Polar Bear Alley

This is a collection of northern stories - polar bear, arctic and otherwise from churchill, manitoba, canada - the polar
bear capital of the world.

It follows the polar bears of western Hudson Bay during their season on land from mid-July to November.

Churchill Travel Guide
Hotels in Churchill, Manitoba
Travel to Churchill, Manitoba
Polar Bear Alley Expeditions

Polar Bears of Churchill Book
Polar Bears of Churchill Facts

Polar Bear Photo Gallery
Beluga Whale Photo Gallery
Polar Bear News 
Polar Bear Attack Page

Munck's Cafe Publishing

Weather in Churchill, Manitoba

Hudson Bay Sea Ice Update

Tide Table for Churchill

Churchill Aurora Forecast

Polar Bear Blog

Today's Blog 
November 20-30, 2006
November 5-20, 2006
October 27-Nov5, 2006
October 19-26, 2006
October 9-18, 2006
October 1-October 9, 2006
Sept 24-October 1, 2006
Sept 15-23, 2006
Sept 1-8, 2006
August 20-31, 2006
August 8-17, 2006
August 1-8, 2006  
July 25-31, 2006  
July 18-24, 2006   
July 12-17, 2006   
July 2006   
June 2006  
May 2006 
Archived articles

Poison Dart Frog Blog - Costa Rican Coffee and Fruit Flies - December 10th, 2006

Right now, we are in Toronto chatting about fruit flies or 'drosophilia melanogaster' and drinking coffee. Fruit flies live for only ten days and are pretty much the core of whatever genetic research is out there, because you can really mess with generations of fruit flies in only a few months.

Apparently, if you want to be a professional fruit fly breeder, you only have fifteen minutes after pupation to separate the virgin fruit flies but that might just be a rumor or apply only to very popular cheerleader fruit flies, the rest you might have up to 12 hours.

Not that there are any fruit flies in our coffee that's just what we were talking about and, of course, the corresponding conspiracy theories. But, back to coffee, not that we were at coffee yet but we should have been... Costa Rican coffee is some of the best in the world and pretty good this morning. It first became a commodity in Costa Rica in the early 1800s, around the same time as the Hudson's Bay Company was moving to consolidate control of the fur trade in Canada. In 1821, Costa Rica declared its independence from Spain and began exporting coffee. In the usual contradictions of Central America, this soon led to the development of a strong public education system but also land grants that established 'Coffee Barons' as the informal ruling elite.

Most coffee is grown on the slopes of Costa Rica cordilleras where the coffee plants are shaded from the tropical sun for part of the day and the evenings are cool and rain is common. Volcanic ash and organic matter mix in the soil, the coffee cherries mature slowly and make for a rich and full tasting bean and a damn fine cup of joe. Beans are harvested by hand, workers stoop, sweaty and turbid in the afternoon heat, filling a bag slung over their shoulder for about the equivalent of $1.50 per basket - circle your arms in front of you and that's about the size of a basket. Pickers can usually fill a basket an hour. Still, Costa Rica is one of the better examples of coffee farming in the world and Cafe Britt is a Costa Rican company that roasts and packages coffee beans for the international market.

Poison Dart Frog Blog - Pizote Flashback - December 5th, 2006

We were greeted by a Pizote (piz-oh-tee or white-nosed coati - ko-wah-tee) on our first night (December 5th) at Playa Nicuesa. This strange and smart creature, sometimes called a hog-nosed coon, waddled stealthy (if you can waddle stealthily) up to the back porch. Foraging a last snack before heading back to his favourite late-night tree, he grabbed a few palm fruits, discarded after a bite or two by fickle and voracious white-faced monkeys. Pizotes are essentially small bears, around one foot long with an equally long tail. They are mostly carnivorous but eat anything and adapt to people and places quickly, a trait shared with their racoon cousins.

Antonio, that was his name, Antonio Pizote, is a regular at Nicuesa, an old male peering down his long nose, masked and anteateresque, a 'coatimundi'. Coatimundi means 'lone coati' and refers to the fact that males travel on their own, only accepted into the packs of females during mating season. Thoughtful and plodding, he gave one long look at this week's batch of tourists and skulked, tail erect, back into the rainforest, which considering the rainforest comes right up to the lodge, was not far.

It is the tail-end of the rainy season and many animals are still hanging around the coast of the Golfo Dulce. Over our few days at Nicuesa, there were white-faced monkeys hurling fruit and twirling through the trees, howler monkeys roaring and echoing unearthly, a two-toed sloth doing not much at all and random agouti and wild pigs scurrying through the understory.

Poison Dart Frog Blog - Me & Marilyn - December 4th, 2006

Greetings from San Jose! Everything is still giong pretty smooth - the weather couldn´t be better, it feels like its about 22C with a light breeze. Just as my reaction time was starting to catch up with Toronto, it now has to slow back down for Costa Rica (with the exception of the swirling mass of cab drivers at the airport).

Flying standby has gone pretty good so far, much less stressful than I originally thought. A few observations on international flight so far: the planes are a lot faster than Calm Air´s planes, you get very nervous when the stewardess comes on the intercom and she sounds nervous and, last but not least, free beer! Also, the inflight movie, Little Miss Sunshine, was possibly one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.

Costa Rica is a far cry from my last trip here six years ago - I think mass tourism may have found this central american country, which of course is not necessarily a bad thing. And at least the cab drivers are still the same unruly bunch. We are settled at Orquideas Inn, a mini-oasis amidst the sprawling city (no geodesic dome for us - but hey, there´s jungle and a stream). Highlight of the day was a sunset hot tub with toucans and bats flying amongst the mango trees. ´Now the city glows orange across the valley and relaxes amidst the sounds of swaying trees, creaking insects and gasoline engines.

As for me, I´ll finish up this blog and then head down to the Marilyn Monroe bar before I crash. Of course, technically I cannot have a beer because there are elections going on right now and there is some rule about not serving liquor for the three days leading up to an election. But I am headed to the Marilyn regardless, just to see if technically´ has the same meaning here as it does in Churchill.

Poison Dart Frog Blog - Megacity Madness - December 3rd, 2006

Pauses in Toronto do not last long. I realized this shortly after arriving at the airport. I went to grab a Tim Horton's coffee and waded through the line-up, which unlike pauses always seem to be long in Toronto. I stepped up and she asked 'what can I get you today sir'. The problem was that I was a bit groggy and her reaction was just a little to fast for me and I ended up replying 'Fine. How are you?' At this point, I got the 'you have just wasted three seconds of my life with your down-home huckleberry greeting' look. Naturally, I froze and after what seemed like six or seven minutes with sixty or seventy people lined up behind me, I sputtered 'uhh... double-double'. Look out mega city, here I come.

But things picked up quickly, our friend Tom picked us up in a Toyota Prius - my first hybrid car experience and my first experience in a car which contained more technology than, well, the town of Churchill. Tom is a very nice person, a free spirit orbiting somewhere between mad scientist and sandanista. We first met him in Churchill; originally on a quest to see beluga whales and then back again for polar bears.

We spent the day with him and his wife Chris eating various mushroom-based meals, exploring Toronto and talking about nothing and everything. Then Tom and I got lost in China town and accidentally bought a whole bunch of fruit that we did not really want or need or even know what could or should be done with it. However, the vietnamese salesman had a half-smoked cigarette hanging from his mouth and was speaking with a confidence that wavered between aggressive and frantic. It seemed like buying fruit would appease him.

Despite the excess fruit and coffee trauma, Toronto is pretty nice, lots of brick buildings and people that I don't know and giant glasses of wine. Too bad this pause in Toronto can't last a little longer. Heading for Costa Rica on the 9:40am flight and should be booking into the Orquideas Inn by 2 or 3pm - we are staying in some crazy geodesic dome, hiking amongst Mango trees and then enjoying a beer or two at their Marilyn Monroe theme bar. One day with Marilyn and then on to Golfo Dulce (the Sweet Gulf) and kayaking, hiking and writing at Playa Nicuesa.

Polar Bear Blog - Churchill is so Negative - December 1st, 2006

Okay, okay, one more blog here and then on to the other site for a bit. Just got this pic by email from a friend of mine whose house is near the Incinerator and old dump site and in possibly the only spot with more polar bears travelling through than Camp Nanuq. Anyway, he took a great shot of some negative polar bear paw prints. Basically, the snow melts a bit and gets compressed a bit after a bear walks over it, so when the gale force winds of our last blizzard hit, it swept away all the snow from his yard, leaving just the reverse tracks (the chunks of snow that meander off into the distance - the real photo is a little easier to understand I guess but you get the drift)... pretty neat. And a very artsy shot I must add, here I thought he was just another redneck hippy.

Polar Bear Blog - Plotting and Divebombing - December 1st, 2006

Hmmm, still on my way to Winnipeg... flights and hotels are booked, should be sitting in the 'Marilyn Monroe' bar at Costa rica's Orquideas Inn by Monday night (theoretically). Then on to Golfito and Playa Nicuesa!!! And its still -40 here!!!

Apparently, local wildlife did not like yesterdays blog. A beautiful silver fox made a lacksidasical appearance and a flock of ptarmigan litterly dive bombed my truck, barely visible against the ice and snow, only their black tails zipping past my windshield. So, I was wrong again... of course, I am not sure how long our fox will last, he is pretty close to the community trapline and his coat is in its prime right now...

The Churchill History Project is still in the works - we met with the Churchill Mitigation Fund last night (after Manitoba Hydro diverted the Churchill River - as in 90% of its flow - they set up a trust fund to support community projects) and we should get word in a day or two on final approval - looks promising and it should be a good winter project. But, before I start that I think I'll go swimming in the Pacific instead of the Arctic Ocean first.

And this time I mean it - check the blogs for the next ten days here