ADVENTURE TRAVEL
On the photo hunt for Manitoba’s “big five” RIDING MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK AND CHURCHILL ARE WILDLIFE HAVENS By Katharine Fletcher
My heart was racing, with white knuckles gripping my paddle. About 100 white whales had encircled our group’s kayaks. They were diving, surfacing, exhaling big bursts of moisture-laden breath, sucking in air, then diving again. Watching this beluga ballet, it slowly dawned on me that there was no danger; they were curious. Suddenly one broke away, a white streak in the cobalt blue waters of the Churchill River estuary, heading straight at me. At the last minute it turned, twisted its head, and regarded me with its cheerful cetacean “smile.” I bent over, and for an unforgettable moment we gazed at one another. Then it dove beneath my kayak, giving it a playful bump before rejoining its pod. In a few minutes, they were gone. While the Frontiers North Adventures company cannot promise magical encounters on its “big five safari,” when Mother Nature rules, you never know what will happen. And that’s what was so rewarding about this eight-day August adventure. Frontiers North paired two of Manitoba’s vastly different habitats, giving participants a chance to see five of Manitoba’s most spectacular mam-
mals – moose, black bear, polar bear, bison and beluga whales. Guests first fly to Winnipeg to mingle, enjoy dinner, and spend the night. Next morning it’s off to Riding Mountain National Park, 268 kilometres west of “the Peg” for black bear, plains bison, and moose. On day four we flew to Churchill, home to polar bears and belugas. I loved this trip for its informed guiding and the opportunities to see wildlife in their eco-niches. Here’s what I found in both areas.
RIDING MOUNTAIN This national park is where fescue prairie grasslands, boreal forest and aspen parklands come together. Wolves, coyotes, fox, lynx, beaver, elk, deer and more join the big mammals the tour company hopes people see. Though we traveled in a shuttle bus looking for critters, there were many opportunities to hike. The first misty morning, with boots on the ground we photographed monarda, harebell, fireweed and yarrow wildflowers – along with ladybugs bejewelled with dewdrops. Back in the bus, down the road, a cluster of vehicles on the highway signalled a bull
moose. As luck would have it, we missed the spectacle of this one sparring with another male but it was a good sighting. As always, this seemingly ungainly animal mystified me. How can it possibly pass between tree trunks with a two-metre rack of antlers? While I pondered, as if to mock me it turned, effortlessly disappearing into the forest, antlers and all. With a nice adrenaline rush, we scanned for black bear as we approached Lake Audy plains bison enclosure, where Parks Canada manages 30 or so of them. You might think they’d be easy to spot in a “pen,” but no, they often elude visitors. But the gods smiled upon us and the herd wandered out of the aspen woods to mill about in front of our bus, so we could (had to!) stop, look, learn and take photos. Mums nursed calves, bulls warily eyed one another, and one mounted a female, giving us an unexpected up-close-and-personal view of mating. At the visitor centre, a Parks Canada interpreter told us about pre-European
Parks Canada's Lake Audy plains bison enclosure with its resident herd of bulls, cows and calves. Photo Katharine Fletcher.
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