The Camper

Another spectacular night out on the tundra

After spending a week of camping outdoors in the past two weeks, I no longer feel like having a roof over my head is a necessity! Although I may come to regret the above statement soon, If I don't learn building a proper Igloo fast. But before going over the two camping trips, I should perhaps mention another rare event that I did get to experience, the Beluga hunt.

Hunters expertly cutting and dividing the beluga

A life has turned to food for others

About 2 weeks ago we were in our last 20 minutes of the morning math class, when our principal came to let us know that the Beluga hunt was in progress, and that we could go and witness it. So everyone quickly packed to get out of the math class. Truly saved by the bell! We headed towards the rocky western shores of the village. There were hunters both on the shore and on boats waiting for belugs to come close enough to be harpooned or shot. Those on the shore would shoot them with gun first, then head out to harpoon them, whereas those on boats would harpoon them first, then shoot them with gun to finish the kill. The harpoon has a rope attached to a float to mark the doomed whale's location. 
We watched the whales, that were amazingly withing a few meters of the rocky beach, for a few minutes but no shots were fired. I was a bit surprised, asked one of the kids why the hunters weren't shooting the whales. He replied, these are females with youngs, we don't shoot them. They were waiting for single adults to hunt. I was told the reason belugas are so close to shore is that they are trying to get away from a pod of killer whales, which makes a lot of sense. So no whales was killed while I was there.                                                                  

Slabs of fat and skin ready to be picked up by anyone

After lunch we went to the beach again, and saw two groups of skilled hunters busy skinning and cutting two belugas. Everyone was so excited, as this was the first beluga hunt of the season. There would be quite a few more in the coming days and weeks. I was offered a piece of fat and skin to try. Surprisingly the fat was very chewy, but the skin was very nice. It reminded me of the Narwhal sushi I had on our hunting trip with Shon. But I have to admit that Narwhal tasted better than the beluga fat/skin, known as Maktaaq in Inuktitut. The meat was not that pleasant to eat. It almost felt like eating blood clot. I was told it would taste much better when cooked!

Master hunter George offered me some whale delicacy

A few days after the beluga hunt, Andy(my roommate) and I decided to head out for a weekend of camping on the tundra. We were planning to head out right after school, by 4:30pm the latest. But of course we got held up and ended up leaving town 6:30. This time I had rented an ATV to make the trip a bit more comfortable. We knew it was going to be touch and go by the time we loaded everything up on our ATV's and headed out to find the cabin, about 2-2.5 hours drive away.

A stop along the way to find our way before getting lost!

We have been to that cabin with Shon and Benjamine on our first hunting trip, but this time they were not around to show us the way. Shon was going to meet us at the cabin the following day. So we were taking a risk by heading out that late. Sure enough after 3 hours of driving and not finding it, we decided to head back to our previous trip's cabin, which was easier to spot. Got there around 10:30pm and checked a few cabins before finding an unlocked tent style cabin to settle for the night. It was a cabin with 4 feet high plywoods as walls, and trusses that were covered with a white tarp. It was better than spending the night in tents with the possibility of grizzly and polar bear encounters.

Shon and Andy at a resting spot

Early next morning we headed out to find the cabin. This time we managed to find the path to the cabin, with directions from a local road crew we had encountered earlier. There was no way we could ever have founded it in the dark. 

About three quarters of the way to the cabin, we were caught by Shon. That was such a relief, as not only he knew how to get to the cabin but also we could join him on his hunting tour. We dropped our loads at the cabin, which is called Qitinguya. Had coffee with snacks, before heading out. This was the farthest we have been on the tundra. We crossed a couple of rivers, multiple times, searching for caribous. But didnt see any.

Crossed this river and drove up the steep bank

The scenery was spectacular, some rare high vantage points overlooking the ancient rivers. We saw our first caribou around 4pm which Shon didn't shoot. It was too young. The next one he shot, about 5pm. He let us skin and butcher his caribou, which we pretty much ruined his kill. A process which takes him about 10 minutes with no mess at all, took us about an hour and lots of dirt and grass on the meat. It was very generous of him patiently guiding and showing us how to do it properly. Of course it was much more difficult when we tried it. In the end he gave us a leg and some other parts to BBQ for dinner and take some back with us to twon. Thanks Shon!

A family of swans. They all head south soon!

On our way back to the cabin we saw three more caribous, but he didn't shoot them as he was looking for a large male. At the cabin, we had coffee again before Shon left for the town. Andy and I looked for some scrap wood, perhaps from the time they had built the cabin, to BBQ the fresh caribou meat. Unfortunately for us, the wind had died down and the black flies were unrelenting. I have more than 50 red spots on my arms, neck, and face to scratch for the next little while.

Final morning, all ready to head back from Qitinguya

While cooking the meat we also tried our luck with fishing. We each caught an arctic grayling, but the flies made it too painful to continue, so we used our hands and arms to fend them off. Dinner was great. This time we had salt and pepper to season the meat. I don't ever recall eating so much red meat at one sitting. It flet like such a tasty appetizer that was impossible to stop. Thank you mr. caribou for letting us use your meat. 

Andy, Steve(town's conservation officer) and our cache of protein

The next morning we packed and left for Whale Cove. On our way back, we stopped to clean the meat at a nearby lake. While busy cleaning the meat, steve, our conservation officer showed up. We decided to hang out for a bit and fish while chatting with Steve. We each caught a couple of lake trouts which Steve offered to smoke them for us. We happily accepted his offer. It seems everyone is so kind to us, especially after seeing how we enjoy the excursions. Everyone is so proud of their way of life and their land up here. They get so excited when they see us out there in the middle of nowhere doing our best to learn and admire their taditions. Everyone is offering to take us out for more adventures because of that! Next weekend we are heading out with Steve!

So to keep up with the camping trend I accepted to go on a science camp for 5 days with four high school students to Baker Lake, a community of about 3000 people and 2 degrees of latitiude north of Whale Cove. The theme for this year's camp was Rocks and Minerals. There would be 6 groups of 4 students plus a teacher from each community.                                        
                                     

Bonfire at the campsite in Baker Lake

There were three groups with three different classes to attend, and each class was to be taught by two teachers. I voluntered to teach the First Aid sessions, as there were enough teachers doing the GPS, and Rocks/Mineral sessions. The event was organized very nicely, so that kids would attend classes as well as having fun doing outdoor activities. I was very impressed by how cooperative and eager our tentmates were. Everyone would lend a helping hand starting the stoves, cooking, and cleaning up in windy and cold days/nights. On the first night the wind was blowing so hard that all out tents were blown away, and had to run around in the dark to gather heavy rocks to anchor the tents to the ground.

Some of my super cool tentmates!

On our first morning there, we were treated to a nice surprise, a short helicopter ride over the town. Baker Lake is the only community up here that is not on the ocean. Instead it is on the shore of a lake, perhaps called Baker Lake! On our last day of camping we ventured out in the town. It has a hotel, two stores, two churches, a nursing station, an ice rink, two schools,... but no paved road or runway! So a much larger and more luxurious place than our little village, but I woul not trade living in Whale Cove with Baker Lake.

Leaving our mark on the land, our Inukshuk. Last day!

Our tents with lanterns glowing inside