Majestic Manitoba.

Manitoba is next up in the look at our destinations in the future. This is the first of Canada's lands on our list to have a border on the incredible Hudson Bay. The smaller population of Manitoba comes in at 1,208,268 people, 60% of which reside in the capitol city Winnipeg.

Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec of the Winnipeg Jets.

 Winnipeg recently celebrated the return of it's NHL team, The Jets, after many years without one. Their new team logo has the feel of Canada's RCAF logo, with the added jet of course. The Jets were an NHL team from 1979 (following the collapse of the WHA) to 1992 when the team was moved to Phoenix Arizona. Prior to the 2011-2012 season, the Atlanta Thrashers team was moved to Winnipeg replacing the Jets who's move to Arizona created a team that Phoenix retains today (now the Arizona Coyotes).



POLAR BEARS OF CHURCHILL.

Churchill Manitoba is a town on the West shore of The Hudson Bay popular for it's presence of numerous polar bears that move to the shores from inland around the fall season. Around 1000 A.D it was present to a race known as the Thule people. They later evolved into the modern day Inuit culture. The area is rich in history that reaches from a doomed Danish expedition, to the evolution of a Hudson's Bay company fort into the Prince of Wales stone fort used during the Anglo-French conflicts of the Nation.
Wapusk National park is located just south of the town. The town's main appeal comes from the migratory habits of polar bears, though there is also a smaller culture of bird watchers who make Churchill a destination. During July and August, thousands of Beluga whales make their way to the area to calf. Birders have recorded more than 270 species in the May-August months in the area, as well as around 100 birds that nest there. There is an "Eskimo Museum," featuring quality Inuit carvings that are well worth taking a look at.

Fun Fact: Jordin Tootoo of the New Jersey Devils is from Churchill. In 2001 he received the recognition, in the prospects rankings, for hardest shot (96.1 mph).


THE FORKS (DOWNTOWN WINNIPEG).

The Forks, Winnipeg has been a meeting place for aboriginal people for 6000 years. Since colonization it has been a meeting place also for tens of thousands of immigrants from fur traders, to rail way workers. Fort Rouge was the first of many European trading outposts set up here. The Nakoda (Assiniboins) people were often used as middle men in trades to the other Aboriginal peoples in the area. Modern development in The Forks is attributed to the boom in rail way use within the nation. The Forks market is made of two stables owned by competing railway companies that were joined together. The tower in this part of The Forks houses an observation deck complete with interpretive historical information relating to the area. The Johnston Terminal is a large building that once served as Manitoba's largest warehouse. It is now the location of several specialty stores, even offices, and the Johnston Terminal Antique Mall in the basement.The Explore Manitoba Center is an 8000 square floor pavilion of displays and exhibits. Another addition to The Forks is the Manitoba Children's Museum. This not for profit

Museum features twelve galleries in what was once the Kinsmen Building, the oldest surviving train repair facility in Manitoba (built 1889), and even has an older model train unit on display. The Manitoba Theater for Young People is located in The Forks as well. It offers theater training, and professional theater to children and young adults. It offers courses to children as young as 3 years old. There is an inn located here also with modern facilities as it was finished in 2004.


The Forks offers a handful of outdoor amenities as well including large skating facilities and a snowboard fun park. There is so much to see in The Forks alone that it has made it on this list as a singular focus despite it's location within Winnipeg.


CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS.

                                                                                                                                                                 
The museum is also located in The Forks, though it has such significance it has been considered appropriate to represent on it's own. The mandate is to explore human rights with non-exclusive emphasis on Canada. The Museum was opened in 2014 to encourage better understanding of human rights among Canadians. It is the first National museum to be located outside the capitol region.
The museum is not without it's controversy, "A Tribe Called Red," (a first nations musical group) pulled out of performing at the opening ceremonies due to what was called the improper representation of Aboriginal people. There were around 100 submissions to potential design, the job was eventually given to an architect from Albuquerque New Mexico. There are many displays at the museum ranging from the holocaust and other genocides including one personal to me that happened in Rwanda. This holds significance to me personally for two reasons. My good friend survived the genocide and made it to Canada with most of his family, and it was the major mission mandated to my personal hero Romeo Dallaire (at the time a Canadian general in charge of the United Nations Mission in Rwanda). General Romeo Dallaire is a great Canadian hero who resigned his post with the Senate of Canada to fight a battle significant to him against the use of child soldiers globally. It also talks about the others, of five genocides recognized by Canada. Bosnia, Armenia, and Holodomor (Ukrainian famine). It also covers hot topics within Canada such as residential schools, and the forced relocation of Inuit and Japanese people during WWII. There are other topics such as the Chinese head tax (during the Chinese railworker era); the museum failed to recognize a lesser known event, the forced relocation of German people during war time. There is also strong controversy that the artifact exhumation prior to construction failed to be as thorough as needed. This is an artifact rich site dating back to 1100 A.D that is now obstructed by the museum.


GRAND BEACH.

In St. Clements, a rural municipality of Manitoba, lays the fresh water Grand Beach. It is located on the Eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg and offers a coastal feel to residents far from the ocean. It was made popular as a resort, the same way a lot of Manitoba gained popularity, by the presence of the railroad. The Provincial Park of Grand Beach offers, on top of the beach, sand dunes that rise high above the beach. There is available shopping, and food, at the beach making it a popular destination for Manitobans. There are a total of 306 campsites, about half of which offer electricity. There are many activities to choose from; Grand Beach has many Saskatoon, Choke Cherry, and Blueberries to pick. Though admission is the cost of a park pass, the park offers occasional free entry for certain times.


ICELANDIC FESTIVAL OF MANITOBA, GIMLI.

Gimli Manitoba was first settled by Icelandic people, later by Icelandic immigrants, and preserves the culture in a region of Manitoba referred to as "New Iceland."
Due to the relative prominence of Icelandic people in the region, Gimli plays host to the Icelandic Festival every August long weekend since 1932. The festival has been celebrated since 1890. The festival offers everything from Icelandic artwork, to traditional dishes. The festival is the second oldest North American based culture festival in existence. It even offers a genuinely Icelandic population of viking cosplayers lending it a very authentic feel.

Fun Fact: Vikings from Iceland are known to have come to Canada over 1000 years ago to trade with the Inuit. There is even a historical port in the Southern portion of Greenland used for trading with the Inuit people. This makes the Inuit of Canada one of the only people to be seen as trading partners first by Scandinavian vikings who more often invaded than traded. There are several amazing artifacts collected in the Canadian north to prove this theory. When we get in to the Maritimes we will explore other evidence of viking presence in Canada. The Icelandic culture is rather fascinating; Icelandic is a language based on High German with a mostly similar alphabet excepting a couple letters with altered phonetic meaning. It is a language spoken only by, roughly, 300,000 people globally.


FESTIVAL DU VOYAGEUR.

                            
Festival Du Voyageur is a winter festival held for 10 days in Winnipeg's French quarter. It is a celebration of fur trade and rich French heritage in the country. About 100,000 people attend annually to celebrate with snow sculptures being a fun attraction to those who visit.


MENNONITE VILLAGE IN STEINBACH.

The Mennonite Village in Steinbach is an outdoor village surrounding a Mennonite museum. The history depicted here is of the (low) German speaking Mennonite people from Russia (there was also an exodus of Mennonites in Germany to Mexico during the second world war). The site has two monuments that were originally erected in Russia. The village is located in Steinbach Manitoba (third largest city with a population of 13,524 people). It was first settled by the Mennonites who came to Canada in 1874. It is the fastest growing area in population that isn't in Alberta. They came to Canada because the government promised the military exemption that was denied them in the Russian Empire. Liquor prohibition, which continues prominently in the Alberta county of Cardston because of religious values in the region, was narrowly ended by referendum in 2003. Most prohibition based on values seems to end in favour of growth. Whereas Cardston wishes to preserve the values (population less that 5000), the growth of Steinbach seems to have influenced more liberal ideals in favour of progress. Steinbach is the home town of many prominent figures from sports to literature. The city was also home to Western Canada's first Ford dealership in 1912. We consider this odd due to Henry Ford's known fascist values.  


LOWER FORT GARY HISTORIC SITE.

Lower Fort Gary was constructed on high ground after a flood destroyed the original Fort Gary. The term Lower Fort seems almost a misnomer as it was built North of, and on higher ground than, the original fort. It was built by the Hudson Bay Company, like most forts in Canada; the new location was also to cut down on time consuming portage required to circumvent St. Andrew's rapids while moving fur by boat. The fort walls were apparently of no military significance. They were constructed to impress other traders, and impress high ranking HBC officials who visited. Though it was used for fur trading (especially on sending furs back to England), it was mostly used as a supply outpost for local farms to flourish. This was a strategic move by the company who supplied farmers that would, in turn, supply their expeditions to the North. The Fort would eventually house many buildings as it grew, this even included a brewery. The legacy of Fort Gary is around today. There is still a Fort Gary brewing company, and a heavy duty parts distributor known as Fort Gary Industries. Fort Gary Brewing Company makes several specialty brews worth checking out to the passionate beer advocate. It was used to train the Northwest Mounted Police for a winter, eventually being turned back to the militia when the Mounted Police vacated. Original buildings and walls, 1850s era specific role play, and hands on activities create a realistic feel that had this named one of the top 10 National historic sites by Canada's history magazine. This interesting testament to Canada's history, and the HBC's role in it, is why it makes our list of top Manitoba destinations.


WHITESHELL PROVINCIAL PARK.

Whiteshell Provincial Park is a beautiful park that offers everything from rivers and lakes, to the magnificence of the Boreal forest. The Canadian shield creates sooth, and flat, granite ridges where ancient cultures left evidence of their existence via petroforms. A more well known version of a petroform is the Celtic monument Stonehenge. The park's petroforms are smaller pictures drawn by laying rocks in a pattern on the ground. The rock forms have survived the test of time despite small rocks not being anchored down. This is greatly due to the efforts used to ensure they remain undisturbed.

These were often left by cultures without the ability to record with written language. Even the great Celtic culture had knowledge passed down by druids who exclusively used word of mouth to account for knowledge. The Inuit people made petroforms as Inukshuks which varied in use, often used for hunting tactics. The ones at Whiteshell are simple drawings made on the granite that bear resemblance to animals or other things. They are an interesting addition to the land, and a marvel that they have managed to survive so long. There is evidence of Copper trading as far back as 6000 years ago, Whiteshell being historically significant for this. There is also evidence the site was used for prehistoric quartz mining, and stone tool making. The railway, as it often does, brought the tourism to the area first. There is free admission to the local Whiteshell Natural History Museum; a goose sanctuary and interpretive center; a museum on the area's geology; a hatchery that raises Lake Sturgeon, Trout, and Walley comes complete with an interpretive center to teach about the fish. Mammals range from Black Bear to beavers, birds range from Blue Jays to Osprey. There are Turtles and an abundance of fish ranging from Burbot to Small Mouthed Bass. There is even Mooneye which is fished for the tasty smoked meant that is made from it.
West Hawk Lake was formed long ago by a meteorite and is popular for scuba diving, and ice diving. Aboriginal people still use the park for harvesting wild rice and ceremonies.


RIDING MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
  Riding Mountain is the final highlight, so far on our future trip to Manitoba. This park attained it's protected status due to it's inclusion of three separate ecosystems. Grasslands, upland Boreal, and Eastern deciduous forests make up the three. It once contained a, now dismantled, prisoner of war camp during WWII. Now the only things close to prisoners are the captive prairie Bison being protected there. There are also Bears, Moose, Lynx, and many other animals who fall under North America's broad niche wildlife. The Black Bear population of Riding Mountain is, in fact, one of the largest in North America.    

                                                                                                                                                          There are various reasons for anyone passionate about wildlife to visit the park. It is sure not to disappoint anyone going to see the animals that will show.
There is a vast 400 km collection of trails for hiking. That is greater than the distance from Calgary to Edmonton, Alberta. There are other trails for cycling that vary in skill requirements from easy to difficult. Horseback riding is allowed in a lot of the park.

There are warming shelters, and heated base cabins, in the winter for popular cross country ski land in the park. It is allowed to snowmobile, though the protected land is off limits leaving only the lake to do so. This is so that, when the snow melts, the water simply returns to liquid and erases all evidence of the sport. National Park fishing licenses are required to fish the various lakes in the park. This ensures that all fishers are aware of the need for conservation and undergo special training. Our team will be aware of, and abide by, any regulations to the land we are filming. Our fish and wildlife representative, Ryan Sales, will be provided with the adequate training and permitting to ensure that we can get the most out of our visits to these National treasures. Many lakes offer motorized boating launches, and allow the activity. Though some lakes in the area only allow non motorized craft. Nothing beats the silence of being out on a lake in a canoe, I prefer to go the non motorized route, though in some instances our team will need to go out on motorized boats to offer the best coverage. With the deepest point at 114 feet, and the clear water being from springs, Clear Lake is another popular Manitoba location for scuba diving. The parks of Manitoba are by far the most incredible destinations to see in the province. The mild population and density focused largely in Winnipeg means most of the land is uninhabited nature at it's finest. This is one of the most exciting destinations to learn about as our team is very interested in the wildlife that calls Canada home. From Polar bears to Northern Pike, the nature of Manitoba is attractive to anyone who enjoys nature.