Canada’s Big Five Safari

Arrive in Winnipeg, the largest city in Manitoba, and transfer to your hotel. Join your group for a Meet & Greet welcome dinner meeting at the hotel this evening.

Stay: Winnipeg accommodation

This morning after breakfast, you will depart Winnipeg for your drive to Riding Mountain National Park, but first, stop in Neepawa to visit Farmery Estate Brewery for a brewery tour and lunch at their delicious on-site food truck. Driving through the prairie grasslands to the rolling hills of the Manitoba Escarpment, then arrive into Riding Mountain National Park via the east gate and enjoy an introduction to the park. This evening enjoy a wildlife drive in search of moose, black bear and other wildlife. Accommodation for the stay in Riding Mountain National Park is a lakeside hotel in the town on of Wasagaming in the national park.

Next day after breakfast, head our on a morning wildlife drive in Riding Mountain National Park. The park is home to many species of animals, but time is spent seeking out black bears, moose, deer, and much more. In the afternoon, board The Martese for an afternoon cruise on Clear Lake, the water is so clear that you can see the sand and pebbles in the water. In the evening another wildlife drive to the Lake Audy Bison Enclosure, a captive herd of approximately 40 plains bison. Learn the history of the enclosure, the bison and their significance, before returning to the accommodation for the last night in Riding Mountain National Park.

Stay: Lakehouse Boutique Hotel, Wasagaming (Standard)

The day starts with one last wildlife drive through Riding Mountain National Park, and then an interpretive walk through Ominik Marsh. Then after breakfast board the transport back to Winnipeg for the next portion of the tour - polar bears and beluga whales in Churchill. On the return to Winnipeg, check in for a night at the hotel before your flight to Churchill next morning.

Stay: Winnipeg accommodation

Catch an early morning flight to Churchill in the far north of the province, where boreal forest gives way to barren and rugged tundra. This isolated settlement is regarded as the 'Polar Bear Capital of the World'. Every October, the vicinity swells by around 1,000 polar bears as they make their way to the Hudson Bay to hunt seals on the ice that forms there in winter. They remain out on the tundra until mid- to late-summer when the ice starts to melt, driving them back to land. These annual bear treks provide rare opportunities to see polar bears up close in their natural environment. In addition to the bears, white beluga whales gather here in summer in their thousands, as do caribou and countless migratory birds. 

The daily activities during the Churchill portion of the adventure will vary depending on tide times. Activities in Churchill include: a Churchill Town & Area Tour that will give you a chance to explore the town and surrounding landscape and learn about the historical and ecological significance of the area; a Beluga Boat Tour with a stop at the historical Fort Prince of Wales; a 3-hour Beluga Zodiac Tour, offering you a chance to get even closer to Churchill's summer belugas; an afternoon program with an area dog sledder where guests will enjoy a mile long dog cart (on wheels) through the boreal forest; and a 6-hour Tundra Buggy excursion into the Churchill Wildlife Management Area, where guests will learn about the ecology of the area and have a chance to see Churchill's beautiful summer blooms, incredible northern wildlife and maybe even the first of the summer polar bears.

Stay: Churchill accommodation

After a final day exploring you'll join an evening flight back to Winnipeg for a final night before departing for the UK on day 8 arriving home on day 9. 

Stay: Winnipeg accommodation