Tundra Lodge Polar Bear Photo Tour

Arrive Winnipeg

Arrive in Winnipeg and transfer to the historic Fort Garry Hotel, then meet for an orientation dinner this evening.

Winnipeg - Tundra Lodge

Fly to Churchill and transfer to the Tundra Lodge via your specially designed tundra vehicle, with your first chance to photograph polar bears and other wildlife happening along the way. Here, on the edge of Hudson Bay, where boreal forest meets Arctic tundra, animals abound even in the harsh climate that envelops this environment much of the year. You may see caribou, Arctic fox, Arctic hares, ptarmigan and snowy owls as well as the undisputed Kings of the Arctic, the polar bears. Your expert photo tour leaders, intimately acquainted with polar behaviour, interpret all you see during your excursion. At the lodge, discuss Arctic photography and listen to your guides share their extensive experience in these environs.

Overnight: Tundra Lodge (B, L, D)

Churchill Tundra

The Tundra Lodge is strategically positioned at the beginning of each season in the best area for polar bear viewing. Every autumn, some 300 polar bears congregate around Churchill, waiting for the ice to solidify on Hudson Bay to begin their winter seal-hunting season. You have ideal early-morning and late-afternoon photo opportunities, with a chance to photograph polar bears at sunrise and sunset. Since the lodge has plenty of common areas – a lounge with sofas and chairs as well as a dining car, each with sliding windows – photographers will have plenty of space to shoot at will.

Inquisitive bears often approach the lodge at close range, which features rows of windows and fenced observation decks to accommodate our own curiosity. Spend hours watching them interact, capturing their antics and rugged beauty. You may see mothers with cubs and young adult males play-fighting. Your unique location, combined with half day excursions in all-terrain tundra vehicles, affords the best possible wildlife experience in the Churchill area.

At the end of each exhilarating day, retire to your cosy accommodation for dinner and presentations. If you are fortunate to have a clear night, you may get to experience the wonder of the Northern Lights. Once darkness descends, the lights often begin as a faint white glow, then intensifies as they ripple across the sky in shimmering curtains of colour.

Overnight: Tundra Lodge (B, L, D)

Churchill - Winnipeg

This morning, it’s time to reluctantly leave the tundra and head back into Churchill. Before departing on our afternoon flight to Winnipeg, we have a chance for one more distinctively northern adventure: an authentic dog sled ride! Just outside town, we'll meet a local musher and his team, spending time getting to know and learn about the dogs before taking turns riding behind them on an exhilarating run through the boreal forest.

If time permits, there may also be a chance to pick up last-minute native-made handicrafts and souvenirs, or to take an optional helicopter flight over the tundra before we depart. We'll have lunch together before our chartered flight back to Winnipeg, where a final reception caps our Arctic adventure.

Depart Winnipeg

After breakfast, say goodbye to Arctic Canada and take your transfer to the airport for your flights home.