Hello, Polar Bear!

This is the diary of our polar bear photo safari at the Seal River Heritage Lodge, north of Churchill, Canada. We’ve been eagerly waiting for this trip since we signed up for it a year ago, now it’s finally here! Don’t really know what to expect …. and somewhat worried about how cold it gets and if I’ll be able to take any decent photos in that kind of weather ….

Well, we’ll see! It’ll be a fun experience no matter what! And we hope to share what we see with our family and friends.

Day 1: Winnipeg, Canada; Nov. 2, 2012

3:40pmEDT, local time 2:40pm, we are in the Four Points Sheraton by the Winnipeg airport, the starting point of this trip. The TV is showing a film about polar bears, narrated by someone from the Alberta University. Hey, he’s wearing the same Canada Goose parka as ours except his is blue whereas ours is red! It is cold here – 27 degrees Fahrenheit, below freezing. We carried these 2 clumsy big parkas all the way, and I was wondering if we overdid it. Ha, boy I’m happy we have these parkas as soon as we stepped outside of the airport!

We got up this morning at 4am for the flight leaving logan at 7:50am. We changed flight in Chicago. Everything went smoothly. We’ll be meeting for dinner at 7pm in the hotel – first organized activity of the trip, introduction to the whole thing. Breakfast tomorrow is at 4:30am! Pretty brutal schedule!

TSE opened one of our checkin bags and left a note. I feel violated …. Not sure why they had to open the bag – nothing there except clothes. Maybe it’s because I put the packed vitamin pills. Remember next time do not pack medicine in the check-in!

OK, I’ll stop writing for now and enjoy the polar bear film. Will write more if there’s anything special from the introduction tonight. Oh, by the way, there’s nothing in/around the hotel – can’t really see anything about Winnipeg, unfortunately ….

Back from dinner – met all the other 13 people on this trip. They’re from all over the place – Australia, New Hampshire, various places in Canada, etc. A couple of people, photographers (or part-time ones at least), have been to this 3 or 4 times before. During dinner, they were showing a video of photos taken by people in the past. Some were taken by people sitting around the table. Pretty awesome! Can’t wait to meet the bears!!!

OK – we’re calling it a night! Will be up at 3:45am!

Day 2: Arrived at SealRiver Lodge; Nov. 3, 2012

Up at 3:45am. Breakfast 4:30am. Boarded the small Calm Air plane to Churchill around 6:30am, and arrived in Churchill 2.5 hours later. There were actually 17 people in this group. The plane to the lodge (by Hudson Bay) could seat 9 people plus the pilot, so we had to go in 2 batches. We were among the first batch and the plane landed by the lodge 30 minutes later – we got here before noon time. Everything went smoothly. But boy it’s COLD here! Snow has already pretty much covered the ground. It was so cold that my hands hurt without gloves on.

The weather in Churchill was overcast. But here at the lodge, it was very sunny, (and cold!). Half of the previous group was still here – interestingly, this half group was all Chinese, from Taiwan, with a Chinese lady who was the interpreter. They came all the way from Taiwan just for this polar bear event!

We waited in the lounge for the 2nd half of our group. But the weather changed for the worse in Churchill, so the plane could not take off. After waiting past 1pm, we were served lunch – fresh vegetable snack (red pepper, carrot, cucumber), soup, fresh rolls, and dessert. Nice! While we were waiting, a bear wondered by the lodge, so we all went out to take photos. This bear’s name is “Hollywood Bob” – a nice 5 or 6 year old male bear who likes to put on a show. We also saw a fox, and a “pine marten” (something of the skunk family).

After lunch, our guide took us for our first trip out. He first explained to us the “rules”. We then walked in a line, following him, outside of the “compound”. “Bob” was out there, and there was another “green” bear – a bear with a green mark on his back. This green bear just came recently from the “bear prison” in Churchill. We got within 50 feet of him and took lots of photos, of course.

Walking in the snow and cold, with all the camera equipment, was really really tough! On top of this, I was not prepared at all. First of all, I forgot how to change the mode on my Mark IV 5D – how embarrassing …. :-(. My hands were freezing, despite the fact that I had my gloves on. My parka hood kept falling down covering my eyes …. My sun glasses constantly got fogged up ….. And I wanted so much to take GOOD photos of these absolutely lovely big bears!! …Frustrating!

We came back around 4pm. I put away my “real” camera (had to put it in a plastic bag before coming inside) and enjoyed watching “bob” and the green bear, from the big windows of the dining room – they were right outside the window, busy burying their noses in the snow, supposedly eating berries.

We got our room. I should have set my expectations appropriately – this is not some 4-star hotel, but an adventure lodge. I chose it (vs the bear research center in Churchill) because we have our private rooms and private baths. This is true. But the condition is very very simple. Our room has a queen bed, plus a bunk bed. No desk, no chair, no nothing else. The room door is to be left open so it can get the heat from the hallway. Oh well …. I’m now sitting in the lounge. But at least they have internet! We’re all sitting here, chatting, which is nice. I will try to upload some photos from the point-and-shoot camera. The other half of our group finally got here after 4pm (and the previous group left at that time also).

Downloaded the photos from the memory cards of the point-and-shoot and the Mark IV. Somewhat disappointing ….Nothing I can really feel proud of. I really think I need a bigger lens, to get some really close shots. Robert (one of the 2 photographers in the group) has the 800mm telephoto. I saw the picture he took – very nice!

Day 3: Sparring Polar Bears; Nov. 4, 2012

Got up shortly before 7am. Last night we went to bed and fell asleep around 9:30pm. This was the longest and best sleep I’ve had in a very long time. I’m starting to get used to the life here – good food, beautiful surroundings and landscape, and most importantly, have polar bears around us! After the day activities, there’s really not much you can do here – no TV, internet is spotty, no phone access. People sit around in the lounge (there’s no room and no place to sit in your own rooms besides the bed), reading, chatting. It’s quite relaxing.

Two polar bears showed up right outside of the compound, sparring! That was quite a treat and sight! The two of them just went at it, having a great time. One of them was Hollywood Bob, the other came from somewhere. It was a high energy game. The played for a while, then got tired so they sprawled out on the ice. After they regained their energy, they went at it again. One of the bears probably got very hot, so he walked away and into the nearby unfrozen part of the river, swam for a while, then came out, and went back to continue the sparring. It would turn out that they stayed there and played there all day!

In the morning, we spent most of the time watching the 2 bears – first inside the compound from the observation deck, then outside the compound, with the guides. We also saw 2 foxes, very pretty! One red fox has beautiful golden red fur, the other has dark gray and brown fur. Both have gorgeous bushy tails. After watching the bears for a while, the guides offered a walk to somewhere about a mile away, to see possibly some birds and other wild life. Most of us chose to stay in the compound, continue to watch the sparring bears. In the afternoon, we all took a walk to a nearby lake, hoping to see more bears. But there was nothing there. It was a long hard walk – walking in the snow and on the uneven path, carrying the tripod and heavy camera equipment, wearing so much clothes and heavy boots …. I did not enjoy it at all! Should have stayed back and watched those 2 bears! I hope the 2 bears won’t move away tonight!

The meals today were wonderful! Not only the food was good, the whole atmosphere was so enjoyable. It felt like in someone’s home. Actually, the chefs are the daughter of the owners and her fiancé. Beautiful young couple, in their early twenties. The waitress is the chef’s sister. Another beautiful girl. The owners, Mike and Jeanie, were both there. This is a family run business. Very well done. For breakfast, we had hot cereal, freshly baked muffins (which were so delicious!), some sort of a baked egg thing, crispy bacons, and toasts with jam made from local berries. Yum! Lunch was spiced pumpkin soup, cabbage salad, bread, baked bread roll stuffed with ham and pickles, finished with cranberry shortbread cookies. Dinner was mixed green salad, baked parmesan cheese cauliflower, mashed potato, and moose steak, finished with some kind of a cake that was very good! Ah, forgot to mention that we have happy hour around 6pm. Today we had crackers with some kind of relish that had seafood in it, plus baked mushroom puff, and home-made chocolate bars. I’m glad that I did that hard walk, otherwise with all this good food, none of my clothes will fit when we leave here!

During happy hour, Tara gave us a presentation about Aurora (Borealis), the northern lights. Unsure if we’ll get to see it this time. And after dinner, photographer Robert showed us the photos he took of the northern lights (from where he lives in Yukon). Very nice photos and skillfully processed!

Talking about photo, I gained some experience dealing with the tripod this time! The tripod is indeed helpful for taking sharper pictures. I really wish I had a bigger and quicker lens! Can’t get enough of the bears!

The internet here today was very unstable. I wrote today’s blog and thought I published it, but it turned out to be lost. So I am re-writing it in a document and hope to copy it to my blog when the net becomes available.

Hope for more bears tomorrow!

Day 4: Bears around the Compound; Nov. 5, 2012

Up at 7am, after another good night’s sleep. The day went by fast, with pretty much the same routine as yesterday. But I stuck to my words and did not go on the morning or afternoon long walks. The 2 bears, Hollywood Bob and “Scarface” (the new name we gave the other bear, because he had a scar on his nose), stayed by the compound! We watched them sparring from the observation deck, and took short walks outside the compound (with a guide) to watch them from a different angle. 2 or 3 red foxes came around also. Really cute animals who did not seem to be afraid of people that much, nor the bears. Got some decent photos. But really wish I was better prepared and learned to use my cameras better! Very frustrating and annoyed at myself when some of the shots came out all blurry …. Would have been so nice if they were done better!

The day went by really fast. It’s 5:30pm now and it’s completely dark. All of us are sitting around in the lounge, relaxing, doing our own things, chatting. Happy hour will start in an hour. Andy the guide is about to do a presentation. Quite an enjoyable life.

Again, meals have been heavenly delicious. I will definitely buy the cookbooks done by the grandma of the current chef and her friend – it’s the blueberry and polar bear series. Would love to buy them here but too much to carry, so I’ll order them online later. After dinner tonight, photographer Mike Beedell gave a presentation on his work and how he as a photographer sees things. Very impressive!! I did not realize he was such an accomplished photographer. Wow! Will have to google him after I go home. And at dinner table, I learned a lot of interesting things from our guide Andy! There is this place in Canada where you get to see polar bears coming out of their den in March! It’s called Wichee or something – it’s booked a couple of years in advance. I want to do it!

Cannot access the internet, so have to write the blog on the laptop and post later.

Day 5: Scarface Came to the Door; Nov. 6, 2012

The day started at the same hour as the last 2 days, but I did not sleep that well at night – probably ate too much at dinner.

It was snowing when we got up. The first excitement of the day was the visit of Scarface who came to the front door. There are nail boards under all the windows of the lodge. Poor Scarface was so curious about what’s going on inside and wanted to get closer, so he stepped onto the nail board, and he could not get his paws off it for a while. When he finally stepped away, there were 2 bloody spots on the white snow …. I was very upset ….

Hollywood Bob and Scarface continued their play outside the compound and provided us with a whole day of photo opportunities and entertainment. A few red foxes also came. They dug around for food and chased each other. The most interesting thing was that they did not seem to be afraid of the bears! More than once they approached the bears, as if trying to find out what the bears were doing.  I was lucky to have caught a few photos – hope they’ll come out alright.

Robert Postma is the other photographer – a very interesting guy! He carries the 800mm telephoto around – that thing is 20+ pounds! While we were shooting the bears in the afternoon, he let me put my camera on his 800mm lens and I took a few shots of the bears. Wow! That was really really nice!! I’ve got to get one of those! ….

I was chatting with Mike Beedell the photographer. He shot the mother bear coming out of the den with the newborn pups this past March. He showed me some photos he took there and described to me what they went through to get those shots. The photos were absolutely divine!! But I realized that even if I can work hard to develop some of the talent, I will not be able to become such a photographer! It is too hard! For example, to get those mommy bear and pups photos, he stayed in -40/-50 degree weather and waited for 6 whole days, staring at the spot where the den was, and finally saw the bears popping out! Imagine staying all day in the -40 degree weather, in the snow ….

I have true admiration and respect for these photographers! And for people who produce/shoot the nature animal videos and movies! There are 2 people from BBC in the lodge while we’re here – one young British lady named Sophie who’s the producer and one photographer (who is German, I think). They’re here to shoot a documentary about the Arctic foxes. From the first day we arrived here, I saw them stationed outside, for hours, waiting for the foxes! This evening, Sophie showed us a few snippets of the BBC movies about nature and told us her own experience shooting some of the movies, such as this Arctic fox documentary. It was absolutely impressive!! I want to see these movies! Unfortunately in the US we cannot get the unedited versions of these BBC movies. I asked her to write the names down and I will go get the DVDs.

After dinner, we enjoyed the movie “Life in the Field of  Bones” which is about a Russian scientist account of polar bears. Great movie!

Tomorrow our polar bear trip at the Seal River Lodge will come to an end. This has been truly one of the most memorable and enjoyable experiences in our lives!

Day 6: Hollywood Bob Came to Say Bye; Nov. 7, 2012

It’s the day to pack up and leave. Bob went to the lounge first while I was packing in the room. Then he came back to tell me Hollywood Bob was right by the door. I quickly grabbed the camera and ran over. Bob was by then by the side of the lodge, outside of the little fenced-in area along the breezeway between the lounge and the dining room. I got a few shots until the card got full – stupid me who did not download the memory card on this camera (the one with the 16-35mm lens). Sigh ….

We’re supposed to get on the first plane out at 10:30am. It’ll be the plane that brings in the first half of the next group. But it’s snowing now so the incoming flight from Churchill is delayed, therefore we’re delayed. Not sure how long the delay would be, so we’re sitting around in the lounge. Part of the group went for a walk with Andy our guide. There was one bear, possibly Hollywood Bob, sleeping in the snow away from the compound. His playmate for the last 3 days, Scarface, was nowhere to be found. Through the windows of the lounge, we saw a bear walking across the ice towards the compound. I grabbed my camera and went outside. He (or she) walked along the shoreline, rather far away from us. It was snowing. I took a bunch of photos but unsure how they would come out. Then I went back in and continued the waiting ….

The plane in Churchill was finally able to take off. We left the lodge around noon time, and got to Churchill around 1pm. As soon as we landed, we were picked up by the van from the dog sled place, called Bluesky Mush. There were 6 of us from the lodge and we joined 3 others. 2 of us got on each ride, while the others watched or rested in the tent. It was a fun experience. I really love those dogs! They reminded me of Jester (and I really miss Jester and Djuna!), except that they’re much much thinner than Jester. But I was surprised to hear that the much smaller dogs actually weighed more than Jester! I guess they’re all muscles.

After the dog sledding, we were taken into Churchill town to meet the bus which would take us back to the airport. We grabbed a quick take-out supper and then back to the airport. The Calm Air plane took off around 6:30pm and got us back to Winnipeg. And here we are, back in the 4 Points Sheraton again. This is a rather simple hotel. But after living in the tiny bedroom in the lodge for the past 4 nights, the room here feels quite luxurious.

The past 4 days seem like a dream which is over …. I will be looking at my hundreds of bear photos and remember this fantastic experience forever!

I’m on internet now, starting to post on my blog and will upload some photos.