Churchill

Polar bears and Birds. Different seasons, but I would imagine some of the info below will be the same as the tour operators and hotels, etc. are the same for both. I have been to Churchill 3 times around the 3rd week of the October. All three trips have been with photo tour groups that offer a complete package without airfare and cater to the advanced amateur photographer. The first time it was with people I did not know. Once was enough of that. I can get along with most people for short amounts of time but we had one abrasive type and that was one too many. The next two times I basically booked the entire tours with friends. That worked out very well as we had all photographed together several times and have known each other for a number of years. Now that I have been there I would not book with a tour group but would do my own. Reservations should made for self booking two years in advance, especially if you want to book a tundra vehicle for several days in a row.

Churchill is a small town that has about 800 people living in and around the town. It is a seaport right on Hudson Bay that exports grain from the Manitoba wheat-fields. It originally was a trading post for furs, then a whaling community. I would say now the tourist is the main stay of community. In addition to the polar bears it is a breeding location for Beluga whales. It also has about 200 species of birds. Some quite rare (Ross’s Gull) so in the summer months there are a lot of birders. The birder in some cases is not aware that there are polar bears in the area ALL year round. The mosquitoes are reputed to be horrendous during the summer, as the area is full of small creeks and springs I would believe this.

Vehicles

There are several types available, all custom 4 wheel-drives. These may be on what started as passenger van or a small school bus. Then there is the Tundra Buggy, a custom built monster from the ground up. All of these vehicles have LARGE tires for ground clearance. This may be the tundra but covered with large boulders from the glacier age. Ground clearance is necessary. The best is the small modified school busses as they are closer to the ground than the Tundra Buggy. These can be chartered for around $1200 (Can) a day. The one we had this last trip was $1350(Can) a day. The school bus can accommodate 4 or 5 photographers comfortably. They will seat 20 people 2 per seat with 5 seats on both sides of the aisle. This is not a good way to go. Go with a max of 5. This way you can shoot from either side of the vehicle just by sliding across the aisle. These busses are known locally as Safari Photo Pros. These busses are commonly leased by pros. There are limited lavatory facilities on board as you are out all day and I don’t want to be on the ground around Polar Bears. The lavatory is basically a small (very) 1/2 inch plywood closet with a bucket under a toilet seat. Not very private but what the hey among friends. All vehicles are rented with a driver. The drivers know where they are going and usually the driver assigned to the Photo Pros have an excellent understanding of what the photographer wants. The more inexperienced drivers are usually on the big buggies. A lot of time just tell the driver what you are looking for and he will do the rest. We worked with the same driver for the last two years and I would insist on him for my next trip. And no, I will not name him so don’t ask. The Tundra Buggies are what the majority of tourists go on. These are the non-serious photographers or people who just want to see the bears. These will have 20 to 40 people on board depending on the size of the buggy. This is the vehicle you see in the National Geographic videos. These are also the vehicles Geravich uses for his bunk house tours in conjunction with the bunk house. The tundra buggy is also what is used for the Cape Churchill tours in conjunction with the Bunkhouse. The Bunkhouse is at Gordon Point during October. Gordon Point is about 20 kilometers from Churchill. The bunkhouse is towed in place and then the tourist can book nights in the Bunkhouse and “sleep” with the bears. The bears hang around and sniff the food being cooked. I would suspect some baiting is done but is not supposed to be.

Around the first of November conditions permitting (lake freeze up) the Bunkhouse is towed to Cape Churchill and 9 day tours are conducted. Tundra buggies are also relocated to the Cape. The number of passengers on the tundra buggies is less than for the usual tourist session. Once you get there, you are there for 9 days baring any emergencies. A good number of pros do this as Cape Churchill is closer to the female denning area and females with cubs are more likely to be seen. My first two trips we saw no cubs, the last one there were numerous cubs and mothers in the area, not normal. The majority of bears usually seen in the “normal” tours are males. This is OK as the males like to wrestle and mock fight. The fisticuffs sounds are quite audible. Smacking that fur with a strong left hook and getting an audible sound has more force than this country boy wants to experience. There are also optional chopper rides.

Accommodations and food

There are several hotels and some bed & breakfasts in town. There are a number of restaurants in town as well. The cooks seem to rotate from restaurant to restaurant from year to year so I can’t give any recommendations here. A couple of the cooks (chefs) are very good, once again ask your driver and check with the locals. We stayed at a B&B so I can not give any hotel recommendations. My B&B is booked for the next 4 years!!

Travel to and from

There are three ways of getting to Churchill. By boat during the summer, by train or by air. There are a grand total of 43 (or there about) miles of road around the town all of which dead end in the tundra. Book your flights early as the tour operators will book an entire aircraft 10 months in advance.

Equipment

I have used everything from a 600mm/f4 with a 2x to a 24mm. The 24mm when a bear stood up and put his head in the window. The window opening is close to 8 feet up. One of the bears had to bend down to get his nose in. That was one BIG bear. Just one big curious fellow coming over to say HI…. If there was a 300 to 600 zoom f2.8 to f4 it would be an ideal lense. I kept my 300mm/f2.8 on one body and the 600 on another. I had a third body loaded with print film and had a 80 to 200f2.8 on it. Yeh, I know I spend a lot of money on equipment but I do enjoy it. A minimum of a fast 300 with tele-extenders is required for anything publishable. I use and like the RUE Groofwin with a good ball head (Foba Superball Balla) with a Arca quick disconnect system. The Groofwin allows quick dismounting the entire rig from the window when a bear does get close. It also has the flexibility of ball mount location positioning. I would imagine there are others that work as well but everyone on my tours had Groofwins. I also like the Groofwin for shooting from the ground. On my second trip I was shooting an Arctic Fox from ground level from 22 feet away. (I trust my friends who were watching for bears.) He was curled up napping and ignored the vehicle after opening one eye to check us out. After we had shot from the vehicle window height, and checking for bears I got down on the ground in front of the bus and shot. The fox was a little apprehensive as I was dismounting but by moving slowly and talking to him letting him know my intentions were just to photograph he relaxed. He laid there all curled up in ball with his tail wrapped around his nose and peeked at me with one eye once in while. He, finally with a big yawn and stretch, got up and started hunting. I definitely feel it was not my presence that moved him. I did get a wonderful image of the yawn with lots of teeth.

Motordrives

If you have them use them. The wrestling matches can burn a lot of film. With the amount of head movement it is very difficult to get eyes showing on both animals. Anticipate and shoot. Sometimes it works and sometimes not, what does not work is waiting till the eyes show on both and then shoot. It is usually too late.

Film

I used Kodachrome 200 and Kodak E100SW. Any fine grain ASA 100 would do for a lot of your shooting. There are times when a 200 or pushed 100 is required. I say required as we were shooting wrestling bears in blowing snow and speeds @100ASA were down to a 1/60. Even at 125th there was some blurring of paws as they were swinging. Take a lot, plan for minimum of 20 rolls per day on the tundra. This will be especially true if there is action or mothers with cubs.

Clothes

Most of the shooting will be done from inside the vehicle. Windows will be open and with a wind it can get down right nippy. Temperatures can range from the low 40s to close to zero Fahrenheit. We had one day with a wind chill factor of a -40F. I layer, it is much easier to remove if too warm than to try and get warm.

Cost

This will depend on how you book your trip. Using the US package tour operators my total trip with film were about $5000 for each trip. This includes air fare, meals and the tour cost. If I was to book my own which I will do again in 1998, it would still be around $5000 but would then include more days on the tundra. A break down would be : Air fare from Atlanta $1000(US). I live in Columbia, South Carolina about a three hour drive from Atlanta. Safari Pro Vehicle per day $1400(Can) Lodging B&B $45 and up (Can) Film $1200 (US) with processing Rental car $75 per day (Can). Used to get to and from the Buggy launch area, not required if booking with a package tour operator. By booking my own what I end up with is shooting with friends, more days on the tundra and getting out to the bear area early and staying later than with a package tour. The normal tours do not leave the buggy launch area as early as I want to. The tourist has no idea of what ideal light is, they just want to see the bears and use their point and shoots. They also get back before sunset. In the three years I have shot there we have had one good sunset with a nice rosy glow for about 10 minutes. We had clear skies with nice light once. The rest were low overcast. Bears are difficult to shoot with high lights in the eyes and that kind of lighting does not help.

 For a brochure on Churchill contact: Travel Manitoba , 7F, 155 Carlton St., Dept. VC5, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3H8 for info. Phone 204 945-3777 FAX 204 945-2302, 1-800-665-0040, ext5 VC5. The brochure covers hotels, rental agencies, tour operators, all that good stuff. It is very complete and will cover a lot of additional things to see in the area.

What you see above is based upon MY experiences and what I use. I am not a rep for anyone, just an amateur photographer that hopes to supplement retirement income by shooting and selling wildlife photos full time in 6 to 8 years. I do try to think as a professional and shoot high end gear. My images are professional quality as are a good many other amateurs.

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