NOT ALL OF THE GUIDE/DRIVERS ARE of equal ability. Yesterday our zodiac ran aground three times while trying to reach the beach at Conningham Bay. Rather than follow-the-leader, Mark continued to take the road less traveled, while we salivated knowing there were a dozen polar bears within sight on shore.
Conningham bear at second seating
Fourth time’s a charm and we were able to cruise along the shore taking tons of pictures of a pair of polar bears, faces red from the beluga whale carcass they were gnawing on. Eight or ten other bears waited singly or in pairs for their turn while another took a swim out of sight from us.
Victory Point
Our next-to-last zodiac landing was at Victory Point, King William Island, near where the Erebus was discovered, where the crew may have spent time waiting in vain for a rescue. It took a final zodiac trip from the Vavilov to get to shore at Cambridge Bay where we were "taxied" to the airport in a tracked snow coach. Then we flew to Edmonton where we spent the night before flying back to our RV in Ottawa.
