Lori Henry about to snorkel with beluga whales in Churchill, Manitoba. Photo by John Zada.
She seemed to smile up at me, her almost four metre/13 foot-long body sashaying gracefully beneath my own outstretched limbs. Her small eyes looked at me curiously before she blew bubbles that rushed up and hit me in the mask.
I jolted upwards and my head shot out of the water. That beluga whale was playing with me! I treaded water momentarily before plunging my head back into the Churchill River so I could continue snorkelling with the friendly whales.
Those who know me know that I have a passion for northern Canada. Ever since my first trip up to Nunavut in 2008, and my return trip in 2010, I have gone a little kookoo for the tundra.
But I still hadn’t been up to the Polar Bear Capital of the World yet, that is, Churchill, Manitoba. Known for the hundreds of polar bears that roam near (and through) the town, this special community on the south western shore of the Hudson Bay, is excruciatingly beautiful. Beaches ripe with wandering polar bears, a river filled with thousands of beluga whales in the summer, and people that are hardy enough to survive the sub arctic. This is Canada at its most fascinating.
After returning home and writing non-stop about my adventures up there, I am happy to say that they have come together into an e-book called, Churchill: Navigating bugs, belugas and polar bears. You can buy it from places like Amazon.com, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and Apple’s iBookstore, with more e-retailers on the way, for $2.99 USD.
Churchill: Navigating bugs, belugas and polar bears, by Lori Henry
To warm you up, you can also scan through my photos from the trip on Flicker.com and watch the Canadian master, Rick Mercer, experience Churchill for the first time in the video below.
Thank you for supporting my writing by ordering a copy. I would love to get your feedback and reviews either in the comments section below and/or on the retailer’s website that you bought the book from (Amazon reviews are always helpful!).
If you don’t have an e-reader, don’t worry: you can still buy the book from Amazon and download its free Kindle for PC application for your computer, or download it as a PDF document from Smashwords.
Take it away, Rick Mercer:
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Congratulations on the book. We haven’t explored Northern Canada yet and are itching to get there.
Yes, it’s a must!
Congrats to your book. I can absolutely understand your love for the Canadian North. I have been travelling up there for almost 17 years – sometimes more than once and I’m still itching to get back there. One place I haven’t made it to yet is Churchill, but I’m working on it. Have you ever been to the east Canadian Arctic? This is on my current priority list.
Wow, that’s more times than I’ve been up there! Nunavut in the east is quite magical; I’ve had the pleasure of going twice. You can read about those trips by searching the “Nunavut” tags on this blog (http://lorihenry.ca/tag/nunavut/). I also write about Inuit drum dancing and throat singing in my upcoming book (http://lorihenry.ca/dancingthroughhistory). I hope you do make it up there.