Tag: #wildlife

Yoho National Park, the gorgeous village of Field 

On By mubeenazamIn October 2015, UncategorizedLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Friday 2nd October)

I had no plan to stay here, it just happened that way.  Somethings are just meant to be, I mean this place was so beautiful, idyllic and just had so much charm, it has history too, as it was established in the 1880’s.  I simply crossed over to see what the village of Field was like, fell in love with its sheer beauty and landscape.  I drove around a little (there are fewer than 200 people who live here) and a few places were already booked and then I came across this amazing building and got some very nice accommodation for a reasonable price.

After I settled in, I decided to go for a short walk before sunset, as I was leaving the accommodation, I saw what looked like Elk or Deer, but I was quite far, so it was not clear.  I ran back into the accommodation as I did not have my camera.  I got into the car to follow, and after about 10 minutes I found them.   They were really beautiful, serene, glorious in their movement, such beautiful animals that I do not believe should ever be harmed.

The three photos that follow the one of inside the room I was staying (which I had to myself for the night) show the view I had from two of the bedroom windows, …if only I had this incredible view every day it would be so refreshing and energising.

The village is utterly gorgeous, it is like those idyllic towns you see pictured on postcards.  The building are so distinct, colourful and inviting.  I had a wonderful breakfast in a local cafe, excellent service and a very tasty breakfast that set me up for the morning exploration that was to unfold.

Throughout my road trip, I had seen numerous fire danger signs, as you may have read in my earlier blogs of this road trip, the danger level was usually low, moving to moderate.  However, the morning I left the town of Field, the danger level moved to…(see below).

http://www.field.ca/

http://banffandbeyond.com/the-tiny-mountain-town-of-field-as-your-base-in-the-canadian-rockies/


  


  




  

  


  
  
  


  

Vancouver Island, Victoria – Prince of Whales expedition 

On By mubeenazamIn September 2015, UncategorizedLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Tuesday 29th September)

Whale watching wonders is one way of putting this truly incredible experience.  A fantastic trip that I can only be grateful for, grateful that I saw what I saw.  With tours like this, there are no guarantees, after all, it is nature we are talking about here, nature in their own environment, their own back yard if you will.  As a result, several tour companies do offer a certain amount of discount if you do not see any whales during the tour, others offer another tour on the same or another day.

In the photos below, you can see three images where there is a huge group of birds, this was very exciting, as it was usually a good sign that there are whales nearby, we did wait a while but then moved on as the whales had clearly moved on.

Seeing the Killer Whales (Orcas) was breathtaking, there was a large group all moving, incredibly swiftly, in one direction away from Victoria.  You may not be able to appreciate, but they were moving very fast, we exercised caution and respect and kept our distance so that we did not disturb them, there was a risk that we would annoy them and in turn, lose the privilege of seeing such beauties in the water.  The captain told us that these particular whales he recognised and had not seen this group for at least two years, it was indeed a privilege.

We then moved on and passed by some land where there were hundreds of Sea Lions, some of them were massive, they were very noisy, there was lots of fighting going on as they wrestled for their own piece of land, and OMG, it absolutely stank, with respect to the Sea Lions, the smell for me was repugnant, not for me I’m afraid.

The icing on the cake, the gem of the tour, the part of the tour that was utterly memorable was seeing the Humpback whale, a totally amazing highlight that we were blessed with.  We saw one early on, very briefly, but it disappeared, we did wait for it to resurface, but there was no sign so we moved on as we were told that there was some exciting activity happening amongst the Killer Whales.  To come across this again was utterly fantastic.   To capture what I did was so beautiful, so amazing, they are truly, truly magnificent!  After my river and jeep safari in Blue River, I did not think my trip could get any better,  this was just a fortunate, timely blessing.

The boat ride back was really nice as I got to see parts of Victoria from the water.  The Norwegian Sun cruiser was a treat, the water taxi was really cool, a great view of the government buildings too and the fancy boats, well, they were not mine let’s put it that way.  At the end of the trip I felt like a prince of whales!  A staggering morning and early afternoon…exploring downtown Victoria coming up.

http://princeofwhales.com/

http://www.bcwhalewatchingtours.com/


  

  


  


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British Colombia – River and Jeep Safari…Bears!

On By mubeenazamIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Saturday 26th September)

I find it difficult to explain how I was feeling driving from Mount Robson to my first ever river and jeep safari where there was a very high chance of seeing bears.  My mind was totally preoccupied, I was nervous, excited, anxious and very focussed on getting to my destination as soon as I could.  Blue River is on Yellow Head Highway Five, halfway between Jasper and Kamloops, as well as halfway between Mt. Robson and Wells Grey Park.

An absolutely fascinating fact is that I was driving towards the only inland temperate rainforest on the planet!!  If time allowed, there was up to 12kms of bear territory to explore.  When turning off the main highway to enter the entrance, you follow a dirt track which crosses over a railway line where I just happened to be at the right time and place to witness a very loud train crossing, you then pass over a small bridge where only one car can pass at a time.  When I arrived at the main building, like a child in a sweet shop, I decided to upgrade my tour from just a river safari to include the jeep safari too after I was told that there was over a 90% chance of seeing bears.  For me this was worth it as it was highly unlikely I would return to this place for a long time, and even if I did, there would be no guarantee of experiencing this with such beautiful weather and with the likelihood so high of seeing bears.

It turned out to be one of the greatest experiences of my life, without a doubt!  What I saw was much more than I expected…

We saw a large black male following a trail along the coast, popping in and out of the water as it sniffed its way along the trail.  It was quite a formidable sight to be honest.  It was very bothered by us as it was focussed on the trail it had found, not sure where it lead.

We then carried on our tour to a couple of different parts of the river but with no luck.  We then journeyed to another part of the river where we approached a large black female with three cubs (unfortunately I did not capture a photo of all three cubs together as one of them quickly climbed up a tree behind its mother, but in one of the photos, you can see the cub in the tree).  Our guide told us that this sight was quite rare.  The cubs were about nine months old and it was quite common that at least one of them would have died by now or the mother would have at least abandoned one of them.  It shows the resilience, love and care of an amazing mother.

Once the river safari was over, there was a short break before I commenced on the jeep safari.   Other than the river, there was a couple and one other guide.  I was given a choice as to where I would like to sit and I chose to stand at the back of the jeep and have a strap tied behind my back which was attached to the jeep railings. The jeep safari blessed me with the opportunity to see a young brown male, who at one point showed who was boss by standing high on its back legs, a beautiful sight. It seemed he could sense something we could not, it was going up and down the hill behind it, and then at one point crossed the road right behind me and very close to me!

Soon after, it became clear what was bothering the young brown male.  A huge black male came around the corner, totally and utterly awesome and exhilarating!!! A truly fantastic few hours of my life which I will cherish forever and not forget!

http://riversafari.com/

http://www.blueriverbc.ca/planning-your-trip/about-blue-river


  


  


  




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Jasper National Park: Drive to Maligne Lake…wow!

On By mubeenazamIn Uncategorized3 Comments

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Friday 25th September)

Never expected to see so many Elks, I suppose the timing was right and I was in the right place, a really good continuation of the day.  I got quite close too which made it more interesting, I have to say the heart was beating a bit.  When I was visiting the Athabasca Glacier, I saw a video of Elks charging at cars and causing some serious damage, I was wise to keep sensible distance and I was always ready to run just in case!

The drive was truly awesome, I had no idea what lay ahead of me and as I said before, the weather really made it for me.  The mountain drive kept me alert, and the view was just spectacular.  The road, the autumnal trees and some of the rocks on the edge of the roads were very nice.  As you can see from these photos, the most fantastic part of this drive was the forest that had been totally obliterated as a result of a devastating forest fire.  I can tell you that this experience was like no other I have had, the smell from the destroyed trees was amazing, like a huge BBQ that has just been put out during camping.  I was left with black marks on my hands and clothes as I brushed through the trees into the forest, it was actually quite sad, I don’t know if you can tell through the photos, but the forest was huge, it just left me imagining what the forest must have gone through as the fire relentlessly ripped through each square km of this land…From all the beauty I saw throughout my trip, there was something very, very special about this devastated forest, the smell, the colours, the story…wow!