Cavness Vacation Packages

Fort Macleod is a vibrant community of 3,000, located within easy sight of the Canadian Rockies. This town is a magnet for those who are seeking a relaxed rural life style, proximity to the Rocky Mountains, a strong sense of community, access to high speed internet and a short drive to Western Canada’s corporate capital, Calgary. And of course, it’s only an hour’s drive to the scenic wonders of the Rocky Mountains!

The town boasts the best weather of the Prairie Provinces, including the highest number of sunlight hours in Canada. The Chinook conditions provide mild winters and cooling breezes in the summer.

Few places can transport visitors back in time like Fort Macleod. It’s not difficult to see why while strolling through downtown, with attractions like the Empress, Alberta’s oldest operating theatre and the Fort Museum, a former outpost of the NWMP, forerunners of the modern day Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Fort Macleod provides access to the famous Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. Golfers can also play the oldest golf course in Western Canada, situated amidst a landscape of foothills and grasslands.

From a distance, Fort Macleod looks like any other town. It is at a crossroads that once hosted Indian encampments, wagon trails and buffalo grazing grounds, in view of the Porcupine Hills that front the ancient and majestic Rocky Mountains. Its location, 102 miles south of Calgary and 32 miles west of Lethbridge, makes Fort Macleod an easily reached oasis from the urban bustle of the cities.

The last frontier in the west is home to Alberta’s only Provincial Historic Area. As you get closer, there is a definite feeling of being in two very different eras. Here, past and present co-exist. The place, known 150 years ago as Blackfoot Crossing, became a North West Mounted Police barracks and trading post in 1874. The town gradually took shape alongside the Oldman River, named for the “Grandfather” of Blackfoot mythology and within easy view of the majestic Rocky Mountains.

Fort Macleod’s historic area draws you into the past to a time when the North West Mounted Police, Blackfoot Indians and pioneer settlers were the only inhabitants. Main Street is dotted with gift shops, antique stores, motels and restaurants. Right in the middle of the Historic Block is the “Jewel of the West”, the Empress theatre, which is the oldest continually-operating theatre in Western Canada.

Continue your downtown stroll over to the Fort Museum of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP), a replica of the original fort where historical re-enactments are the order of the day. You’ll also find intriguing exhibits showcasing North West Mounted Police and Blackfoot Indian history. From July 1st to the Labour Day Weekend you can enjoy the Fort’s own NWMP Musical Ride four times daily, 10:00 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 3:30 pm, weather permitting.

From the Fort, you can wander down to the Oldman River, the river that is always changing. A Wilderness Park on the other side of the bridge is a nature preserve, filled with wildlife and native plants. Or take “A Walking Tour of Fort Macleod” and learn about the early life and history of the town. Tour guides and locals can provide those extra tidbits that add flavour to history. You might ask about the bullet holes in the giant art nouveau mirror over the bar in the Silver Grill or about Eddy, the ghost of the Empress Theatre.

Located 18 km north and west of Fort Macleod, at a place where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains meet the great plains, is one of the world’s oldest, largest and best preserved buffalo jump’s known to exist, Head-Smashed-In. The site has been used continuously by aboriginal peoples of the plains for more than 5,500 years.

Head-Smashed-In is known around the world as a remarkable testimony of prehistoric life. The Buffalo Jump bears witness to a custom practiced by native people of the North American plains for over 5,500 years. Thanks to their excellent understanding of topography and of bison behavior, the Blackfoot tribe killed bison by chasing them over a precipice and subsequently carving up the carcasses in the camp below. In 1981, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the jump as a World Heritage Site placing it among other world attractions such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and the Galapagos Islands.

The Blackfoot, fiercely independent and very successful warriors, controlled a vast region stretching from the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta to Yellowstone River of Montana and from the Rocky Mountains to the Cypress Hills on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. It was not until the coming of the North West Mounted Police in 1874, over 130 years ago, that Euro-Canadian settlement in the region began. Indeed, until the near extinction of the buffalo in 1881, the Blackfoot pursued their traditional lifeways. Only with the loss of their food supply were they obliged to adapt to the new era.

A short drive southwest of Fort Macleod is Waterton National Park, with a reputation as one of the most stunningly beautiful parks in North America. On the way is the town of Cardston with its monolithic Mormon Tabernacle, the largest outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. And straight west of Fort Macleod is the highway through the Crowsnest Pass that accesses the Kootenay Region of southeastern British Columbia.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Canada Vacation.

So now it’s assumed that you’ve paid for the necessary evils of European travel: transport passes, visa fees, travel insurance, gear, accommodations and plane tickets. However, even if you’ve already set aside funds for these, it’s really the little things that you really have to watch out for when you’re out having fun. Small amounts can easily add up and drain a large portion of your daily budget if you’re not careful. Museum passes, a newspaper, a small sketch from a roadside artist, a couple of beers and emergency roll of films, checking your email, doing laundry – these can add some $20 to $50 on top of what you originally set aside for the day! Before you call off that Europe trip however, there’s good news. There are many ways to spend less money in Europe and still get really good deals anyway.

Try to buy food in open air markets and supermarkets rather than in bistros and restaurants. Most hostels and rooms are equipped with cooking appliances, so you can cook your own breakfast or dinner. This works out even cheaper if you’re traveling with a group because expenses can be slashed into 3 or four. If you don’t like to cook, try to eat at the cafeterias and at places where there are a lot of locals. Stay away from tourist-oriented restaurants and caf

Travel preparation is often conducted as a last minute thought by many flying away for their holidays. All too often we hear stories of people who have forgotten to take their passport to the airport and end up missing their flight.

Preparation need not be a tedious task every time you take a holiday, if you come up with a plan that can be followed every time you go on a trip. If you are not careful though, this list can extend half way down your drive. In reality you only need certain essential items to make sure your trip goes ahead and a few precautions while you are away.

Lets look at the essential. Passport, money, flight ticket, accommodation booking reference and any medication you may be taking. Those few items will ensure that you are able to actually go on your trip.

Precautions you may want to consider are related to the “what if” scenarios. Here are a few to consider. Losing your passport, credit cards, money or drivers license can turn the best holiday into a nightmare. Some one off preparations can save you a potential big headache. Make a separate note of your credit cards, 24-hour telephone cancellation number, your passport number, travellers’ cheque numbers and driving license number.

Now give these details to a trusted family member or friend for safe keeping while you are away. It is much easier to get replacements if you actually know your document numbers. Now if your were to experience an unfortunate event while away, all you would need to do is give your relative or friend a call (I am guessing you know their number right) and you have access to all your details. Which would not be the case if you had them stolen from you.

So making sure you have your essentials before leaving for the airport and noting a few numbers down before you go away can take a lot of the “must remember and what if stress” away from you.

Creating a small list covering the points discussed is like having your comfort cushion with you at all times. You will have already prepared for the most common types of problems faced by some travellers.

About The Author.

Stephen Thomas is a website business developer with many years experience of the online travel market. The latest development project was the “Airport Parking Guide” ( http://www.airport-parking-guide.co.uk), where customers can access a resource area that has free travel planning software and airport guides available for download.

I once was asked by a tourist here in my adopted central Mexican town, Guanajuato, if it was true the culinary delights here were nothing to write home about. I wanted to slap him silly but resisted the urge. Instead, I regaled him with the many wonderfully prepared regional foods as well as the places where he could get his meals prepared by world-class professional cooks.

And, it is true. We really have some classy cooks in this little mountain town who were trained professionally all over the world.

Sometimes I wonder just what tourists think Mexico and Mexicans are really like. Are Mexicans nothing more than wild men who run around in tall, pointy sombreros with crisscrossed gun belts wrapped around their chests? Do they think the cooks run around back and butcher their chicken or beef orders for La Comida Fresca?

I am continually surprised at what I find as far as eateries go in this little town. Just the other day, we met friends for Sunday lunch. They had ferreted out a relatively new vegetarian restaurant. Now mind you, seating in some of these restaurants can be in the living room of someone’s home, so you shouldn’t always expect top-notch d

Manitoba is in Central Canada, the most eastern of the three prairie provinces. It shares the US border with Minnesota and North Dakota in the south and stretches north to the Port of Churchill on the Hudson Bay and beyond. It has wheat fields, oil and gas wells, commercial fresh water fishing, mining and a forest industry. It also has a lot to offers tourists.

Here are ten suggestions that a visitor might want to consider in Manitoba, some in the colder months and some in the warmer parts of the year.

You might consider making Winnipeg the hub of your stay in Manitoba. The provincial capital, it’s a multicultural city proudly reflected in its festivals and offers art, music and food. Restaurants serve everything from Ukrainian perogies to a blending of regional and Californian cuisine. Performing arts offer an array of productions throughout the year in theatre, music, opera and dance. The Winnipeg Art Gallery has the largest collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world. And of course shopping malls, casinos, museums and historic sites beckon. Families will love The Forks, the Children’s Museum, Fort Whyte Centre and the Assiniboine Park Zoo, where wild animals delight the children, along with a statue of a very famous bear named after Winnipeg — Winnie-the-Pooh.

A two-and-a-half hour flight north of Winnipeg, Churchill Manitoba is known around the world as polar bear central. For a safe adventure, head out over the tundra in specially designed vehicles for safely viewing the bears. Photographers and wildlife enthusiasts so inclined can even eat, sleep and rise right out on the capes, in the midst of the glorious bears, as hundreds of them roam the coastline every October and November awaiting the freeze of the Hudson Bay.

In summer, polar bear central turns into the beluga belt, as thousands of the 900-pound whales come to feed in the waters near Churchill on the Hudson Bay. You can actually paddle or snorkel among these majestic creatures and watch them watching you! You can also enjoy watching and listening to these highly vocal whales from a 32-passenger boat.

Riding Mountain National Park is edged by a high, rugged escarpment and is an island of wilderness over the agricultural landscape. Wildlife thrives in the vast mix of forests, meadows and broad valleys, crisscrossed with more than 300 kilometres (180 miles) of trails, maintained superbly year-round. This is the time and place to keep a camera ready for sightings of moose, elk, beaver, black bear, fox and if you’re very lucky, lynx or wolf.

Manitoba’s plentiful waters yield more than 10,000 trophy-sized fish very year. The north is peppered with fly-in lodges and many more are road-accessible. Arctic grayling, brook trout, lake trout, northern pike and walleye thrive here. Some of the best giant channel cat fishing in the world can be found in Winnipeg’s Red River. The fly fishing is best in Manitoba’s western reaches and you might need a guide to find the best spots.

Seeing the northern lights in Manitoba has been called one of the top 25 adventures of a lifetime. January to March in Churchill have some of the best shows when nature sends her lasers to make shifting curtains of spectacular northern lights. A facility with see-through domes built into the roof makes light viewing a warm and comfortable experience for visitors unaccustomed to Churchill winters.

Manitoba is diverse, so are the parks. Sand dunes roll at Spruce Woods Provincial Park, ancient granite graces much of the Whiteshell and waterfalls amaze near Paint Lake Provincial Park. Baldy Mountain, Manitoba’s highest point, is at Duck Mountain Provincial Park, where glaciers receded some 10,000 years ago. Hikers and bikers are attracted to the extensive trail networks through the broad valleys and lush Canadian Shield forests. Bike along one of the biggest lakes in the world – Lake Winnipeg – at Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park or paddle for days in Grass River Provincial Park.

If you want to experience total relaxation, consider camping or renting a cottage on some of the biggest and best lakes in the world. Soak up the summer heat on the water’s edge and dive in when you can’t stand it any more. Eat well, then later, float soundlessly in a streak of moonlight and gaze at an endless canopy of stars.

Manitoba attracts two-thirds of Canada’s more than 500 species of birds and is considered a birder’s paradise. In spring, the birds fly north in amazing flocks in the hundreds of thousands over the lakes, marshes and forests. A North American birding hotspot, Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre, won the coveted 2002 British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow award for Best Environmental Experience. Delta Marsh also offers great viewing, as does Riding Mountain National Park, home to more than 260 bird species, including great grey owl and Connecticut warbler. Birders fly to Churchill for stellar sub-arctic birding.

And finally, stay at a bed-and-breakfast or on a country vacation farm during one of the hundreds of small-town fall suppers. This is a great opportunity to meet with the local Manitobans who will be sure to make you welcome.

This has been just a sampling that is representative of what Manitoba has to offer its visitors. Whether in the winter or in the summer, Manitoba will provide you with an unforgettable holiday.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Canada Vacation