Wok N Roll with us...Bob and Teri Along with Atlas and Kalani: Churchill, MB (Other than Polar Bears) October 18, 2018

For sure the Polar Bears were the highlight of visiting Churchill MB. But there is more to Churchill than just Polar Bears and Bill, a very longtime resident, set out to show us that as our bus driver/tour guide.

Churchill is located on the 58^th Parallel along the Hudson Bay. There are no roads to Churchill and the rail has been out for two years. As a result, the people in Churchill are really struggling with the high cost of essentials. For instance, a gallon of milk was up to $23 per gallon Canadian.

Because the rail has been out, we flew into Churchill from Thompson, MB that lies 250 miles to the south. There is a long history in Churchill. The Thule people arrived in the area around the year 1000 BC. These people later evolved into the present day Inuit people. In 1717 the Hudson Bay Company built their first permanent settlement in Churchill known as the Churchill River Post. The fort that was built here was built mostly to protect the fur trade that mainly came from the Chipewyan that lived north of the boreal forest.

The climate is much colder in the winter in Churchill than expected at the 58^th parallel due to the northern cold winds that originate from the North Pole. The average temperature in January is Minus 26 degrees. Much of the landscape is rocky and contains Black Spruce trees. The trees are mostly ice pruned and there are some pictures here to show that. Ice pruning is the natural process of pruning on the windward side of a plant, executed by the impact of ice and snow particles, driven by wind. It takes several growing seasons for this pruning to develop.

Our first stop in Churchill was the Itsanitaq Museum. In this museum is a very large collection of Inuit carvings some dating as far back as 1700 BC. The museum was quite special and I have included pictures of a few of the pieces there.

As we traveled across the province of Manitoba many buildings contain murals and Churchill was no different in this respect. We were told that the people that do graffiti consider their work art and they will not deface another person’s art. The murals are done to control graffiti and I must say the only graffiti we saw in our travels across Manitoba were only upon rocks in very remote areas located far from any towns.

The town of Churchill is regularly patrolled by armed conservation officers. Bears that pose an immediate risk are shot. Ideally, problem bears are trapped or tranquilized and then sent to the Polar Bear Jail which we visited. It is a prison for polar bears housed in a former military aircraft hangar that was converted into a jail with 28 cells. The bears are held for at least 30 days and fed only snow and water to stop them from returning to the town in search of food. While the jail might seem cruel at first, it is actually a conservation effort that seems to be successful.

We also visited the Miss Piggy Plane Crash site. She was called Miss Piggy because she was able to hold so much freight and once did have pigs on board. On November 13, 1979, she lost oil pressure shortly after departing Churchill and unsuccessfully returned, landing on the rocks. Her original paint of white and red with the Lamb Air markings was painted over with gray for a movie.

The main event of the Polar Bears for sure was the highlight of this trip. Churchill, however, holds more to see and it would be great to return when it is warmer to see the Beluga Whales and the wildflowers too. This was truly a very special trip and we feel fortunate to have had this wonderful experience.