For
the Grizzly Bears, it is necessary to travel over to Vancouver Island, and then
use one of the tour companies to be transported back to the BC mainland for the
day where the bears can be found (there are generally only Black Bears on the
island, although 5 Grizzlies had been reported recently). One of the best known
viewpoints is at Knights Inlet. To get here, there is either a float plane and
overnight stay (which is very expensive), or day tours by boat using Riptide Tours.
Both are from Telegraph Cove, which is quite a trek up the eastern roads of the
island from the ferry. We decided to go for the next option, which was to stay
at Campbell River, and use one of the tour companies which take you to Bute
Inlet, which is the next one down on the mainland from Knight's Inlet. This is
to be recommended, since it not only is more or less a guaranteed spot for
bears in September, but is also cheaper, a shorter drive from the ferry, and a
better base for whale watching. The
Rockies section of the trip took some decisions, from where to visit, to how
many nights in one particular place. Final plan was to drive to Banff, and use
this as a single base for the remainder of the holiday. Birds were in low
numbers here, but the main impact of the National Parks was awe inspiring (a pass
is required for each day spent at any of the Canadian National Parks). Timing
and weather Since
the trip was based around the Grizzlies, the timing had to coincide with their
peak activity. The salmon usually start their upstream runs towards the end of
August (although it has been slightly later the last couple of years), and end
mid October. So the middle of September seemed to be the optimum time. The tour
company who we used and could thoroughly recommend is Aboriginal Journeys (www.aboriginaljourneys.com), who
include a free return trip if no bears are seen on the paid for trip (during
September). Most
of the Summer visiting birds have left by this time, and only a scattering of
Winter visitors have arrived, but it is also a good time for Killer Whales,
since the resident population are supplemented by the more carnivorous
transients. It is worth booking a trip with an enclosed boat for this due to
the high possibility of rain (Discovery Marine Safaris at www.adventurewhalewatching.com provide this - I would not recommend Campbell River Whale Watching, since they
not only use Zodiacs which are open to the elements, but also do not value
customers enough by cancelling long term bookings, such as ours, for more
lucrative short term group bookings). We did have rain and cold weather during
our whale watching tour, although overall the sun and temperatures were much
higher than the temperate ones expected for the time of year. Getting
around With
the demise of Zoom airways, Canadian Affair (www.canadianaffair.com) is about the
only budget airline left flying to Canada. They use Thomas Cook as one of the
main providers of planes, and offer an excellent, good value service to some of
the prime locations in Canada, including Vancouver. It would seem that the
pricing is done in the old fashioned way - cheaper flights can be had the
nearer to the date of departure you book). British
Columbia (and the adjacent part of Alberta which we visited) is huge, leaving
long driving times between stops). We picked up a car in Vancouver, and drove
to Campbell River on Vancouver Island via the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo BC ferry
(www.bcferries.com). This is a slightly
shorter crossing than that from Tsawassan to Nanaimo. We travelled on a Monday
and Friday, when it is worth booking the journey ahead of time, since not all
were guaranteed a place, and those with bookings go to the front of the queue. Petrol
in Canada is still a lot cheaper in the UK (about half the cost), but the
distances driven put up the total eventual cost (apart from the fact that we
had a free upgrade to a Ford Mustang GT - heavy on the gas, but a total treat).
It is also worth planning ahead for petrol stations, particularly in the
Rockies, where there can be some distance between fuel stops. Accommodation
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