Day THREE with the Bears!

This day was spent on an official tundra buggy, the original tundra vehicle designed to see the bears. It was quite a bit rougher ride than I'd been on the previous 2 days. A visit to my chiropractor will be a welcome relief! I was with a really nice group of people who were experiencing the tundra and the bears for the first time. That was fun to see! They were kind and shared spaces, quite unlike the photography group that was connected with my group on the other tours. I have learned a lot and will be sure that I avoid those kind of people next time. But that is another story.

Back to day 3 on the tundra... We saw fewer bears than the days before but every bear is a thrill to watch, even if it is just watching them breathe while they sleep! We had the special opportunity to watch a bear frolic in the snow and other than the size, it wasn't much different than watching a dog enjoy the snow! He was adorable!! Stuck his head straight down into the snow and then turned a somersault. It is said that polar bears are an animal that plays and this was certainly proof of that! Luckily I remembered that I could take a video with my small camera and even though it is shaky, it is fun to watch the guy and his polar antics! That was a treat that I hadn't experienced before. Many of the bears we saw were sleeping, it was so hot for them. The guide told us that even though it was -4C that was like the bears had on 5 winter coats. Bears can heat themselves up but not cool themselves down so they have to be careful in the warmth. Watching the bears wander and sleep in the wild was, as always, a delightful experience! They are so beautiful!! I've not come across a person yet who wasn't totally thrilled to be in the presence of such amazing animals.

A highlight of the day was getting to see Kevin, the 'polar bear' man I met in Antarctica. He was surprised to see me, but I assured him I would be back, I'm in love with that experience! I had asked our guide if we would see him on the tundra and he said we just might run into him. But we were lucky to catch him at the dock, before we took off in vehicles. Later in the morning my driver backed up and ran right into Kevin's vehicle and I told him I hadn't literally wanted to run into him! Quite a coincidence with all of the buggies out there. There are 18 permits for vehicles in that area, 12 are for Tundra Buggy and 6 are for Great White Bear. You pass them but mostly you are not too close to them, except in unusual circumstances! Seeing Kevin was great, how nice it was to see both of my friends in Churchill!

At the end of the day we flew back to Winnipeg and I'm not sure exhaustion can describe the feeling after boucing around for 9 hours, hurridly repacking and heading out to the airport for a flight that was late and then finally arriving late. Mr. Perlman was there to meet and that was a nice way to end the trip.

Polar bears beware, I will return!