Photo copyright Julie Yamguchi

Co-led by naturalists, biologists & photographer trip leaders, our unique Arctic wildlife camps are designed to offer quality fishing, photographic and wildlife-viewing opportunities while encountering animals in their natural habitat in the true wilderness.  Aircraft support and first-rate mobile tent camps allow flexibility to keep track of where the animals are!

Our main basecamp is located on a beautiful sand beach at the headwaters of the Thelon River: the gateway to the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary - the largest and most remote wildlife refuge in Canada.  Getting here required a two hour /250 airmile charter flight north from the Saskatchewan boundary: the cost of which is included in our packages. 

To learn more about how to get to our remote camp - click here

Most of our 'Dance with the Wildlife' expeditions are operated from this location - here we offer facilities that make this a first-rate tent camp to be sure!  Healthy and abundant meals are served in our spacious dining room of our new lodge Quonset building that overlooks the primary wildlife crossing and beach.  

We are a small group facility: we usually only accommodate 12 on most wildlife and fishing trips, and up to 16 for special functions.

The new building shell went up in August 2004, and the floor laid in 2005 with high-speed satellite internet installed shortly after; we opened our new lodge on the upper Thelon in August 2006. The lodge hosts a commercial kitchen; a dining room capable of seating 16-20 people comfortably; and a large open living / seating room area. For photographers, there is also a digital download station with a computer hooked up to high-speed satellite internet; a battery charging station with multiple outlets; and a rich library of historical and natural history material relevant to the area. Next season we hope to take it the next step that will include installing a combination solar & wind power system; a washroom with propane-fired toilet; and a confectionary store. We will eventually be set up for presentations & slide shows with a overhead LCD projector & sound system for PowerPoint.  It is an ideal facility and location for organizations looking for a place to hold mid-summer retreats or small-group meetings in the true wilderness.

Many times in the past, caribou or musk-oxen are visible from the dining room while you sit and eat - and attending photographers are recommended to keep their tripods sitting close by to be ready all the time for photo opportunities!

Adjacent to the dining room is the' living room & library' - a comfortable relaxing area for waiting out the weather, gathering with fellow clients, or for sitting and reading from our rich northern library on comfortable chairs or couches.   This spacious room also has high-speed satellite internet access, a camera battery-charging station, and video/ PowerPoint viewing capabilities.

Also at the main camp is a central heated shower house containing shower, dual sinks all with hot/cold running water & clothes drying racks.  Due the permafrost (permanently frozen ground) and for obvious minimum-impact reasons, toilets are of the outdoor latrine (outhouse) variety.  We are planning to install our first propane-fired toilet by late summer 2007. 

Sleeping quarters are in versatile Hansen Weatherport insulated vinyl Quonset huts on floor platforms complete with beds, rugs, catalytic heaters, and gas lighting. These huts can weather and keep you warm in even the most extreme Arctic storms!  The amazing thing about them is that they can be taken down and re-set up in just a few hours - so the Quonsets can be moved to different areas for animal exposure should the situation arise.

The sleeping quonsets along the waterfront - photo copyright Don Nord

Each 14' x 16' Quonset is separated with a divider, creating two 8' x 12' rooms. Each room has its own outside entrance, and contains two beds with thick foamie mattresses, rug, nightstand, propane catalytic heater and a gas lamp. There is room by each bed to hang clothing on hangers from the framework .

Often we keep a float-equipped aircraft based part time at the camp. The plane is used for wildlife-reconnaissance (as needed), and for emergency use should a problem ever arise on the field.  Even from this remote location we are only one hour from medical facilities.  Communications with the outside world is kept by satellite telephones -several of which are kept at the camp the outposts & spike camps; in the boats on longer lake trips, and in the aircraft.  As of 2006, we also offer high-speed satellite internet!

Several motor boats, canoes and rafts are at camp, and also placed on the field in strategic locations for fishing, to enhance wildlife stalks - and provide access to other wildlife areas. New to our fleet is the pontoon boat - the 'Boo Barge'.  This new large powered boat provides a very stable moving platform for photographers cruising the lakeshore for musk-ox and caribou.  It is also an excellent platform for casting and fly-fishing!

A variety of other quality expedition equipment is kept on site including zodiac boats for fly-outs, North Face expedition tents, canoes, touring kayaks, and cooking kits /equipment for 'spike camp' use. We also offer a small confectionary store in the main lodge for purchasing batteries, insect repellent, headnets & bug jackets, candy, snacks, and refreshments.