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Down by the bay
Few Canadians will ever visit Ukkusiksalik National Park,
but it need not be experienced to be fully appreciated
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY REBECCA L. GRAMBO
I don’t usually check for polar bears
before stepping out my front door, but in Ukkusiksalik National
Park, it becomes as much a part of the daily routine as applying
bug spray and sunscreen. I am with a dozen other guests at
Sila Lodge, the only accommodation in this preserve along
the northwest coast of Hudson Bay, and we were explicitly
told on arrival not to walk outside without looking around
or to wander off without a guide. The claw marks on the buildings
and paw prints on the windows are powerful incentives to
comply.
The lodge lies at the west end of Wager Bay, the 170-kilometre-long
inland sea at the heart of Canada’s forty-first national
park, and I am here on a last-minute adventure arranged by
a fellow photographer, thrilled at the prospect of catching
a glimpse of polar bears in their primeval world — a
place that has changed little since the glaciers began to
retreat about 10,000 years ago.
For related facts and figures, visit CG's Exploration Online
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