"My home for 5 months . . Canadian Arctic" Arctic by JohnniOmani

The Arctic is a destination for the intrepid and it is a place that most people don’t visit. It is very difficult to get to and if you manage to get there then you have to pay a fortune for a hotel and food. The flight from mainland Canada is roughly $900 to $1200 and a basic hotel cost around $150while a two litre of orange juice cost $11.
I was fortunate that my university paid for everything as part of my internship so my housing, food and clothing was free. I was very lucky because I lived in a very small community for 5 months and I experienced the Arctic not as a traveller but as member of a community. The Inuit even gave me an Inuktitut name and they only give you a name as a sign of respect and affection. They called me Amarujuk which means "Big Wolf" because of my beard and hair at the time, funny! The views in the Arctic are incredible and have to be seen to be believed. I often dream of the Arctic because I have soo many great memories. One of my fondest memories of the Arctic (other than land trips) was when I used to go to the edge of the frozen Hudson Bay at night. I would spend an hour or so sitting on a huge snow bank away from town and I used to relax and stare at the Northern Lights(I managed to see Red Northern Lights which are extremely rare). I loved the silence there were no noises other than the sound of the sled dogs off in the distance. Northern lights, cariboo hunts, tundra, beautiful wildlife, great people and amazing traditions make the Arctic a place that is like no other on the Planet.I will never forget this amazing place and going there was one of the best decisions of my life. If you have the time and money I highly suggest you try and get there and both the summer and the winter are equally spectacular.

Arctic Wolves at night

The Arctic is home to arguably the most beautiful scenery and wildlife on Earth. I loved the Arctics scenery because it was so drastically different than any place I have ever seen before. My two favorite moments in the Arctic involved land trips. My first land trip was in the biting minus 65 degree winter. I had the opportunity to go out onto the land and go on a dogsled across the tundra. I was the only person on the sled other than the local Inuk driver and it was out of this world. I felt I was on a different planet and zooming across the tundra with the dogs barking and wind biting my face left me feeling like I was an ancient explorer. I went back to town after some time on the tundra, frozen and with huge snow chunks in my beard! It was a trip of a lifetime.
My favorite memory (maybe of any place ever) was my landtrip with the local Inuk men. We spent 3 full days out on the land following the local cariboo herds. We spent the time sleeping in igloos, cariboo hunting, ice fishing for Arctic char and talking about the past and local traditions. They told me all kinds of wonderful traditional legends and stories. I even managed to eat raw cariboo and use traditional tools to dig a 7 ft hole in the ice to catch fish. I also helped the men build our igloo. Overall, going to the Arctic was the best decision of my life thus far and I recommend it to anyone seeking adventure and culture.

• Pros:Local people, Views, Fishing and Hunting
• Cons:Expensive
• In a nutshell:Experience of a Lifetime!