Town of Churchill, Manitoba - Life at the edge of the Arctic

Welcome to Churchill Manitoba, the beluga and polar bear capital of the world. I'm here for four incredible days to see thousands of belugas, but Churchill is about so much more than whales. It's a remote little town on the edge of the Arctic, with a big history and an even bigger spirit. Let's explore. I'm staying at the Polar Inn and Suites, home of Sea North Tours, the company I'll be joining every day for beluga adventures. The rooms here are cozy, with everything you need after a day on the water. A delicious continental breakfast is included and they offer shuttles to and from the airport and train station. Their guides are amazing, their boats are beluga safe. And if you stay here, you can even get a discount on calm air flights to Churchill. Just beside Polar Inn is the Northern Store, Churchill's all-purpose store. Groceries, clothing, even snowmobiles. If you need it in Churchill, you'll probably find it here. All at northern prices. Everything here arrives by train or plane as the nearest town is 340 miles away. So the prices are higher than in the south. But if you're looking to save on meals, most hotels provide microwaves and grabbing groceries here can be an affordable option. On the other side of Polar Inn is Arctic Trading Company. They manufacture slippers, mittens, gauntlets and mucklugs and specialize in all native art forms. So if you're looking for a local handmade souvenir and you'd like to meet Scrappy, the sweetest little puppy, you've arrived at the right place. This polar bear statue is outside 58 North which is home of the Tundra Buggy. And when you look just in front, you know, that's what I first took a photo of. It's a polar bear. But as you walk around it, you see the adorable beluga whales and the Tundra Buggy down there. It's really cool. Here is a map of Churchill. This is Kelsey Boulevard running east-west. Here is the Polar Inn where I stayed. Next to it is the Arctic Trading Post. And behind is the Aurora Inn. They have beautiful apartment-style rooms. Across the street is the Northern Store. And behind it is Tamigan Restaurant where I had most of my meals. Across this street and the last store is 58 North, home of the Tundra Buggy. Here is where you're going to meet up for all your Tundra Buggy adventures. Next is the Churchill Motel. Cross this street and you get to a tiny little park where there is a statue of a polar bear and there is a welcome to Churchill Manitoba sign and signage indicating the direction to the Hudson Bay, Port of Churchill and elsewhere. Keep going this way, you get to the Port of Churchill. And if you keep going down that way, you'll get to the dock where we get on Zodiacs to go and look for belugas. Going back down Kelsey and down this street, you will get to the train station. Here is where I arrived and here is where I will depart. And all the hotels will pick you up and drop you off here. Going back down to Kelsey Boulevard is Gypsy Bakery. Unfortunately, they are no longer in business. Then you have Tamarack Rentals where you can rent a car. And if you keep going, you get to the Lazy Bear Restaurant and Inn and I had dinner here. Keep going this way east about eight kilometers and you'll get to the Northern Studies Centre. Heading north, this is the Hudson Bay and this big green building is the Churchill Town Centre. Here you will find everything, almost everything. Here's the hospital, the emergency room. There's the hospital cafeteria. The cafeteria offers discount lunches and it's actually the best kept secret in Churchill. And I think from 12.30 to 1.30, do call to check the hours. They offer discounted delicious lunches from about 12.30 to 1.30. And even the locals love to go there because as you're going to find out, everything, food is very expensive in Churchill. Here's also where you have the school, kindergarten to grade 12. You have the library, you have the skating rink. You have the basketball court. You have a bowling alley. You have the theatre. You have an indoor playground. You have the swimming pool. All the recreation is housed in this building. So it's very, very convenient. Next to it is a church and the Eskimo Museum. I hope this gives you a good idea of the town of Churchill. Before we leave Kelsey Boulevard, let me show you Lazy Bear Inn and Cafe where I shared a cozy meal with new friends I met on the train. It's one of Churchill's best-known stops. So that's Kelsey Avenue, the heartbeat of Churchill. Small but packed with everything you need. And as you walk, don't forget to look around. Churchill is filled with murals that celebrate the history, wildlife and spirit. Every corner tells a story. Many of these murals were created in the International Sea Walls. In 2017, two blizzards and a spring thaw destroyed the rail line, leaving this isolated community completely devastated. Artists were invited from all over the world to provide hope, recognition and a sense of worth to the community during a difficult time. Nature is everywhere in Churchill. Around the corner from the Northern Store on Franklin Street is the Ptarmigan Restaurant. I had most of my meals here. Service is great and they have local delicacies such as elk and poutine. So that was Canada Post and RBC is in it. So if you need to withdraw any money, that's good. And here is the community centre where the hospital is at too. And inside, you can have discounted lunches that are delicious. And I think it starts from 11.30 to 1.30, something like that. And we are now walking to church and to the museum which is next door to it. Mail your postcards from Churchill and they'll have a Polar Bear Capital of the World stamp. Entrance to the museum. It's small but full of treasures, fossils, carvings and stories of the North. So my hotel is down that way and I walked down here. That's the Port of Churchill over there. And we just saw lightning. But I'm dressed in a rain jacket. Not just for the rain but because it helps to prevent mosquitoes from biting me as it's plastic. And so here is Hudson Bay. Churchill has the biggest, baddest mosquitoes in the world, no kidding. So they don't want you to walk down. They're excited. Bears are lying. They're not white actually. They're kind of off-white. They look like rocks. For your safety. They don't want you to climb. No worries. That's the town of Churchill. Next, we'll venture beyond its borders where the Arctic begins to show her wilder side. I met a couple of photographers when I arrived in Churchill. They invited me to join them for the green building tour at the Northern Studies Centre which is located about 8 kilometres east of town. The Northern Studies Centre is a hub for researchers from around the world. From northern lights to polar bears, they study how life adapts to the extremes of the sub-arctic. Visitors can even stay here to experience the Arctic under the midnight sun or dancing auroras. Guided tours cost $93 for a group of up to five people or $5 for a self-guided tour. It's way up high. I can't even touch it. Oh here. I mean, good heavens. I cannot even figure out how high it is. The centre is surrounded by the Hudson Bay, the boreal forest and tundra. After our tour, we drove around the centre and quickly found a pair of lesser yellow lakes calling to each other on top of the trees. We got lucky. It didn't take us long to find a willow ptarmigan. They're brown and white in summer. In winter, they're all white. And I did manage to get some photos. I was so happy about that. This was the closest I ever saw a willow ptarmigan. I joined Discover Churchill for their wildlife and sightseeing tour. This is a fantastic tour operator. Definitely check them out for great tours. Churchill may be small, but it's home to one of the most unique facilities in the world. The polar bear holding facility, known locally as the bear jail. When polar bears wander too close to town, conservation officers safely capture and hold them here for up to 28 days or until the Hudson Bay freezes and they can be released back into the wild via helicopters. It's part of the town's commitment to coexistence, protecting both people and bears. On our way to the radar domes and the abandoned rocket launcher, we spotted these sandhill cranes. Sandhill cranes stay in Churchill to breed and nest in the summer. The radar domes are also known locally as the twin golf balls. They were constructed as part of the rocket ranger's radar system to track rockets. Over 3,000 rockets were launched to study the aurora borealis and ionosphere. Inside the abandoned rocket launcher, it's falling apart as you can see. The rocket range is a popular place to photograph the aurora. Here I am in March 2023. It was absolutely frigid. Minus 50. No kidding. We stepped out to look for polar bears and these arctic terns dive-bombed us. We beat a hasty retreat. So we are at Miss Piggy, the plane that crashed in November of 1979. Everyone survived, all three. Then comes Cape Mary, where the Churchill River meets the Hudson Bay. From the stone fort and cannon ramparts, you can see forever. And sometimes a flash of white on the horizon. So we returned to the dock, to the reason I came here. I actually came for the ice floes, but the belugas were waiting for me. Belugas remind us that the north is not empty. It's alive, curious and full of grace. This is Churchill. Small in size, boundless in spirit.