Polar Bear Tours

WorldWild Tours: Polar Bear Adventure

For itineraries, brochures, and registration information for all WorldWild Tours call (619) 231-1515, ext. 4245, or contact us using our online form.

Polar bear capital of the world!

Churchill is known as the “polar bear capital of the world,” where polar bears and humans congregate each fall. The annual movement of polar bears along the western shore of Hudson Bay creates one of the greatest wildlife viewing spectacles on Earth. World travelers agree that this gathering equals the great animal gatherings in Africa and Antarctica. Churchill is the only place in the world where, from the safety and comfort of a Tundra Buggy, you can see polar bears up close and personal.

Tundra Buggy sleepover

A Tundra Buggy is a roomy bus mounted on huge all-terrain tires in which you travel safely over snow and ice in fall or on a set of established trails during summer. As you ride in comfort over the frozen tundra, you can search for wildlife, including polar bears, arctic foxes, arctic hares, and ptarmigans. During the excursion, you will learn about this unique northern region from knowledgeable driver/interpreters.

The Tundra Buggy Lodge is comprised of a number of specialized vehicles. When fully assembled on the tundra, the Lodge is more than 300 feet (91 meters) long. Hitched together are two sleeper cars, the lounge car, a dining car, and two utility cars. The sleeper cars are shared accommodations featuring upper and lower berths with privacy curtains. Photographers utilize open decks between cars as shooting platforms. When the Northern Lights dance across the clear, Arctic sky, our Tundra Buggy Lodge is the perfect place to get an unobstructed view of this exciting phenomenon!

Itinerary

(B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)

October 15, 2007 • Travel to Winnipeg
Travelers will arrive in Winnipeg on their own. Check into the Sheraton Four Points Airport Hotel, located adjacent to Winnipeg International Airport. You will meet with your San Diego Zoo escort later that evening to learn more about the polar bear adventure.

October 16 • Winnipeg to Churchill
After a continental breakfast, depart for the airport to catch a mid-morning, 2-hour and 40-minute flight to Churchill. Luggage will immediately be transferred to your hotel. You will embark on a tour of Churchill and the surrounding area, which includes Cape Merry National Historic Site, the Polar Bear Compound, and many other sites of historic, cultural, and ecological interest. After lunch, visit the Eskimo Museum, which is home to one of Canada’s most extensive collections of Inuit carvings and artifacts. We check into our hotel (to be determined) in late afternoon. (B, L, D)

October 17 • Churchill to the Tundra/Polar Bear Country
After breakfast at a Churchill restaurant, we will be transferred at 8 a.m. to the Tundra Buggy launch where we will board a private, 40-passenger Tundra Buggy. We will tour the tundra for the rest of the day, followed by our check-in at the Tundra Buggy Lodge around 4:30 p.m. During our short orientation, we will be assigned our sleeping berths. (B, L, D)

October 18 –19 • The Tundra/Polar Bear Country
After breakfast, we will head out again in our own private Tundra Buggy for a full-day tour. Lunch will be served on the Tundra Buggy. When we return to the Lodge in late afternoon, we will be treated to wine and appetizers. An education program will be featured following dinner. (B, L, D)

October 20 • The Tundra to Churchill to Winnipeg
After breakfast we board a Tundra Buggy for our 90-minute trip back to the Tundra Buggy launch, where we will be transferred by bus to the Northern Studies Centre for a morning dogsledding program. The dogsledding program will consist of a one-hour slide presentation followed by an opportunity to experience the thrill of northern dogsledding at its best as we travel by sled through Churchill’s boreal forest. We return to the town of Churchill for lunch and a video presentation at Parks Canada Interpretive Centre about the history, wildlife, and culture of the Churchill area. Then, there will be time for last-minute shopping or sightseeing on your own. Following an early dinner, we will be transferred to the airport for our trip back to Winnipeg. In Winnipeg, we will stay at the Sheraton Four Points Airport Hotel. (B, L, D)

October 21 • Winnipeg to Home
You will depart Winnipeg on your own for your trip home.

Adventure escort

In her 18 years at the San Diego Zoo, senior keeper JoAnne Simerson has specialized in animal behavior with an incredible array of animals including mandrills, drills, big cats such as tigers and cheetahs, Cretan goats, sea lions, giant pandas, Bornean sun bears, and many other species. But it’s the polar bears that have ignited a passion in JoAnne, inspiring her to become intimately involved in conservation efforts to protect these magnificent animals and their tundra habitat. In addition to her work with the Zoo’s animals, JoAnne serves on the advisory council of Polar Bears International, one of the Zoological Society’s conservation partners. Every fall, JoAnne spends a month in the “polar bear capital of the world,” Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, where she studies polar bear behavior, lectures to groups about the far north and the status of polar bears, and collaborates with the wildlife biologists on projects. JoAnne’s travels have also taken her to Africa nearly a dozen times. She is an avid photographer and her spectacular pictures are her favorite way of sharing the magic and beauty of the Earth’s magnificent wildlife and ecosystems.