowed to navigate a rocky patch on the unpaved track leading from Churchill, Manitoba to the shore of Hudson Bay. We were sitting comfortably in a massive 48-seat, butane-heated tundra buggy while en route to view the annual autumn polar bear migration. After spending one night at the gateway city of Winnipeg on 21 October, we had flown north on a 40-seat Hawker Siddeley prop jet from Winnipeg to Churchill early the next morning. Billed as the polar bear capital of the world, Churchill, with a population of 1500, is accessible both by air and via the Hudson Bay Railway. The 1000-mile/1600-km-long rail line was completed across the permafrost in 1929 by a crew of 3000. Today, because the 36-hour train journey consumes a full two nights and one day in each direction, many tourists feel that the 2 3/4-hour, 650-mile/1045-km one-way flight is a more desirable transportation option. Discovered in 1619 and the site of a Hudson's Bay Company fort constructed in 1688, Churchill grew into a fur-trading port. Then, after construction of the railway some 75 years ago, much of the wheat grown in Saskatchewan and Manitoba was exported via the port of Churchill to Europe, Africa and beyond. In fact, Churchill was once one of the largest grain-exporting ports in the world. Nowadays, tourism plays a significant role in the economy since Churchill lies astride a polar bear migration route. During the 45 minutes that it took Stu ...
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Churchill, Manitoba polar bear
Churchill, Manitoba polar bear Tube. Duration : 1.05 Mins.
"Bear with me," joked "Stu" Kelsey, our driver/guide, as he slowed to navigate a rocky patch on the unpaved track leading from Churchill, Manitoba to the shore of Hudson Bay. We were sitting comfortably in a massive 48-seat, butane-heated tundra buggy while en route to view the annual autumn polar bear migration. After spending one night at the gateway city of Winnipeg on 21 October, we had flown north on a 40-seat Hawker Siddeley prop jet from Winnipeg to Churchill early the next morning. Billed as the polar bear capital of the world, Churchill, with a population of 1500, is accessible both by air and via the Hudson Bay Railway. The 1000-mile/1600-km-long rail line was completed across the permafrost in 1929 by a crew of 3000. Today, because the 36-hour train journey consumes a full two nights and one day in each direction, many tourists feel that the 2 3/4-hour, 650-mile/1045-km one-way flight is a more desirable transportation option. Discovered in 1619 and the site of a Hudson's Bay Company fort constructed in 1688, Churchill grew into a fur-trading port. Then, after construction of the railway some 75 years ago, much of the wheat grown in Saskatchewan and Manitoba was exported via the port of Churchill to Europe, Africa and beyond. In fact, Churchill was once one of the largest grain-exporting ports in the world. Nowadays, tourism plays a significant role in the economy since Churchill lies astride a polar bear migration route. During the 45 minutes that it took Stu ...
"Bear with me," joked "Stu" Kelsey, our driver/guide, as he slowed to navigate a rocky patch on the unpaved track leading from Churchill, Manitoba to the shore of Hudson Bay. We were sitting comfortably in a massive 48-seat, butane-heated tundra buggy while en route to view the annual autumn polar bear migration. After spending one night at the gateway city of Winnipeg on 21 October, we had flown north on a 40-seat Hawker Siddeley prop jet from Winnipeg to Churchill early the next morning. Billed as the polar bear capital of the world, Churchill, with a population of 1500, is accessible both by air and via the Hudson Bay Railway. The 1000-mile/1600-km-long rail line was completed across the permafrost in 1929 by a crew of 3000. Today, because the 36-hour train journey consumes a full two nights and one day in each direction, many tourists feel that the 2 3/4-hour, 650-mile/1045-km one-way flight is a more desirable transportation option. Discovered in 1619 and the site of a Hudson's Bay Company fort constructed in 1688, Churchill grew into a fur-trading port. Then, after construction of the railway some 75 years ago, much of the wheat grown in Saskatchewan and Manitoba was exported via the port of Churchill to Europe, Africa and beyond. In fact, Churchill was once one of the largest grain-exporting ports in the world. Nowadays, tourism plays a significant role in the economy since Churchill lies astride a polar bear migration route. During the 45 minutes that it took Stu ...
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