Buchan Gulf on Baffin Island

The plan for this morning was to take the zodiacs ashore and go hiking.  As with each place we stop in polar bear country, the naturalists headed off first to scout the area for polar bears.  They will not let us land if bears are nearby and even if they have not been sited, the guides always care flare guns to scare away bears and rifles to shoot if necessary.  Before we even landed a mother bear and two cubs were sighted on a distant hillside, apparently munching away on blueberries.


They were too far away to be deemed a threat but the terrain was hilly enough that the naturalists decided they couldn't guarantee that there weren't others around.  So they created a periphery of lookouts and folks who wanted to hike could come ashore and explore on their own within it.


The sights included remains of early Inuit houses.


After lunch the boat traveled further into the Gulf and down Icy Arm with fantastic scenery and many narwhals.








For tea this afternoon our nutty hotel manager Patrick served us hotdogs and beer out on the deck.