by Mandy Wallman with photos by Charles Glatzer
Having heard endless stories about the beauty and bears of Nanuk, I was still taken aback when our turbo beaver glided on to the Lodge’s runway just over a week ago.
Flying from Churchill, across Wapusk National Park, the trees gave away the serpentine paths of so many rivers that cut through the pristine landscape.
The views filled with caribou, moose and polar bears. No towns, no roads, no lights. Paradise!
The “Shoot The Light” team was back once again, and led by their fearless, effervescent photo pro Charles Glatzer they managed to fill many a hard drive. Chaz (Charles) said it was without a doubt one of his best of many expeditions with Churchill Wild, having done back-to-back trips to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge and Seal River Lodge.
The expedition, a group of six intense photographers, ventured to Nanuk for one week with Charles, to take advantage of the incredible Arctic wildlife surrounding the Lodge. And they were in for a treat!
Polar Bears! We are surrounded by bears! Some shy, some curious and some downright hams. Some in the willows, some on the flats, and others trying to find safe passage over thin ice.
From the seemingly endless polar bear sparring sessions, to dozens of Arctic fox and Arctic hares, to aurora borealis and gorgeous sunrises, this was truly an Arctic Safari of epic proportions. The Arctic foxes are always a bonus to all the great polar bear action and they provide many a fabulous photo op, such as the one that produced the photo below for Charles.
Charles will be back again in 2015 with another Polar Bear/Arctic Instructional Safari. If you’d like to join the Shoot The Light group next year you can learn more here.
Because we had such great bear photo ops, it’s was sometimes easy to forget some of the other wildlife that abounds at Nanuk: ptarmigan, fox, wolf, hare, snowy owl, snow bunting. But really, the bears took the cake!
We’ve now said goodbye to our first Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge Photo Expedition guests, and it was sad to see them go, but it was an amazing time!
And now, sitting by the fireplace, watching the sunrise, we await our second group of guests.
Endless opportunities…
