Tag Archives Tales from the Road — page 11

Our drive through the gently undulating terrain of forest, wetlands and lakes changes suddenly and dramatically as we approach the eastern edge of Riding Mountain National Park. A window opens in the thick forest and we gaze down over the patchwork of croplands some 400 metres below. Then the winding road sharply descends the Manitoba […] Read more

It’s as if we’ve wandered into a medieval monastery. We gaze over a collection of rare, ancient books, some dating to the 13th century, everything from original treatises of philosophers and saints to handwritten decrees by popes and kings. Yet we haven’t travelled far to discover this age-old treasure, just a short drive south of […] Read more

We watch from the side of the road as a female wolf gorges herself on an elk that her pack killed the previous night. When she leaves, she is so full of meat that her distended belly drags, making it an effort to walk. The wolf is likely taking food back to the pups at […] Read more

Standing on the valley rim, we peer into a rugged coulee of badland formations. Between the eroded slopes, native prairie covers the undulating treeless landscape where wildflower blossoms vie for space among the needle-and-thread grass, sagebrush and junipers. What really grabs our attention is the sea of scattered curling rock-shaped boulders, most a dazzling reddish-orange. […] Read more

The east bank of the William River is clothed in dark green jack pine forest typical of the north. But the west side seems like a totally different world, with massive banks of golden sand rising 30 metres straight out of the water. We pull our canoe into shore and struggle up the steep slopes […] Read more

When it comes to scenic drives on the Prairies, the Eastend area in southwestern Saskatchewan is at the top of our list. While dinosaurs are the town’s main claim to fame, with the T. Rex Discovery Centre telling the story of many important fossil finds, what we notice first is Eastend’s picturesque setting, nestled in […] Read more

Clouds of snow swirl around us like a blizzard as the five helicopters rev up their engines. We lift off into the clear sky, rising above the red cliffs of Quebec’s Magdalen Islands before heading out to sea. We soon lose sight of land as we fly above the icy Gulf of St. Lawrence. Below […] Read more

Sprawling across southwestern Africa, Namibia has only two million people and one of the world’s lowest population densities. Most Namibians live in the north, but we’re travelling in the south where communities are even fewer and farther between. On some roads, we drive more than an hour without meeting another car. Much of the south […] Read more

We’re overwhelmed with a riot of sights, smells and sounds. The market at Chichicastenango is considered the most colourful in the Americas, attracting buyers and sellers from around Guatemala, trading in everything from food and livestock to finely woven textiles and cheap tourist knick-knacks. On Sunday, commercialism in this mountain town melds with religion. The […] Read more