After a day of grey and blowing snow, we had some luck around 3pm as the weather started changing quickly. Contrast and clear northern light leapt into full, beautiful splendour around us as the sun emerged in brilliance. Deep in the willows, previously unseen, a polar bear lifted his head, sniffed, then stretched luxuriously, radiating a mellow, soft, yellowness, and eliciting gasps of wonder from us all. Read More >
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It is August 2024. Since the return of travel in early 2022 following the Covid-19 pandemic, airlines have faced staff shortages, strike action (actual and threatened), tightening regulations, and higher operating costs. These conditions, in addition to the challenges of regular operations, can seriously affect an airline’s level of service. …
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A Guide’s Notes – Mid Season Guiding
November 01, 2015 | Archived Blogs
Guiding in Churchill is a flexibility workout. Daily schedules are action-packed and fun on a normal day, but rarely is there ever a normal day! Bear reports come in, unearthly sunsets create unexpected pauses in the unfolding of events, and the intricate dance of adventurous groups around town amazingly still stays balanced. Read More >
A Guide’s Notes – What Does the (Arctic) Fox Say?
October 30, 2015 | Archived Blogs
One of my oft-repeated lines to people who have not yet travelled to Churchill is ‘There’s more than just bears in Churchill’. Invariably, I get a sidelong glance and a smile which says I’m a little crazy. And that’s fair enough, when you travel halfway round the world to see a polar bear then those Ursus Maritimus sightings really are the most important. But I haven’t had a trip yet which has been lacking some amazing other wildlife encounters, and this one is no exception. Read More >
A Guide’s Notes – Get Outta Town Bear!
October 27, 2015 | Archived Blogs
Flying to Churchill is always fascinating, especially if we can see the ground, because you travel over a vast tract of the largest intact forest ecosystem in the world – the heart of the Canadian boreal forest. But regardless of how interesting it is, or how much you like travelling by plane, it is generally unanimously agreed that taking a break for lunch is a good thing to do on arrival in Churchill itself. But first you have to actually get to town…. Read More >
A Guide’s Notes – Settling Ancient Disputes
October 25, 2015 | Archived Blogs
Today’s wildlife highlight reminded me of an old First Nations story, that explains the origins of a feud between the snowy owl and the raven.
The story goes that both birds started out pure, shining white like the snow, but the smart raven suggested to the vain owl that they should paint one another to become more beautiful. The owl agreed, and so the raven set to painting a beautiful speckled pattern on the plumage of the owl. The owl was so pleased with the result that he admired himself for a while before in turn painting an elaborate pattern on the raven. However, when the owl finished he realized that he’d made the raven more beautiful than he himself was. In disgust, he quickly tipped the whole bucket of paint over the unsuspecting raven, leaving him as black as pitch, and causing much chagrin on the side of the raven. Read More >
A Guide’s Notes – Now you see us…
October 22, 2015 | Archived Blogs
There is one reason why Churchill is the Polar Bear Capital of the World: polar bears gather here waiting for the sea-ice to form on Hudson Bay, because this is one of the places on the Bay where the ice first gets thick enough to hunt for seals. The bears we see have been on land for the summer months, where their opportunities to hunt and eat are limited, and they are now just biding their time until they can head out to sea again and feed properly. Read More >
A Guide’s Notes – The First Night Trip
October 20, 2015 | Archived Blogs
One of the joys of guiding is sharing insights that provide increased understanding and therefore increased awe at the things we see. However, much of the time nature does its own talking. I love it when things are naturally incredible, and this evening was one of those unscripted mind-blowing Churchill experiences. Read More >
A Guide’s Notes – Welcome to Churchill
October 19, 2015 | Archived Blogs
Back to Churchill today! A new group, a new trip, new adventures to have. Again I’m glued to the window to see if there are any bears actually visible from the plane or airport (there’s no reason why there wouldn’t be, but I have yet to experience that kind of welcome to Churchill!). Cookies devoured and a brisk wind blowing, the group is ready to disembark before we even touchdown. But it turns out there’s some excitement in store for us first as the captain comes on the tannoy to announce some turbulence due to high winds in Churchill. Read More >
A Backpacker’s Essentials…
March 02, 2015 | Archived Blogs
Your backpack is not ready to embark on a great adventure until it contains these absolute travel essentials! This list is compiled based on 12 years of personal back-packing experience. Trust me, years of trial and error have gone into this list. These items will make the difference between your travels feeling like home-from-home, compared to feeling lost and alone without the things you need!
I’m assuming here that you have already packed obvious things like documents, clothing appropriate to your destination, toiletries etc. This list steps beyond the obvious, helping you prepare for every event. These items are sometimes hard to find in foreign countries, so pack them before you go!
It may seem like lots to think about, but most of these things will actually fit into one small drawstring bag. Pack it once, throw it in the top of your pack, and be prepared for almost every eventuality in every corner of the world…
I never leave home for an epic trip without:
- A multi-tool knife with corkscrew, tin-opener, scissors, and of course a knife blade. You don’t need a huge heavy one, just something that can help you crack that well-earnt bottle of wine or open the packaging on your new purchases.
- A sturdy headlamp because the power isn’t always reliable in hotels in far-flung regions of Asia or up in the mountains. Headlamps give you security walking at night, help you navigate unfamiliar hotel rooms, and can even be used for reading under the covers. Back up your headlamp with spare batteries, and also a small candle and box of matches, just in case.
- Length of strong cord. Why? Because nothing is as useful as a piece of string! Use it to fashion an instant clothes line, or strap items to the outside of your pack, or support loose connections in the world’s crankier electrical sockets.
- An obvious one, not just because sunscreen has well-known benefits for your health and comfort, but also because there are many countries where sunscreen can be hard to find, expensive, and often out of date.
- Basic first aid kit. Nothing fancy, have some iodine tincture for instant antiseptic, a few band-aids and blister pads, some pain killers, and of course immodium and rehydration salts for any bouts of traveller’s tummy.
- Basic fix-it kit. Following on from the basic first aid kit, the fix-it kit is pretty much a first aid kit for your gear. All you need is a couple of zipties, a small roll of tape, paperclips, safety pins, and a needle and thread to be ready for anything.
*Travel Tip* Hotels often have mini sewing kits available free of charge, just ask for one and stash it in your wallet.
- Travel Adaptor. I recommend an ‘everywhere to everywhere’ adaptor. There are some really compact ones on the market these days. They work almost everywhere, even if you buy a new electronic item on the road, and the best ones even have a built-in USB port.
- Zip lock bags. Not a whole cupboard of them, just a few. If you forget these then you can even just grab a couple extra from the security check in the airport! Instantly you can waterproof your small electronics, pack yourself a picnic lunch, have a little travel garbage bag for when there’s no sign of a real one, and so much more. Absolutely essential!
- Pen and paper. Yup, the humble writing tools can be amazingly hard to find when you’re chatting with a local and they just told you about this incredible spot that isn’t in any of the guide books and are now giving you complex directions that you need to relate to a taxi driver…. need I say more?!
- Lightweight small draw-string bag to pack all your essentials in. This will not only let you find any and all of your essentials really easily when you need them, but it also becomes much easier to pack for your second, third, fourth back-packing trips.