Canada's insider blog

It’s rare to be able to watch mother polar bears together with their cubs in the wild. One place you can experience that is Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, a small Hudson’s Bay outpost south of Churchill, Manitoba. Last year the family-run Seal River Heritage Lodge acquired Nanuk and they’re offering week-long bear-viewing trips this year – with excellent odds for mother and cub encounters – from Aug. 24 to Oct. 1. About 400 bears a season pass by. Since polar bears summer around Nanuk waiting for the bay to freeze, it’s a place you can watch them in relative warmth and during the season when the tundra blazes autumn red.

Getting there is part of the fun on a one-hour small plane flight from Gillam. Fly over York Factory National Historic Site, the original Hudson’s Bay Company post with more than 300 years of fur trading history, then spot beluga whales and their young in the shallows of the bay as the plane approaches Cape Tatnum Wildlife Management Area where the lodge is located.

A high, strong fence surrounds a viewing compound, where you can safely watch and photograph bears up close and personal. During the daytime, there are interpretive nature walks with experienced guides. Days finish up with a gourmet meal and a bit of relaxation in front of a blazing wood fire as the Northern Lights dance outside.