TRAVEL TALES:The gathering of the polar bears

Being the nature lovers that we are and always looking for a new adventure, my husband, Arthur, and I decided to take a trip to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. We’ve seen penguins in the Antarctic, South Africa and New Zealand, and a vast array of animals in East Africa, Botswana and South Africa. Now it was time to check out polar bears.

Our journey began in Winnipeg, Canada, where we met our group of 12 other people who have traveled around the world. Let’s face it — polar bears in Churchill are not number one on anyone’s travel list. But for those of us who’ve seen a lot of the world, this was going to be a camera and video extravaganza, though admittedly, not real colorful.

From Winnipeg, we took a charter flight to Churchill. Churchill is on the west side of Hudson Bay, and this is where polar bears gather from mid-October to mid-November, waiting for the ice to freeze in the bay. Say what you will regarding global warming — if you come here, you will become a believer. The polar bears have to wait longer and longer for the ice to freeze, and because their main source of food is baby tiger seals, they are close to starvation by the time they can finally walk on the ice. The mother bears sometimes have very little strength with which to protect their young, as they are in a weakened condition also, and cannibalism is starting to appear among the polar bears.

The town of Churchill is one main street and has a permanent population of less than 1,000. They are very dependent on tourism during the three months or less that the tourists invade the town. There are signs everywhere, warning people not to venture out at night as there is always the chance that a hungry polar bear has wandered into the town. There are volunteers who patrol the perimeter of the city at night, and if they happen to see one, it is put into a truck and sent to the “polar bear jail.” The bears are kept there and then driven out to the tundra.

The mode of transportation on the tundra is “tundra buggies,” and they are like school buses, with huge tires and a bathroom, that seat 30 people. What luxury!

We were fortunate that because we had so few people on our tour everyone was able to have a window seat. This is critical because when the bears approach the bus they come right up to the windows, or to the rear, which has a little platform. When they do, the videos begin whirring and the cameras start clicking.

We went out one night and saw a few bears, but it wasn’t as exciting as what we saw during the day. In four days of viewing, I think we saw 47 bears. Who knows, though — they all look alike, and we think the man in our group who was keeping count may have counted some twice. All we cared about though, was that we saw the bears and their cubs.

It was a fantastic experience. Bundle up and give it a go. We traveled with Natural Habitat, which limits the number of people on the tour.

is a Newport Beach resident.