16 of the over 4,000 women who have walked with polar bears at the Churchill Wild ecolodges.
Over 8,000 guests have now walked with polar bears at Churchill Wild’s remote ecolodges on the Hudson Bay coast, and more than half of them have been women.
From amateur and professional photographers to bucket listers, retirees, professional travellers, mothers and daughters, wildlife aficionados, nature lovers, bloggers, writers, filmmakers, solo travellers, wives and husbands, from all corners of the world. Women’s travel groups have booked full lodges more than once, with more full-lodge female bookings on the immediate horizon.
We’ve also just created the Churchill Wild’s Women Travel Group, a private Facebook group where like-minded women who have been to the lodges can share their stories and photos, and those who are thinking about visiting can ask questions of those who have already been to the lodges. The group attracted 100 members on the first day, and we’re just getting started.
Polar bear in fall colours. Fabienne Jansen / ArcticWild.net photo.
Repeat female guests have become a yearly tradition at Churchill Wild, led by Fabienne Jansen of Arctic Wild.net, who has taken some spectacular photos on 30 different departures to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge with her husband Christoph, and they’ll be back again in the fall.
Debra Corbeil of ThePlanetD has been to both Seal River Heritage Lodge and Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge three times and has written some beautiful stories about walking with polar bears accompanied by photos from her husband Dave Bouskill. Cristina Garcia of Travel4Wildlife was on the first safari with Deb and also wrote a number of exceptional pieces on walking with polar bears complemented by photos from her husband Hal Brindley.
The wetness of fall. Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Anjali Singh photo.
Pet photographer Ellen Zangla has been to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge three times and has taken gorgeous shots of both wolves and polar bears. Anjali Singh from India has been to our lodges twice with friends, and Dr. Virginia Huang has also visited twice with a return trip in the making. Angela Pressman and her husband Steve of YouGottaLoveNature have been on four safaris with Churchill Wild and they’re returning again in October 2025 for the Fall Dual Lodge Safari. Anja Kolb-Kokocinski and her husband Felix have also been on several safaris with Churchill Wild, including the Arctic Safari, which Anja said was her favourite trip.
Wolf contemplating life at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Ellen Zangla photo.
More recently, Peggy Peregrine-Spear travelled to Seal River Heritage Lodge and Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge with Charles Glatzer’s ShootTheLight.com group, and Churchill Wild 30th Anniversary Contest winner Tammy Kokjohn found beauty and emotion in polar bears and wolves on the Hudson Bay Odyssey at Nanuk. Other female photographers who have graced the Churchill Wild lodges and captured unmatched emotion include Ruth Elwell-Steck, Gillian Lloyd, Abby Jensen, Ann Fulcher, Sharon Fisher, Meline Ellwanger, and so many more.
And we’re not without romance either. Entrepreneurial artist Amy Pink and retired police officer Fred Lipsky came all the way from Costa Rica to Seal River Heritage Lodge to renew their wedding vows for the seventh time on Birds, Bears & Belugas, and we’ll never forget guests Stephanie Reinhart and Mark Jockel, who travelled from Chicago for a honeymoon to remember at Dymond Lake Ecolodge many years ago.
16 more of the over 4,000 women who have walked with polar bears at the Churchill Wild ecolodges.
Veterinarian Kathryn Cehrs rekindled some fond family travel memories with her mother at Seal River Heritage Lodge last summer, and their intimate encounters with polar bears and beluga whales made it a trip they’ll never forget. Missy Mandel hasn’t been to Seal River Heritage Lodge in eight years, but she remembers the trip with her daughter Kailee like it was yesterday.
Lisa Ellen Niver of WeSaidGoTravel produced numerous videos about walking with polar bears at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, and Dynie Sanderson of NapaFoodGalTravels ventured to Nanuk from California not just for the polar bears, but for the delicious food that found its way from the Blueberries & Polar Bears Cookbook series into the lodge kitchens.
The Blueberries & Polar Bears cookbooks were written by Helen Webber (mother of Churchill Wild co-owner and founder Jeanne Reimer) and her close friend Marie Woolsey. The series forms the base for the delicious culinary creations at the Churchill Wild lodges, and over 100,000 of the cookbooks have been sold. Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, the Blueberries & Polar Bears cookbooks are now found in homes, luxury resorts, northern lodges and remote camps throughout the world.
Polar bear relaxing in tall grass at Seal River Heritage Lodge. Kathryn Cehrs photo.
The conversations in the Churchill Wild’s Women Travel Group indicate that we may have to soon create more than one polar bear safari for women only. Anne Nesbit posted that she had an “epic trip” with Churchill Wild, and Dr. Virginia Huang said both of her safaris with Churchill Wild were “fantastic experiences” and that she would be returning.
Sarah Shobrook, who was on the Polar Bear Photo Safari last fall at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, said she “loved every minute of my trip.” Sarah is returning next March for the Cloud Wolves of the Kaska Coast Safari at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Corinne Gonnin-Le Guilou has posted a large collection of photos to the group, from her two trips to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, and Paula Curtin, who has been on six departures, both at Seal River Heritage Lodge and Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, said “Churchill Wild is a trip of a lifetime.” She too, will be returning.
Wolf pup trio on the Hudson Bay Odyssey at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Tammy Kokjohn photo.
Churchill Wild has always had a strong female presence both at the lodges, and in the office, including owner and co-founder Jeanne Reimer and her sisters Shari Wright and Toni Morberg, so it seems only fitting that more women have travelled to the lodges than men.
There is no way to include all the fabulous females who have been to the Churchill Wild lodges in one blog post, but this is a start, and if you, or someone you know should be included in this post, or in future highlights, please let us know.
We’re over 80 percent sold out for 2024, Birds, Bears & Belugas kicks off the season at Seal River Heritage Lodge on July 6, and Churchill Wild is rolling at full steam again. There are over 4,000 good reasons for that…
And you are all greatly appreciated!
