january-2012

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e had been standing on a rocky promontory watching the bloody spectacle of two bears tearing at a whale carcass for over an hour. Th en with no apparent provocation, one suddenly wheeled round and charged. A 400kg polar bear, crimson in tooth and claw, was bearing down on us, full tilt. Th ere was a collective gasp. ‘Don’t panic,’ said Andy, our guide, quietly. ‘Stay together and stand still.’ Andy yelled at the beast and, at some 25 metres’ distance, he stopped. With a low growl he turned tail and returned to his meal. It was over before I could even feel scared. But it could have been very diff erent story. Earlier that same week, a British schoolboy had been killed by a polar bear in Norway and several of his companions mauled, an event that had made headlines and reached even this remote corner of Manitoba in north-eastern Canada. With the ease of travel and increased demand for exotic destinations and adventure holidays, animal attacks on tourists are on the rise: shark fatalities; frequent, unreported near-misses with elephants on walking safaris; riding safaris, in which gung-ho participants claim to be experienced horsemen, and prove to be nothing of the sort when confronted by a lion. Every year, we put our lives in the hands of strangers whom we trust to protect us, so we can experience the thrill of getting close to wildlife in its own Above: intrepid nature-lovers on the trail of Ursus maritimus. Right: playful moments are few and far between in the ferocious and solitary life of the polar bear PRIVATESCAPE Sixty-Six habitat. But when something goes wrong, questions are invariably raised about the responsibility of organisers, risk awareness of travellers and even the ethics of wildlife tourism. Can we justify trespassing on the territory of an animal for our pleasure, if it then kills in self-defence? It was with these thoughts in mind that I arrived at Seal River Heritage Lodge on the shores of the Hudson Bay, a lonely place inaccessible by road or rail. Th e journey from London required four planes of diminishing size, and my last stopover en route, Churchill in Canada’s barren north, proved sobering preparation. ‘Don’t wander out alone at night,’ I was warned. ‘And on no account go near the rocks on the beach.’ Th is sleepy little one-horse town, which consists of little more than one desultory Main Street, is known as the ‘polar bear capital of the world’. Th e previous day, Rose, who met me at the airport, encountered a bear in her back yard, while a few days earlier, Gloria, the receptionist at my hotel, had fended one off with a shopping bag while delivering her children to nursery school. It sounded surreal. Do Churchillians live in permanent fear during the months when the ice melts in Hudson Bay and the bears come ashore? ‘Well, you certainly have to be aware,’ said Rose. ‘We take precautions. And no one here locks their houses or their vehicles in case someone has to make a dash for cover.’ ‘No one here locks their houses or their vehicles in case someone has to make a dash for cover’
IMAG MAG MA AG A ES© ES© ES© ES© ES© ES© ES© ES ES© ES© ES ES ES ES ES© S© S© S© S© S© S© S© S© S© © DE DE DE DE DE DE DE DEN DE D EN ENNIS NIS NIS NIS NIS NIS NIS NIS S FAST FAS FA ST STGE GE GE GE GE GE GE G G GE G ORGE ORG OR O RGE GE GELEP LEP LEP LEP LEP LE LEP LE LEP P/GE P /G / TTY TTY TTY TTY TTY TTY TTY TTY TTY TTY TY TY TY IMAG IMA IM I MAG MA AG A ES ES ES ES ES ES ES ES ES ES ES ESS BILL BIL BILL LL LLL BAC BAC BAC BAC BAC BAC BAC BAC BA BA BAC AC HMAN HMA HM HMMAN MA AN N N/SC N/S N/ N SC S IENC IEN I ENC EN EE EPH EPH EPH EPH EPH EPH EPH EPH EPH E PH P OTO OTO OTO OTO OTO OTO OTO OT O TO TOO LIBR LIB LIBR BR BRARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY ARY AR ARY RY RY RYMOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MO MOO DBOA DBO DB D BOA OA O RD/C RD/ RDD/C /C ORBI ORB OR O RBI RB R BI SF SF SF SF SF SF SF S SF SF S SF SF S S S F IRST IRS I RST RS R ST S LIG LIG LIG LIG LIG LIG LIG LIG LIG LIG LIG LI L HT/A HT H T/A T/ LAMY LAM LA LAMY AM A two-man, round-the-clock team of conservationists is responsible for bear management in town. On sighting an errant animal, you call the dedicated Polar Bear Alert line. ‘Ideally, we try to chase the bear out of town,’ said Bob, one of the conservationists. ‘But in the case of persistent off enders, we tranquillise them and place them in the polar bear holding facility for a month or so without food, so they do not associate the town with easy pickings. Th en we airlift them out by helicopter to a spot on the bay, some 80 miles to the north.’ Th e holding facility, popularly known as ‘the polar bear jail’, is a large windowless edifi ce by the airport, whose air-conditioned cells were currently hosting fi ve inmates. Gloria’s bear, however, was not among them. He had displayed ‘aberrant’ behaviour, and had had to be shot. In the wilds where I was headed, however – at 59⁰ north, just seven degrees shy of the Arctic Circle – there was no such fallback. I boarded a tiny fl oat-plane for the 60km journey north west, fl ying over the region’s unique marriage of coastline, taiga and tundra, as evidenced by boulder-strewn tidal fl ats, stunted conifers and permafrost peat bogs. It was from this vantage point, as we banked low over the landscape, that I had the thrill of spotting my fi rst polar bear, sunning itself on a sandbank in the bay. All around, the ocean teemed with what looked like silvery Polaris missiles – the white beluga whales that migrate every August to these waters with their young. We landed on Swan Lake, where we were met by our two guides, Andy and Terry, who off -loaded provisions and ferried us by 4x4 to our temporary home. One of three wilderness retreats owned by Jeanne and Mike Reimer of Churchill Wild, Seal River Heritage Lodge sits on the site of a former fur-trapper’s cabin. Th is delightfully simple wooden lodge accommodating 16 guests, with a wood-burning stove as warm as the hospitality, is distinguished by wonderful views and exceptional cuisine using locally sourced ingredients, wild snow goose, perch, caribou and cloudberries among them. Guests’ safety is paramount for our hosts, experienced wilderness hands. “Churchill welcome mats” – wooden boards studded with nails – surround the lodge to deter unwelcome visitors, and picture windows in the communal areas are shuttered at night (‘Bears are learning to negotiate the mats Sixty-Seven Top left: a tundra buggy lets visitors get up close and personal with Manitoba’s polar bears. Above and top right: the Seal River Heritage Lodge on Hudson Bay allows guests to meet the local bears – and vice versa; the building is heavily fortifi ed against ursine visitors
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WINTER 2012 THE MAGAZINE
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Extra Urban 30.4 (9.3), Combined 21
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Tom Kundig builds houses continuous
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CONTRIBUTORS JONATHANBELL Jonathan
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your partner In the Principality of
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VZAGATO On the 50th anniversary of
Page 17 and 18: BIGHORNLODGE BRITISHCOLUMBIA Revels
Page 19 and 20: Nineteen
Page 21: Four generations of Cellar Masters
Page 24 and 25: the United States - the largest cig
Page 26 and 27: A RACING MACHINE ON THE WRIST www.r
Page 28 and 29: GMT/UTC GMT watches use a separate
Page 30 and 31: RINO Giovanni Passerini is the chef
Page 32: CAFÉSALLEPLEYEL Th e Salle Pleyel
Page 36 and 37: HIRSH L O N D O N SNOWFLAKE COLLECT
Page 38 and 39: www.lloyd.de И н о г д а в
Page 40 and 41: Right: Passion 11 / One of the Peop
Page 42 and 43: PRIVATDESIGN Native Son Architect T
Page 44 and 45: Th e Pacifi c North West is home to
Page 46 and 47: PRIVATDESIGN Below: the Pierre almo
Page 48 and 49: for Kundig’s avowed obsession wit
Page 50 and 51: PRIVATPERSON SWEET SCENT OF SUCCESS
Page 52 and 53: 20 centres throughout Europe Austri
Page 54: Serena Linley’s lavenderperfumed
Page 58 and 59: previouspage: printed shirt by Paul
Page 60 and 61: Embroidered linen shirt by Paul & J
Page 62 and 63: PRIVATSTYLE above:printed top by Ma
Page 65: While on the trail of Ursus maritim
Page 69 and 70: Pure. Natural. Sustainable. Highest
Page 71 and 72: and the ground. Th is is the Burma
Page 73 and 74: IMAGES©CORBISAXIOM Old Bagan is a
Page 75 and 76: IMAGE©LIGHTMEDIATION 800 years ago
Page 77 and 78: Photo: www.jimmynelson.com
Page 79 and 80: Capturing the PrivatAir Identity Na
Page 81 and 82: I was surprised when I fi rst met Q
Page 83 and 84: www.freywille.de vienna, austria BE
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january-2012

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