Tundra Buggy Adventure - Day 3 - Flight to Winnipeg & Home - Oct 25 - 26

Oct 25

Today was our 3^rd and final Tundra Buggy Adventure followed by an evening flight to Winnipeg.

This mornings’ breakfast had all the usual things with Porridge and apple pastries being the daily addition. Both were most excellent. Their fresh fruit every day was so good.

We packed our bags and put them outside our bunks and dressed for the buggies and headed out for our last day on the tundra. The weather was much better than predicted and we had some great sightings today. It was nice to have photos with bears in the snow as compared to just the dusting that was there on our first day. The wind seemed to spur the birds on as we saw quite a few ducks today.

With the wind and snow a lot of the photos were flat and grey so I did contrast some of the photos to make them easier to see. Many shots are through the window as the wind was really blowing.

the moon was still up

gotta love "hat hair"

Grease Ice forming

lots of birds on the rocks

It was interesting to see a bear curled up in the snow and get covered in it.

my window

Alex retrieving the ladies' hat that blew off in the wind

We had our usual hot chocolate & cookie break.

We saw more Ptarmigan today and they were harder to find in the snow. Alex, the driver told a cute joke that had the whole buggy groaning. He said “what sound does a Ptarmigan make when it pees? I don’t know, the P is silent”.

Ptarmigan

ducks

buggy going through the almost frozen water

this bear came out just as we turned the corner, it startled us and the bear

another buggy had made a small snowman on the back of the viewing platform

Lunch today was Borsch & Pierogies. YUM!

We stopped for another muskrat. He looked like he was frozen onto the ice. Just when we though he might be dead & frozen solid, he took off.

One bear was really digging in the snow and was fun to watch those big paws. I think Greg got video of it.

We came across one bear where it was nearly impossible to see it was a bear in the snow drift. Just a bit of fur showing.

yep, there is a bear buried in the drift

Ptarmigan

another Muskrat in the snow

One of the highlights of the day was watching an Arctic fox try to walk across the ice and the wind just blew him sideways across to the other side. Finally, the little guy just curled up in the snow and was nearly covered when we drove away. Everyone on board hoped someone got video, but everyone was too busy watching it.

Arctic Fox getting blown across the ice

it doesn't look happy

almost to the other side

curled into the snow

before we left it was almost covered with snow

Before we knew it, we were back at the Tundra Buggy Dock. We had a group photo taken before boarding a bus to the plane. On the plane we were given a nice, boxed dinner of hummus, pita, meats and cheeses and a brownie bite. 

Churchill Airport

For my magnet collection:

this is a trivet/wall plaque, and I got a matching kitchen towel

We were bused to the Lakeview Signature by Wyndham Hotel.  and by the time we reorganized our luggage to fly it was time for bed. Another middle of the night wakeup time to catch our flight out. UGH….

Oct 26

We got breakfast at the airport and had some time to shop and spend off most of the CAD. Flights were on time, but still no time for lunch in the airport in Toronto. Customs and security took up all the time. We spend the last of the CAD on snacks for the plane. We had mac & cheese again for lunch on the plane. Flights to Orlando are always full of kids. Lots of crying and kicking of our seats. Once a used chip bag fell on my chest from the seat behind me. Everyone excited to see Mickey. We got in a bit early and got to our car and stopped for gas and since we were still full from lunch we drove straight home to Port St Lucie. We stopped for dinner at Panera and stopped at Publix for some food for the next day.

Final thoughts:

We couldn’t have been more pleased with the food, service, and accommodations with Frontier’s North. The airport hotel wasn’t fancy but was very convenient. All drivers and guides were knowledgeable and just nice guys. The weather was quite nice despite the predictions. It was nice to see it go from no snow to drifting snow. The Tundra Buggy Lodge was quite comfortable considering we were out in the middle of nowhere. All of the servers were fun and friendly. Food was better than expected and presented like you were in a nice restaurant.

Fellow travelers were a mixed bag. Our group of 20 were all pretty much on the same page. (one couple was a bit of a pain) They were into the wildlife and friendly. The other group was a different story. They seemed to be there to party. Other than wine that flowed freely at dinner, no alcohol was on board. You were allowed to bring on beer or hard liquor if you wanted it. The other group spent a lot of time in the lounge drinking the many bottles of alcohol they brought onboard, and they were loud. (compared to our quiet group) So, we thought we lucked into the right group for us.

We did hear some complaints from the other group. They were in the new electric vehicle, and it wasn’t doing as well as their regular vehicles. They hope to change to all of these in the future. It had a wheel that wasn’t turning with the rest of them and just wasn’t handling the terrain as well. Just as an observation the guides/drivers noticed that the bears were used to the buggies that made some noise and the silent ones seemed to confuse them. They said in time they will get used to that, but they have been used to the sounds of the buggies and pretty much just ignore them.

There were complaints on the food, and they didn’t like the dog sled guy. Our group thought he was funny and treated his dogs well. Can’t always please everyone. All it takes is a couple complainers and oftentimes the whole group jumps on the bandwagon. I was impressed with the fresh salads and the fresh fruit and really everything was very good.

Most everyone we talked to were well traveled and exchanged stories of past travels. A few were younger and still working, so they haven't yet had to the time to accumulate travels. (if the travel bug bites them and seemed it had) 

There was a small kitchen with a small refrigerator in the Lodge where you could get sodas or keep your own drinks in. They always had plenty of chips & candy bars to have at any time. Their appetizers that were served before dinner were always good and varied.  

In the town of Churchill there aren’t fancy accommodations, but they are clean and comfortable. (we heard people complain) Same with the restaurants. Considering they were serving 40 of us and the rest of the people in the restaurant, they did a wonderful job. We were there for the wildlife and sometimes that means rustic accommodations.

One humorous thing was when you got up to go to the bathroom in the night it was a cacophony of people snoring as you walked down the hall.

There never is a guarantee that you will see wildlife. Timing is everything and we chose a week that could have had tons of bears or just a few. The guide said we probably saw 5 or 6 different bears. On the webcam this week we saw a mother & cub right at the Lodge. So, it’s luck of the draw. We were extremely pleased with what we saw, and the time spent watching their behavior.

Tundra Buggy Adventure – Day 3 https://photos.app.goo.gl/psNpC6ixFUoUPwQC8

Video of Bears: Polar Bears near Churchill

Dog sledding with Wapusk https://youtu.be/FGwZP10AXpM

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