Iqaluit? I'll have Nunavut

    "Visiting the Territory of Nunavut will make for one of the most incredible experiences of your life, but you’ll have to be properly prepared before you come and while you’re here."

     Sounds like going to Mars, eh?  But Nunavut, Canada, must be a magical place with snow, mountains, and an innocence born of its isolation and far north location. While tourism councils and travel agents are busy planning trips to the Bahamas and the Yucatan, I just want to find a way to get to Nunavut.  Go north, old man! 

Originally imported from Wikipedia, this photo was NOT from Nunavut. According to the Nunavut Tourism Department, it's probably Greenland. Learned a lesson here-- Wikipedia might be a good place to start, but don't accept its reports as gospel.

    Nunavut was carved out of the Northwest Territories in 1999, and is just a little smaller than Alaska and Texas combined. The population of the entire territory is 31,000 (less than York city),and the capital of  Iqaluit is about the size of Red Lion. Weather is chilly, and only in the summer months does the average temperature rise above freezing. The record high is 78 balmy degrees, the record low was -50. About 60 percent of the population is Inuit, or native. Iqaluit is a fairly new city, having begun in 1942 as an American Air Force base. Twenty years later, the U.S. moved out of what was then named Frobisher Bay. Only in 1987 was the city renamed Iqaluit, the original native name.

    “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

    I've been lucky enough to have seen all the Canadian provinces and territories except Nunavut. Unfortunately, it's one of those many places in the world I'll never see because of cost.  Just the round trip flight from BWI to Iqaluit  is $2345. There are no roads to Nunavut from anywhere in Canada, so driving is out. And once there, it's expensive.

     From the Great Canadian Travel Company, a four day trip runs about $2,000. For those with a well-padded bank account, the company will whisk you to the North Pole for eight days for about $50,000.

    But things are looking up.  From Nunavut Tourism-- "In partnership with the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, Nunavut Tourism is pleased to be hosting the territory's first major tourism conference, which will take place March 19 – 23, 2012 in Iqaluit."

     Maybe prices will come down?