EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Some 260km west of Rankin Inlet at the mouth of the Thelon River lies Qamanit'uaq (formerly Baker Lake), population 1453, the Arctic's only inland Inuit community ( Qamanit'uaq means "far inland" or "huge widening of a river"), which marks both Canada's geographic centre - it has long been a meeting place for members of different Inuit groups - and provides a point of access into the tundra that characterizes the vastness of the region. This is a subtle landscape that's worth more than its "Barrenland" label suggests, particularly in summer, when the thaw brings to life thousands of tiny streams and lakes, and some three hundred species of wild flowers amidst the lichens and grasses that provide fodder for huge herds of musk ox and caribou. Millions of wildfowl can also be seen, and the huge skies and flat horizons are also one of the best places in Canada to see the aurora borealis . Also be sure to take in the Traditional Inuit Camp , a demonstration by Inuit families of the activities, such as hunting, trapping and weaving, that might have taken place in a Caribou Inuit camp.

For accommodation there's the Iglu Hotel (tel 793-2801; $125-175 per person) and the Baker Lake Lodge (tel 793-2965; $100-125 per person), a group of cabins sleeping a total of twenty. There's also a small community campsite for campers. The summer-only Akumalik visitors centre (tel 793-2456) occupies a reconstructed 1936 Hudson's Bay Company post in the original building, successor to the 1916 post that originally brought about the settlement's development. There is also an Inuit Heritage Centre (July-Aug Mon-Fri 9am-noon & 1-5pm; tel 867/793-2598). Calm Air has daily flights here from Rankin Inlet.