We planned a videoconference for Friday, but our network was down and we couldn't talk to the students.

So, we recorded answers to the questions we had already been sent and will send it to the classes.

Part 1


Part 2

Sorry, we haven't had Internet here at the lodge for the last two or three days. But, we didn't stop working!

I have created another video taking you through to the 2nd of October.

The Northern Lights came out really well tonight -- I took a bunch of pictures and posted them here:
Facebook

It’s been a while since I last wrote, but we’ve all been busy, and I’ve been working on the videos and pictures to share with you about Camp.

We flew from Winnipeg to Churchill – a 3-hour flight on one of the smallest planes I’ve ever been on. It was really funny – we have a polar bear skull replica to show how big their jaws are, and Omar had to carry it through security. They didn’t want to let him carry it on the plane (apparently, the teeth were too sharp). But we convinced them it was safe and got to the gate. Sean, Omar, César, and I played Frisbee while we waited for the plane.


When we landed, we were met by John Bykerk (“Captain”), who would be our driver for the rest of our time in Churchill and during our stay in the Tundra Buggy Lodge. Stephen, who lives in Churchill, led us on a tour of the town. Then, we went back to our rooms at the Tundra Inn. Later that night, we saw the Northern Lights – they were so cool.


The next morning we saw a lot of bear-related areas near Churchill. First, we headed to the Polar Bear Compound run by Manitoba Conservation, which handles polar bears throughout the province and protects people from any bears who wander into town. They don’t have to kill or tranquilize bears as much as they have in the past – the number of bear-human encounters has dropped a lot since the dump was closed. Bears used to go there and paw through the trash looking for an easy meal. We saw the new waste management facility and then drove to a laboratory where tests were done involving the effects of oil on polar bears and other Arctic animals.


Then, it was off to Wapusk National Park - wapusk means “polar bear” in Cree, one of the local First Nations languages. We learned about local history and saw a presentation about current research in the Park. Then it was off to the Tundra Buggy “launch” where we boarded Buggy 15 and spent 2 hours bouncing our way to the Lodge. We saw 3 bears, ptarmigans, 2 bald eagles, an Arctic hare, and a bunch of other animals before even getting there.


Then we had dinner and headed to bed – it was time to get ready for our first full day on the tundra.

I just finished a video for the first few days of camp -- from arriving in Winnipeg to landing in Churchill. Look for more video and photos soon.

I couldn’t get on the computer yesterday, so this will be for Friday and Saturday.

After flying for a few hours through three airports, I made it to Canada – and then they didn’t want to let me in! I had to deal with immigration, but they were nice and I was (thank goodness) let into the country.

After customs, I was met by Carolyn Buchanan and Tanya Cox. They were so happy to see all of us! The hotel was right across the street, so Robert Buchanan (the president) brought me over and I met the other students who had already arrived. We stay in rooms donated by the hotel – they really support PBI. My roommate is Cesar Ruano, who is from Guatemala but now lives in Washington, DC. He’s really cool and I like practicing my Spanish with him.

There are people from all over the world here – we have two from Australia, a student from Denmark, a few Canadian students and many Americans. We had our first meeting Friday night, where we played games that Kathy had for us (she’s from the San Diego Zoo). Then, we introduced ourselves to everybody else and then had a great dinner at the hotel.

And now for Saturday…
We all were still trying to get over our jet-lag, but we all stayed awake for a presentation by Rob Taylor, a wildlife photographer who has spent at least 30 years in Churchill scouting for interesting animals and leading tours. We then went on a field trip through Winnipeg, heading first to a sculpture garden, then to the zoo. The Winnipeg Zoo has the oldest polar bear in captivity – she’s 40 years old!

We had some free time at the hotel when we got back, then we started getting blogs ready and I got the video we’ve shot so far onto our computers. We’ll all be doing some sort of videos or photos soon, so come back to see!

There was a dinner with a few honored guests – the owners of the Tundra Buggies, where we’ll stay in Churchill; Jack Dubois, the Director of Wildlife for the province of Manitoba; and a few Leadership camp students from last year and the year before. Then, I helped Cesar with his blog (he’s writing it in both English and Spanish) and got the movie footage ready for other people to work with.


I’ll write again tomorrow – come back to see the videos and stuff!