2015 Trips

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Arctic Coast Polar Bears in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

We're excited to offer this opportunity to see and photograph 20-30 or more polar bears at a time in a unique setting on the edge of the Arctic Refuge. Each fall large numbers of polar bears swim to Barter Island from their summer hunting grounds on the pack ice of the Beaufort Sea, drawn by an enticing food source provided by local Inupiat Eskimo hunters. Fall is whaling season, when traditional whaling crews go out in open boats on a hunt that is sacred to their culture.  When a whale is harvested, the whole community in the small Barter Island village of Kaktovik takes part in the butchering and sharing of the bounty. The remains of the whale carcass is then dragged down to the "whale bone yard" at the end of a long spit to be shared with the bears.  This "bone yard" is the setting that provides a remarkable opportunity in the evenings and early mornings to safely observe polar bears feeding and interacting--up close and personal!--from the safety and warmth of a vehicle. In addition, we’ll have the chance to take a two hour boat ride with a local boat captain to observe the bears relaxing on the nearby barrier islands during the day, or if we’re lucky, watch them swimming or playing in the ocean.

We'll fly from Fairbanks to Kaktovik and will stay at Waldo Arms, a classic "Bush" hotel owned and operated by our old friend Walt Audi--legendary bush pilot and long-time Kaktovik resident--and his partner Merylin. With a vehicle at our disposal, we'll spend our time watching and photographing bears, as we keep an eye out for eiders and other waterfowl. This time of year also provides opportunities to see the Northern Lights in the evenings.

Trip Details
We'll fly from Fairbanks to the village of Kaktovik on Barter Island on Day 1. After checking into our rooms at Waldo Arms, we'll head to the end of the island for polar bear watching or, dependent on weather, possibly go out in the boat. We'll have a flexible schedule for the 3 days we're here--with plenty of time to watch and photograph polar bears and look for birds, as well as experience this edge-of-the-earth community. We'll plan on flying back to Fairbanks in late afternoon of Day 3, weather permitting.

Trip costs include a charter flight to and from Kaktovik, lodging and all meals for 2 nights/ 3 days at Waldo Arms, transportation in Kaktovik, guide service, and one 2 hour boat ride. To better increase our odds of getting into and out of Kaktovik within the trip timeframe, in 2015 we are switching from flying on the one scheduled commercial flight to using our own charter flight, which will give us much more flexibility and adaptability. While the cost of charter flights is significantly higher than the seat fare scheduled flights, after 7 years of leading these trips we’ve realized that using charter flights is key to the higher quality experience we always strive for.

For us, this one-of-a-kind, world class opportunity to see polar bears up close in their arctic environment is definitely worth having to deal with these somewhat challenging and unpredictable flying conditions. But we do want to make sure that you are aware of the challenges of flying to this “end of the world” setting in changing climate conditions. This is also why we strongly encourage you to get trip insurance for this trip, to cover any extra costs you may incur, or for the possibility that the trip will not be able to occur as planned.

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