They start out as such adorable downy fluff balls, it’s easy to forget that polar bears quickly grow into unstoppable killing machines their ecosystem’s apex predators. So if you are looking to observe these deadly beauties in their natural environment without having to leave the comfort of your hotel room, your best option is clearly this 32-room mobile lodge.
Polar bears are typically solitary creatures but every spring, they gather around the mouth of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba as they await the formation of ice bridges that will take them to their northern hunting grounds. But Hudson Bay has a pretty big mouth, so to get visitors as close to the bears as possible without putting them in danger, Natural Habitat Adventures offers guests 32 rooms in the unique, wheeled Tundra Lodge. Similar to a train car, each room in the lodge offers bunk beds and guests share one of six shared toilets and four shower stalls. Visitors can also congregate in the communal lounge area or dining car, all of which have sliding windows — you know, so you can stick your head out there for a better look of the inside of a polar bear’s mouth.
And if you weren’t close enough to the bears aboard the lodge’s raised chassis, the tour also offers rover expeditions led by trained guides. No, you don’t get to drive. But you’d better be ready to pay: a six-day, all-inclusive trip starts at $US6000 a head and goes up from there. Still, given how endangered the species is, you might not have many more chances to see one with your own eyes outside a zoo. [Natural Habitat Adventures via Gear Junkie]