I’ve been to Canada before but not to Manitoba. I thought it might be good to see the polar bears again, this time up close and personal. The only thing I was dreading was the weather as I had heard that the weather there at this time often peaked -20 degrees Celsius. This was even colder than when I went to the north pole.
I arrived in Toronto first and stayed with some friends I had met on my trip to Morocco. They were so kind and made me feel like I was part of the family.I was also invited to a gala dinner and dance for a church fundraiser. I sat with my 2 friends on a table full of nuns. The table next to us was a table full of vicars and one of them was an arch bishop. I took part in the raffle thinking I might win seeing as it’s the closest to god I’m ever going to get…but as usual I never win anything. It was quite a good night with lots of yummy food and I didn’t have to dance.
The day finally arrived for my flight to Manitoba. It was cold and wet and it snowed very hard. Luckily I bought some arctic weather boots on one of my numerous shopping trips in Toronto and they kept my feet snug and warm. The first day there was just a free day to explore the town. It’s a small town and you don’t need a day to explore anything…10 minutes would have done. Unfortunately while stuffing my face at one of the numerous restaurants I missed my chance for a one to one tour of the polar bear research facility. It’s a private facility which is not open to tourists. If I had only called them an hour earlier I would have made it. I could have kicked myself…I was so annoyed. Never mind, gives me another chance to visit the polar bear capital of the world.
I saw a total of 16 bears of all sizes and the biggest was the size of one of those minivans. I even saw one of the bears pee. It was funny watching their movements and mannerisms. They were so cute, you’d never think they would kill you if they got the chance. Seeing them trying to walk on the ice hoping not to fall in was so funny. Some days at lunch in the buggies we were surrounded by bears just minding their own business. The odd one would come up to our buggy thinking we might feed them. Again I was the eagle eye and spotted most of the bears and even a caribou which no one ever sees as there is only a lone male who lost his mum. I guess one of the bears got her. I spotted the caribou on two different occasions and 12 bears. Some bears even venture into town as they are desperate for food. If they are spotted they get caught and taken to polar bear jail and kept in for 30 days with only water. And then they are released back into the wild. The only way to do this is to use a helicopter. They’re in a harness and the bear flies through the air back to their homes.
My flight back was a bit knackering. I took 3 flights in one day and finally got to Gatwick but I wasn’t stressed at all as the flights were great and stress free with plenty of entertainment on board. I got stressed when I got back home. Trying to get a train ticket back to Croydon was a nightmare. While queuing for my ticket I missed 3 trains, when I got to the machine it wouldn’t give change for £20. I queued at another machine this time it gave change but only 20p came out. Finally got someone to help me but she made me queue again to fill out a form and get a refund. I was so pissed off by the time I got home I needed another holiday.
