Polar Pleasures

Are you a wildlife enthusiast looking for something a little different? The a trip to Churchill in Northern Manitoba, Canada is just the thing.

Indulge yourself in a little retro luxury with a sleeper ticket on VIA Rail's Hudson Bay, a 2-day and night trip from Winnipeg to Churchill. The indulgence is worth it, since the destination, Churchill, is a no-frills sub-arctic town. This train is another of VIA Rail's outdoor enthusiast routes and offers their unscheduled stop service to passengers who make advance arrangements for it.

Churchill, a tiny village with a permanent population that fluctuates between 800 and 1100, is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World. The town, sitting between the Churchill River and Hudson Bay, is on the polar bears' annual migration route. Peak season for polar bear sighting is from mid-October to mid-November each year. Polar bear viewing is best done by arrangement with one of the many tour operators in Churchill who will take out in a tundra buggy, vehicles specially designed for the safety of people, polar bears, and the local tundra.

Manitoba's beluga whale population migrates to the Churchill River and Hudson Bay every summer during July and August. There are approximately 20,000 whales living in the area, and about 3,000 of them summer in the river estuary to give birth. Visitors have a chance to view, and, with many tours, swim with, these beautiful creatures.

Bird-watching enthusiasts should try to make the trip to Churchill sometime between mid-June and mid-July. According to the Churchill Northern Studies Institute, birdwatchers can expect to see approximately 100 species, easily, over the course of a four- to seven-day trip. For more information on species commonly seen, or at least heard in some cases, check out the birdwatching page on the Instute's website at http://www.churchillscience.ca/index.php?page=ab_attrac_birds.