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Now in North America, the start of a little trip across half the great continent, hope to update as often as possible, but I am guessing many of my chosen mosquito ridden forest camps will be rather lacking in facilities, let alone wi-fi!
So let the adventure begin! This is going to be a journey of mammoth proportions - just the first leg, after a trans-Atlantic flight of 11 hours, is an epic 3200 km drive north (including planned detours) to the end of roads in northern Manitoba. From there on, nothing but boreal forests, Arctic tundra and a slow trundling train, the only land link to my primary destination - the remote outpost of Churchill on Hudson Bay. If all that goes to plan, leg two will take me far to the west, Grizzly country in Wyoming.
And so to the goals of my trip - an ambitious attempt to see not only Polar Bear, the number one goal, but also the other two bear species in North America - Black Bear and Grizzly Bear.
The basic plan of action:
1. Polar Bear.
Destination - Churchill. Though famed for its Polar Bears, summer sightings are relatively rare and far from guaranteed. A trip in late October-November, when the bears congregate to await the return of sea ice, offers potential to see many of the animals from the comfort of tundra buggies, specially adapted vehicles for bear watching that travel out to Cape Churchill. In summer however, there are no tundra buggies and, as the ice breaks up on Hudson Bay in June, the bears disperse along the coast and onto the tundra - the only chances to see the animals are if any choose to linger at the accessible Cape Merry or along the nearby coast. Late June to early July is probably the best period in this summer window, but prior to my trip, I reckoned the odds of seeing the bears as low, perhaps just 20%.
Summer in Churchill does however offer attractions that autumn can not - hundreds of white Beluga Whales that mass in the shallow rivermouth, plus some of the best summer birding in North America, a tundra full of displaying waders and Arctic birds.
So Polar Bears in summer, it's a gamble - strike it lucky and you get bears, belugas and birds; if misfortune falls your way, and there is a very good chance it will, then you miss Polar Bear, a cake without the icing, a tragedy if having travelled so far.
2. Black Bear.
Destination - Riding Mountain National Park. The easiest of the the North American bears to see - my plan is to spend some days in Riding Mountain on route north, then do the same on the way back if still unsuccessful. With some luck, Black Bears might also be encountered on route through the boreal forests.
3. Grizzly Bear.
Destination - Yellowstone, Wyoming. Does not occur in Manitoba, so any chance of this species requires a trip of many kilometres to the west, either the Canadian Rockies or Yellowstone National Park in the United States. As Yellowstone is another destination I have long desired to visit, and one of the premier mammal-watching localities in North America, I have opted for this, a trip that will add at least another 1250 km each way. Seeing Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone is reasonable assured I believe if a few days are dedicated to the search, plus more chances of Black Bear, a possibility of Wolf and, of course, heaps of American Bison et al.
Just to get the flavour going, in the week preceding my trip, incidents with bears occurred at both Yellowstone and Churchill - a Grizzly killing a hiker and mauling his wife at Yellowstone and a Polar Bear unfortunately shot to prevent a certain human fatality in one of the streets of Churchill town, the bear having wandered in from the beach. It goes without saying that respect of bears is required in their presence. That said, as per usual, the underlying principle of this trip is to travel independently, not utilise guides and to do as much as possible on foot - and bicycle in the case of the Polar Bears. I have some doubts regarding my intellect when I dreamed up the latter idea!