KINNGAIT/CAPE DORSET - A Cape Dorset tour company that offers week-long visits ancient Inuit camps is celebrating 20 years of business.

Huit Huit Tours, owned by husband and wife team Timmun and Kristiina Alariaq, began in 1988 as a side project for the couple but is now a full-fledged tour company, with four guest houses and a book chronicling their work set for publication this fall.

"It's a nice thing to do for a living. We go out and do the things we like to and we take people along," said Kristiina, who met Timmun shortly after moving to Cape Dorset from northern Ontario, where she worked as an adult educator on a First Nations reserve.

Timmun has lived in the Cape Dorset area his entire life. His knowledge of the land made him a perfect match for Kristiina, who grew up with a fascination for aboriginal culture.

"I've learned much of my knowledge of the land from going out with him," Kristiina said of Timmun. "He grew up with dog teams as part of his life. Even before the government here in the south Baffin started to promote dog teams for polar bear hunts, he had already started his own team."

Together, along with tour guide including their son Jamesie, the Alariaqs take people from all over the world to various ancient Inuit camps by motorized boat and kayak, or by dogsled, depending on the season.

"The tours are developed around the places that we have gone to and explored through our living on the land," said Kristiina. "We've gone to certain places that Inuit have gone to for many generations. Out of those places, we've also taken an interest in former sites, in terms of what's left behind."

Along the way, the Alariaqs show their guests relics that provide a window into the former Inuit way of life.

"For instance, there's these puppy dens that Inuit used to build for their dogs out of rocks. They have prickly saxifrage (a purple-flowered, sometimes cushy Arctic plant) as the bedding in the den. There's one right by our cabin. Our dog sleeps in it during the summer for polar bear protection."

Half of the Alariaqs' clientele come from Canadian cities like Vancouver and Toronto, while the rest travel from the United States and parts of Europe like Germany and Switzerland.

"These are people who like to be out in the wild," said Kristiina. "They're usually well-educated, often university professors, doctors, veterinarians. We also get younger people occasionally who just want to be adventuresome. But the average age that we get is in the 50s."

A week-long trip, which includes a stay in one of the Alariaqs' four guest homes, comes to $2,700, plus airfare. The latest of those homes, built a year and a half ago, boasts 16 rooms.

Despite the three other guest houses, "we still needed room, so we built the suites," said Kristiina.

Mary Wallace, a Canadian author whose books include 2004's The Inuksuk Book, took a tour with the Alariaqs two summers ago. She has documented her experience in a new book, titled Inuksuk Journey, which is set for release this fall from Maple Tree Press.

"It was one of the most educational, enthralling, exciting, fulfilling adventures that I ever had," said Wallace of her trip.

"I saw all kinds of Arctic wildlife, including a bowhead whale. There were polar bears near our campsite, which meant we had to go everywhere with loaded guns - to scare them off, not to shoot them."

Wallace pitched in at every step.

"I fished for our food. I hunted caribou. We had to track miles inland and then we all had to share carrying parts of the caribou back," she said.

"It showed me how incredibly able to adapt to the environment we as humans are."