Where the bears are: Guests in a Tundra Buggy are thrilled to see polar bears in the wild. Photo courtesy of Frontiers North Adventures
into the Northwest Territories and what is now Nunavut. The Gunters decided to eliminate the out-of-area trips and focus on maximizing the potential of Churchill. Along the way, they bought into the Tundra Inn, a 33-room hotel with a pub, dining room and hostel. “With our various operations we have about 100 people on our payroll now. We’re pretty proud about that,” John Gunter says. The calendar is full most of the year. Northern lights trips kick into high gear in February and March when there is minimal sunlight and still plenty of snow
on the ground. Polar bears take centre stage in April and May when the snow is melting and they’re seen hunting out on the ice. Snorkelling with beluga whales is the big attraction during the summer months, while October and November are big polar bear months, too. “In the autumn, we’re batting polar bears off with a stick,” Gunter says with a laugh. “Our average sightings per day are a lot higher then than in the summer.” For the uninitiated, polar bears are observed in their natural habitat from the comfort of a Tundra Buggy, a vehicle
Gunter describes as a “great big Kleenex box on monster truck tires.” The buggies follow a network of established trails in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area, and while polar bears are often curious about the strange vehicles, passengers are too high up to ever be in danger. The buggies are also used to transport guests across the frozen Churchill River to take in the northern lights. Frontiers North has a cozy set-up where people can enjoy happy hour with drinks and hors d’oeuvres and spend the evening taking pictures. ■
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