Yes, I know.."learning vacation" sounds like quite
the conundrum. But...that's what hooked me in the September 2008 issue of Budget Travel (my very favorite magazine). A very small paragraph described the offerings of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. An independent, non-profit research facility in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada that is located where the Hudson Bay, northern boreal forest and tundra all meet. Several times a year, they open their facility to small groups of travelers interested in seeing (but learning at the same time) the northern lights, bird migration, beluga whales, flowers, AND polar bears! I quickly phoned to enroll in Lords of the Arctic which was over a year away, starting November 7,2009. Above is an aerial photo I took of the CNSC. CNSC is located on the site of a former rocket research and testing range that was operated by the National Research Council of Canada. A few decades ago, the facility was abandoned and sold to CNSC. Lucky them! They are now in the process of building a state of the art facility that is slated to open in 2011. I think I will go back upon completion and do one of their other programs, possibly the one in July that focuses on Beluga Whales.
Every day, they kept us busy..ALL DAY. I am telling you...really busy. I usually don't really like "tour" type vacations, because I feel I don't see everything and I have the need to be busy every waking moment. They did a fine job of meeting that expectation! Every morning it was breakfast at 7am, then an hourish of free time before the activities began, then lunch, then activities, then dinner, then our evening presentation, then visiting with others. I was so
busy visiting, I stayed up until almost midnight every night journaling and up daily by 5:45am! I suppose if you wanted you could lounge around, miss out on some stuff and skip the presentations....but my brain was hooked on learning everything arctic and polar bear related! I also had a super time visiting with all of the other guests and staff! (Imagine that). Here's my roommates and our instructor, Rupert Pilkington. From left to right, Joice (Arizona), Rupert, me, Betty (Calgary) and Nancy (Washington). We got along swell, and although I did slightly over pack (surprise surprise) there was still enough room for their luggage in our room also!
Here I am outside the building with research technician (more importantly at this point polar bear guard) Katrina. We had just arrived and were going to enjoy a nice hike around the rocket range. Bear Security is tantamount to safety! Yes, the shotgun held live ammo! Another had a shotgun with crackers (empty noisemaker shells). One does NOT venture out of the facility without an armed guard, AND when opening the door, you need to look left, right AND up...as some bears are known to have gotten up on the roof!
We were also accompanied by Silver! He belongs to the construction crew that is working on the new facility and is a "bear dog". Instead of barking at intruders, he barks (and how) when he sees or smells a bear. And when that dog barks...you better be alert..no false alarms with this one! And he is very happy to go with everyone acting as a bit of a mascot, proudly walking in front of the group wagging his tail. He was also genuinely interested in greeting everyone as they came outside!
Below are some of the launch towers at the now defunct rocket range that we walked past on our hike. It was a very overcast day as you can tell by the photos and it started snowing a few hours later.
Below are some of the launch towers at the now defunct rocket range that we walked past on our hike. It was a very overcast day as you can tell by the photos and it started snowing a few hours later.
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