Wednesday 11 August 2010

The second day dawned in Churchill after not much sleep – I was up at 23h00 and 02h00 looking for the elusive Northern Lights only to find out at breakfast from others that they were visible at 0h00 to 01h00! Talk about frustrating – I have been chasing them for about 2 weeks on most clear nights and I am getting to the point of exhaustion!

Oh well, no rest for the exhausted explorer – it‘s off to swim with the Beluga Whales this morning. Not knowing what to expect, I was in for a few surprises! Firstly, the “dry” suit turned out to be a “wet” suit, but at least the water is about 8 – 10 degrees and not the usual 4 degrees C. Secondly, the “swimming” would involve holding onto the boat at all times because of strong and unpredictable currents. Actually staying close to the boat also puts the whales more at ease and they venture closer.

 

Off we went in our zodiac and we saw lots of pods of Beluga Whales in the mouth of the Churchill River. We settled on a good spot and slowly got into the water one by one. The water was icy, but the gloves, hood and wet suit kept me warm enough and as long as there were whales around, I did not feel the cold. At first it was difficult to see them as the visibility is only about 5m, but our eyes soon adjusted to the water. Hanging onto the boat rope by my feet, I was able to face out from the boat and started to see the whales. They swam past us and would look up at us as they swam past. Even mothers with babies did not seem too perturbed by our presence. It was the most amazing experience to be close to these wild, yet gentle and curious creatures.

One pod got quite brave and swam past us a few times getting closer each time until they were about 1m out of our reach. When our time was up, we had been in the water an hour and 15 minutes – wow! As we chugged back to shore, the whales followed the boat for a long way – it was truly special. They are people watching as much as we are whale watching!

After a warm bath and some lunch, we set off in the afternoon to go on our dog sled ride. We were a bit dubious as we met our guide – a native Metis Indian – Dave Daley and we set off in a rickety old bus. This was further enhanced by the fac that twe were the only 2 on the tour. Arriving at the “kennel” a way out of town, we were met by the dogs with tangible excitement. Dave spent over an hour telling us about the dog care, the activity of dog sledding, showing us the equipment and relating stories about some of his races and trips. Last winter he took a team of 14 dogs and his sled to Winnipeg – a distance of 1600 km! He has been placed 2nd in several dog sled races that last several days and his dog team can cover about 400km a day in 15 hours, stopping only every 2 hours for a few minutes to get some energy juice and check for sore or damaged paws. I knew nothing about dog sledding before the tour, but it was fascinating. As we got to know Dave too, we really enjoyed his company. He is a multi talented amazing guy and quite a leader in his community. The dog sledding is his hobby and he is a licenced aeroplane mechanic working for the very air company that flew us to Churchill.

Things only got more exciting as we went outside to individually be introduced to each dog. There characters and intelligence shine through each happy dog face and doggy smile. The love between Dave and each dog is tangible and he knows them each so well including their strengths and weaknesses. As he pointed out to us, they are not dogs, they are athletes and are cared for and treated as such! Finally it was time for our dog sled ride. Dave has made a dog sled buggy for summer trips and he harnessed up 5 dogs. The ride is only one mile as the relative heat of summer combined with the dogs enthusiasm will cause them to run themselves to a state of collapse from heat exhaustion. The ride was wonderful and the 5 dogs pulled the buggy carrying myself, Liam and Dave with ease and at a really fast pace. They follow only voice commands given by Dave in a normal tone of voice and are so well trained. The lead dog knows her left from her right and the different paces – fast and easy, pull and stop. It was totally fascinating.

What an amazing day spent with some wonderful specimens of God’s intelligent creatures.