Churchill Polar Bear Photography Tour

DAY 1

We will meet your plane at Churchill Airport for a seamless transfer to our lodge on the Canadian tundra. Keep your eyes peeled on the short drive to the lodge because you have a good chance of seeing your first polar bear!
If your flight arrives in the morning, after a short orientation about the lodge and bear safety, we will head out onto the tundra in a cozy 4WD vehicle to look for bears.
When the sun sets, we will return to the lodge and then drive into town for dinner. Once we get back to the lodge, you will have time to review your images or relax in the grand room. The lodge is away from the light pollution caused by the street lights in Churchill, so if the skies are clear, this is also a great time to head outside and look for auroras.

DAYS 2-6

A typical day starts at sunrise. All rooms look onto the tundra, so you can survey the terrain as soon as you wake up. After a buffet breakfast in the grand room, we will prep cameras, don warm clothing, and head out to find bears.
We generally stay out on the tundra until lunch time and then make a quick stop in town for lunch. Some groups choose to bring a pack lunch and stay out on the tundra all day. Either way, we will continue photographing bears in the afternoon, returning to lodge once the sun gets low.

At dinner time, we usually head into town as a small group, returning to the lodge in time for a nightcap or some aurora gazing.
Sleep, dream of polar bears, repeat.

DAY 7

Departure day. After a final breakfast at the lodge, we will transfer you back to Churchill Airport or to the train station in time for you homeward journey.

MORE DAYS WITH POLAR BEARS

Google ‘Polar Bear Tours in Churchill’ and you’ll soon find the big companies that offer comparably priced polar bear tours. But if you read the fine print, you’ll notice their six day tours only give you two or three days with bears!

We don’t think you really want a day touring Winnipeg and another stuck in Churchill. So when we pick you up at the airport, we’ll take you straight to our lodge to get changed into warm clothing, and then we’re heading out for bears. And we’ll do the same thing, every day, all day, until it is time to fly home.

Plain and simple, we deliver world class polar bear encounters with no fluff.

WE ACTUALLY GO AND FIND POLAR BEARS

Instead of sitting in a wobbly tundra hotel on wheels, we spend our days driving around the tundra finding the best bear activity. We don’t wait for bears to come and find us.

By using small 4WD vans that hold a MAXIMUM of 6 guests, we are able to navigate small trails that access spots where large tundra vehicles don’t go. We are nimble and fast, which means we can quickly find bears, foxes, and other animals, and then maneuver into the perfect position to enjoy them.

Incidentally, our lodge is in a spectacular spot in the middle of the tundra too, and the bears love to visit!

WALK WITH POLAR BEARS

Looking down on polar bears from a high-sided tundra vehicle really doesn’t do them justice, especially if you want compelling polar bear images. When we find bears, our armed guides assess the situation, and then we leave our vehicle so that we can enjoy the encounters on foot at eye level. That means photographers can set up tripods for pin sharp images, or even hunker down so they’re shooting upwards, which makes the bears look even more impressive!

It also means we can quietly approach arctic foxes, snow hares, ptarmigan, and any other tundra animals that stay well away from vehicles. Now that is a real tundra experience!

WE UNDERSTAND WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

Understanding where to position our small group of photographers to take advantage of the available light in relation to the movements of the polar bears is not a skill you can learn over night. Your trip leader Andy Murch is a professional wildlife photographer with three decades of experience in creating dramatic, compelling images.

SLEEP ON THE TUNDRA

Why stay in overcrowded Churchill when you can sleep in tranquility at our cozy, purpose built lodge in the heart of the tundra overlooking Hudson Bay, where polar bears and foxes walk right up to the fence, and there is no light pollution to spoil your view of the northern lights.
By staying at the lodge, you are much closer to Polar Bear Alley and other bear viewing hotspots so you get even more time with bears. Learn more!

FLIGHT DISCOUNTS

Let our travel partners organize your flights between Winnipeg and Churchill to ensure you arrive and depart on the correct days, so that you don’t have to waste time and money overnighting in Churchill before or after your polar bear photography tour.

Plus, fly at our special corporate rate, which is approximately 55% of the high season full fare.

ACCOMMODATION

White Whale Lodge is a fabulous new alternative to staying in town.
Our comfortable lodge is located deep in the tundra, where our guests have the opportunity to see bears, foxes, and other tundra wildlife right outside our compound, even when you re not on a tour.
At night, the deck of the lodge is also an excellent location to watch auroras; away from the light pollution from the town of Churchill.

FITNESS LEVEL

Some minor walking on snow.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Six nights at White Whale Lodge, sleeping outside Churchill on the tundra where polar bears can be seen right at the perimeter of the lodge.

Six days on the tundra viewing polar bears (depending on your arrival time on day one). Our VIP small group tours last from sunrise to sunset each day.

Experienced polar bear guide. We work with the most experienced bear guides in the industry. They are experts in bear behavior and armed for your safety.

Exclusive group use of a tundra-ready 4WD passenger van that comfortably seats 6 photographers / bear watchers and one driver guide.

Exclusive access to restricted areas of the tundra where polar bears are especially abundant.

NOT INCLUDED

Flights

Lunches and dinners

Drinks

Warm and cozy White Whale Lodge is perfectly positioned, close to Polar Bear Alley in the heart of the Canadian tundra. Read more about White Whale Lodge