Cristina Garcia of Travel For Wildlife photographs polar bear at Nanuk.
Churchill Wild has hosted numerous members of the media at our polar bear lodges over the years and has been featured on CNN as well as in major newspapers around the world, but the media has been especially good to us lately.
Every season, in conjunction with Travel Manitoba and Destination Canada, we invite a selection of media to participate both individually and on media familiarization tours. This year’s invitees took part in polar bear tours at either Seal River Lodge or Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, and based on the stories that have emerged so far, they had a fabulous time!
Of course, we’re always hoping they’ll enjoy meeting polar bears, beluga whales and other Arctic wildlife up close, but you never know!
This year’s media participants include Dave Bouskill and Deb Corbeil of theplanetD.com; Cristina Garcia and Hal Brindley of  Travel4Wildlife.com;  Photojournalist of the Year John Lehmann of The Globe and Mail and Toque and Canoe;  Australian photojournalist Ian Neubauer; UK photographer and travel writer Lisa Young; UK photojournalist Chris Allsop; travel writer and entertainment journalist Zorianna Kit; German photojournalists Carolin Thiersch and Bettina Kelm; photojournalist and former International war correspondent Alain Ernoult from France;  and Cathy Senecal, Manager, Global Media Relations at Travel Manitoba.
Whew! That’s quite a list. And the stories so far have backed it up!
To date, the couple who saved their marriage through travel, Dave and Deb of theplanetD, have posted video of their experience at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge and written three stories including: Polar Bear Photos: “Be transported to the Wild Edge of Manitoba“; “Walking with Polar Bears – The Greatest Arctic Safari“; and “Kayaking with Beluga Whales – A Paddlers Dream“.
Cristina and Hal of Travel For Wildlife were also at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge for the August media trip, greatly contributing to the group’s wonderful chemistry while producing a number of stories and videos including including: “When Polar Bears Sleep“, “Spotting Polar Bears from a Plane” and “Aurora Borealis Meteor Shower at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge“. Congratulations are also in order for Cristina and Hal, as their Travel For Wildlife site was recently named one of two finalists for the 2015 Best Responsible Tourism Blog at the World Responsible Tourism Awards.
John Lehmann, who was at Seal River Lodge for Birds, Bears and Belugas, wrote two stories about his August trip, “Lords of the Arctic” for The Globe and Mail and “Eye to Eye with Ursus Maritimus” for Toque and Canoe. Aussie Ian Neubauer wrote “Canada’s polar bears the big attraction as Churchill Wild opens new lodge on Hudson Bay“, which appeared in Escape Magazine as part of Australia’s Daily Telegraph and also appeared in Australia’s Herald Sun and Courier Mail.
And although award-winning freelance journalist and editor Amy Rosen was on a media trip with us last year, she recently had her article about the Churchill Wild culinary experience, “The Surprising Cuisine of Northern Manitoba” appear in Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine.
More stories are in the works and a number of the media participants have already posted numerous photos around the Web on their social media profiles and Web sites. We always consider submissions from qualified media professionals and greatly appreciate all the wonderful stories they create. We think they appreciate us too, as evidenced by this quote left in our Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge Guest Book.
“My heart will always beat a little bit faster for polar bears now. Thanks for changing something inside me and waking up a part of my soul that I never knew was even dormant. Shout out also goes to those stunning black wolves as well. Looking forward to re-entering society and spreading the love.” —Â Zorianna Kit, Los Angeles
