. .


TRAVEL
1. Footloose in Vancouver
2.
From Baja to Barrow
3. Railway Adventures
4.
Alaska Cruises
5.
River Adventures
6.
Grizzly Encounters
7.
Adventure Isles

Adventures in
Travel Expo
Advance Planning
Adventure Markets
Adventure Roads
Adventure Rails
Alaska Cruises
Adventure Isles
Barge Travel
Canoe Journeys
Chilcotin Wild
Cruise Map
Discovery Coast
Haida Gwaii
Kayaks
Kilimanjaro
Klondike
Rafting
Rivers of Africa
Rivers of Canada
Rocky Mountains
Safari
Seaplane Travel
Starfish Award
Shipwrecks
Trekking
Wildlife
World of Cruises


25 Years in the Making

 

Founded in 1987, Adventure Canada was created to bring travellers to Canada's "blank spaces", those areas whose remoteness alone made them special. Over the last twenty-five years, along with our guests, we have discovered that there is so much that is extraordinary about the places we travel, from the landscape, wildlife and culture to the history, art and archeology that is unique to every destination. It is our belief that there is so much to see “beyond the binoculars” that drives us to delve deeper into our favourite places with every expedition and continually seek out new destinations. Over the last several years our "Environmental Discovery Voyages" have become increasingly popular, taking us to polar opposites in the Canadian Arctic and the Antarctic, Greenland and Iceland, exploring the Celtic Fringe of the British Isles, and unlocking the secrets of British Columbia's great coastal rainforests.

 

We travel by small expedition ship, the best suited mode of transportation for remote exploration. The number of passengers on our voyages run between 45 and 100, depending on the ship we choose. We believe that these small vessels are superior, as they not only allow us to gain access to places not accessible by larger vessels, but our fleet of Zodiac landing craft permit us to visit some of the most remote places imaginable - the key to expeditionary travel. It is our desire to bring to you a top-notch team of resource and expeditionary staff. We regularly travel with resource teams of 10 or more on a 100-passenger ship, meaning you get more time and personal interaction with the specialists. This also allows us to cover a wider range of subjects, which makes for a more complete understanding of the areas we travel through.

 

In addition to our voyages each year, we offer a series of specialized departures that focus on the art and culture or the natural history and photography of an area under our Art is Adventure and PhotoWild! programs. These programs are specifically crafted to allow time for in-depth exploration and discovery with the guides selected for each. We hope to see you in these "blank spaces" as we travel Canada and increasingly, the world, looking beyond the binoculars whenever we can.



LIVING RIGHT: BE MORE LIKE A POLAR BEAR
 
July 30, 2013  By Red Hunt
It’s not every day that a polar bear teaches you how to live a better life.
But Adventure Canada passengers enjoyed just such a day in the Canadian Arctic recently, as everyone aboard the Sea Adventurer was treated to great wildlife sightings, including eight of the iconic bears and fifteen walrus.
 
One juvenile Polar Bear in particular took time to pose for photos and play around on the ice. Perhaps some of us read too much into it, but it seemed as if he was trying to teach us a thing or two about enjoying the ‘bear necessities’ of life.
 
After all, the bear was obviously enjoying a great daily routine. He was well-rested, ate healthy and natural food, played outdoors in the fresh air when he wanted and got plenty of exercise.

By contrast, thinking of returning home to our regular routines, human life seemed so dull. Most of us spend too much time working, instead of playing. We eat processed foods, instead of natural healthy foods. We sit at desks and in front of TVs, instead of enjoying the outdoors and exercising.

So, with that, we encourage you all to be more like a polar bear! Be active, eat healthy and enjoy the outdoors.

Grizzly Encounters in the North
by Trapper Ken

On August 3rd. 1999, I decided to fly to Scatter River airstrip on my trap line and repair the cabin roof. After loading the plane with all the supplies I thought I might require, I left home for the 5 hour plane trip.
Usually when flying into this strip I circle around and check for any bear signs around the cabin or trail from airstrip to cabin. For some reason I forgot this important item on this trip. The weather was so good on this trip all I could think about was getting into the cabin and getting the roof fixed. After landing I quickly put 2 slugs into my 12-gauge pump, and got my pack ready to travel the 1/2 mile down a steep hill, through the forest to the cabin. To save trips I also tied a new quad battery on the back of my pack. With my camera around my neck, pack on my back, a 30 pound roll of clear plastic over my right shoulder and my shotgun in my left hand I headed down hill.

As I always do on this trip between the airstrip and cabin I was singing as I quickly walked along the trail. Soon the cabin came into sight and I quickly saw the stovepipe was still in its position, meaning no bears had been in the cabin. With my guard slightly down I continued hurrying toward the cabin anxious to get this load off my back. As I came closer I could see the cabin door was closed, leading me to believe there was no bears in the immediate area.

It had been two years since I had been to this cabin and the alders and willows had grown several feet since last there, making it very hard to see the ground around the cabin. Now only 50 ft from the cabin, the only thing on my mind was getting the load off my back.

Suddenly at only 30 feet from the cabin door a full grown Grizzly bear stood up on its hind feet right in front of the cabin door. My reaction, immediately change direction, and as I focused my gaze on the bears middle and started speaking in a low soothing voice. Trying not to alarm the bear or challenge it by making eye contact, I was now walking backward at a steady pace. Suddenly another bear of the same size stood up beside the first one. Still backing up and talking to these bears, a third bear stood up. At less than 50 feet, I now have three adult Grizzlies standing on their hind legs and trying to identify me by moving their heads from side to side and smelling the air.

As I kept backing up the bears went down on all four feet, making it impossible to see them in the willows.  Once again the bears stood up,trying to identify me, however the bears now have backed up 20 feet. Again they go down on all fours and this time I caught a glimpse of them heading toward my left, as they go behind the cabin and into the forest.

All this time I have not had time to get any of the weight off my back and I rush toward the cabin dropping everything except my shot gun. At the cabin I quickly picked up a bar and started beating on the bottom of an empty 45 gallon drum. That's the last time I saw those bears, however I sure kept my eyes open for the rest of that trip.

After I had time to think about this encounter, I quickly decided to take the plug out of my shotgun so as to be able to load 5 shells instead of the 2 that I had. I was happy to be on the roof fixing it while keeping an ever present look out for those Grizzlies.

Those bears had dug a hole in the ground right at the door, and it was filled with water from the previous nights rain. Due to the very warm weather during the day the bears had been laying in that hole, keeping cool.

This is one bear encounter I will never forget and it sure helps to keep my attention focused on what is around me when travelling in the bush.

Trapper Ken

 

Trapper Ken's Bio

Its not common to find a real life trapper and bush pilot in today's world, even in Northwestern Canada, but there are still a few around and Trapper Ken is one of the best. In the 1970's and early 1980's Trapper Ken was a small business owner with a knack for fixing and building things with his own hands who lived in central British Columbia Canada. He spent most of his spare time flying amphibious bush planes into remote areas of the province for camping and fishing trips, in many cases to cabins he would build along the coast of remote lakes that you can only fly into.

In spite of an entrepreneurial knack, in 1982 Trapper Ken's love of the bush over came him, so he sold his construction company and bought a trap line up in the Liard River Region of Northern British Columbia. For the last 20 years he has been happily trapping away in the winter while spending summers building bush cabins and flying his bush plane around the rugged mountain landscape of his home province in Canada. In one memorable day in the spring of 1998 he had to kill two hungry Black Bears that attacked him in the span of a few hours. He is a long time member of the BC Trappers Association, and his hand made stove pipe cook stoves are the hottest gift at the annual convention prize give away.

However, it is not surprising that his entrepreneurial spirit would show itself again and in 2000 Trapper Ken decided to share his exciting lifestyle with those less fortunate than him and offer adventure tours to a few groups a year in addition to his usual routine. This was the birth of TrapperKen.com.

Everyone who has accompanied Trapper Ken on one of these adventure tours has been left with a feeling that it was a life defining experience. Its usually something the rest of your city dwelling buddies can not quite understand or relate to, but is something you would have only regretted for not going

More details: Info@TrapperKen.com

Web site: http://www.canadian-wilderness-trapline-experience.com