Tundra Buggy Adventure – Day 2 - Oct 24

Oct 24 

Breakfast was again wonderful in addition to the usual offerings they had pancakes, plain croissants and other pastries. 

Today we went off in a different direction to the Boreal Forest area in search of Red Fox and maybe Snowy Owls or raptors. 

Starting out we watched some bears for a while before continuing on to the Forest. We watched a couple different ones "testing the ice". We got some great video of both, so will post that when Greg is done editing. 

tiny dot on the point is a bear

We moved on to watch another bear.

We moved on again making our way towards the Boreal Forest.

Most people were quite bored with the vast nothingness of the tundra, but it was interesting to see the scenery change to see some trees and shrubs. It had been snowing most of the day and it was interesting to watch everything get covered in white. We didn’t see any owls but did see a few birds. The buggy if front of us said they saw a Gyrfalcon in a tree, but we never saw it. Greg said he saw a large white bird earlier in the air that surely was it. 

We took our hot chocolate & cookie break

Bryan, our guide

Alex our driver

the driver's seat They let a few people drive it through the forest since it was pretty easy terrain

Ptarmigan hiding

Snow Bunting

tire tracks

Before lunch we made a stop back at the Lodge as the onboard bathroom was smelling strong and they went back to have it pumped out. We felt badly for the poor guy out there in the blowing wind & snow walking on the tires and along the side of the truck to get to the pumping. We did appreciate efforts as those of us sitting close to it weren't keen on eating our lunch with that smell.  

shot through the window

We went in search of our lunch bear and lunch today a squash curry soup that was awesome and choice of roast beef, ham or tuna sandwiches. (special sandwiches were made for the vegetarians or other special dietary needs)

We eventually worked our way back to the regular area and came upon one I named the “pin-up” bear. She was sprawling every which way. A fun way to end our day.

back at the lodge

Dinner tonight was a choice of steak or Arctic Char (like a mild salmon). We both had the Char, and it was wonderful and served in a yummy sauce. It was served on mashed potatoes and served with vegetables. Tonight, the dessert was apple crisp which is the only thing I didn’t care for food-wise on the trip. To me it just tasted like apples in maple syrup. As we ate, the storm continued to get stronger. The wind was whistling and snowing sideways. The dining room has windows in the ceiling, and we could see the snow piling up. It made it interesting to get from each buggy to the next. The doors were hard to open, and push closed with the wind whipping between them. (and this isn't bad weather for there)

Early to bed again and wondered what they do if tomorrow is a total white-out as predicted. The strong wind was like white noise all night. 

our bunks

a curtain closes once we are ready for bed or for dressing

I really didn't have time to weed out more photos, so just tossed them all on the web albums. Maybe I'll go back and delete some more, but I seem to never do that.

For larger/more photos:

Tundra Buggy Adventure – Day 2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/U2fmYakwx9Frr7YL8

for all albums https://photos.google.com/sharing

Tomorrow is our last full day Buggy Adventure and back to the airport for our flight to Winnipeg. Tomorrow is predicted to be a total white out, so fingers crossed....