Aboriginal (Indian) Orca & Bear Paddling Adventure
If you are coming to British Columbia Canada to enjoy a sea kayak paddle adventure with orca whales, ensure you are away from the hundreds of others, and come with an opera-tion that is situated in an area of Johnston Strait where there are no other commercial operators. This way when you see the whales, you are assured that it shall be that imagined moment of no others to crowd the experience. Best of all, your stay shall be a journey into the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) First Nations ways. Your comfort in a rainforest is assured, for you shall stay in a cabin made of cedar that is made like a traditional long house with aboriginal orca design painted across the front.
Being active in the eco-cultural tourism industry of my people’s traditional territories for well over twenty years, I have learned exactly what people expect and want when they come to enjoy the wildlife of our region. By being the only sea kayak operation of the Orca Realm with a heavy First Nations cultural component, you are going to find no other sea kayak tour that offers such a unique experience.
2010 shall see our aboriginal guides sharing numerous cultural adventures, while also seeing that you have safe enjoyable paddles from our Orca Bay Base Camp. Situated in a pocket of ancient old growth trees with our traditional cabins and guides sharing stories that have been passed down countless family generations, allows one to feel as though they have stepped back in time. Demonstrations of our ways and traditional entertainment are also shared with all.
Each cabin is made of red cedar so that it looks, feels, and smells like the long house (big-house’s) of old. Best of all it has windows along the side with curtains, so that one can enjoy the breathtaking views of passing whales, cruise ships at night, towering mountains, and of coarse the surround of coastal rainforest, all from the comfort of your bed. Living in this rainforest for years, I have personally wondered why anyone would want to be in a tent, when they can sleep in comfort as our ancestors have for thousands of years.
Yes, one is going to have an adventure like nothing else by coming with an operation that has focused on your overall adventure experience, over just having people paddle kayaks in Johnston Strait. Being aboriginal owned and operated, you are getting the true guides of the region. By staying at our camp, you shall be able to explore areas that few paddlers ever get to see, but best of all the whale watching is just plain awesome!
It’s a funny thing that whales do, they have these things on the back end called a tale and they use it to swim the entire length of Johnston Strait on almost a daily basis. This means we get to see them pass right by the camp, or as usually happens, do there fishing or sleeping in our region. Having a larger brain than humans, it has not taken them too long to figure out that this part of the Johnston Strait has far less whale watching boats, sport fishing boats, aboriginal food fishing boats and we being the only sea kayak fleet, it means they get to enjoy life without having to be swarmed by boats wanting to see how they look. We though, get some of the best whale watching moments in the entire strait. The mornings that the whales are outside camp are times that unimaginable memories are made of. To see them is one thing, but to see them pass your orca designed cabin in the mornings calm with their deep blows echoing off Van-couver Island is something to everyone should witness at least once during their life.
A 45 minute paddle across from our camp is Port Neville Inlet. Here one can see British Columbia’s oldest operating Post Office, and meet the tenacious post mistress Lorna, who has lived out in the rugged coast for many years. She raised her daughter out here, and is a great sole who is always eager to chat with visitors to her property. One can always get the local grizzly bear reports here as well.
Up the inlet is Robbers Nob, which is the private property of a friend of mine who allows us to use his cabins for the last leg of your adventure. Here one has a great vantage point to watch for black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, deer, and the odd cougar to come out upon the exposed beaches during low tide. At night one can sometimes hear the mournful howling of a pack of wolves. You are sure to get some great opportunity’s to paddle close to the animals.
Staying at Robber Nob one has the chance to view ancient rock carvings from my aboriginal ancestors called petro glyphs. Here the beach has a great many for you to see or take a rubbing of. Something most people don’t know, is there are cusps carved around the designs, and if you lie on the beach at a certain time during salmon season (summer) you will see the same star constellation that is carved in stone, across the night sky right above your camp.
We use this as the final camp during your ad-venture, for one is going to want to paddle to the head of the inlet, which only takes about an hour, and see if they can watch a grizzly bear out on the beach at low tide. One year our fleet saw a swimming grizzly bear! Not to worry, your not going to be in any danger, for we give all wildlife a lot of distance You are also going to want to look at more evidence of the ancients that lived in this inlet for thousands of years. Your guides are sure to bring it all to life in stories and legends told during the entire trip.
This is my personal kayak that I use for fishing, but one can see that catching a salmon from a kayak can be done. Seeing as you shall be in our region during the season of the salmon, you are more than welcome to fish a stones throw from your kayak cabin at the beginning of your adventure. If you drop your hook down to the bottom at about 180 feet, you are sure to catch cod. The lingcod can reach weights of 40+ pounds, and the yellow eye cod can be over 20 pounds.Once we move across Johnston Strait to Robbers Nob, the inlet is full of Dungeness Crab. These make for a great addition to your traditional Kwakwaka’wakw Feast where your guides shall cook the things we harvest, as well as other local delights we bring along. You are sure to enjoy your feast at a site where the beach's are entirely white from countless other feasts of clams that the ancestors had at this exact site countless times. The traditional cooked salmon against an open fire all held together with cedar sticks is something that is well worth trying.
This package can be booked from May 1st through to September 1st, 2010. This is a great trip to enjoy our region, the wildlife, while experiencing our aboriginal culture and heritage. The views are going to be awesome, and the comfort level is ensured, so family’s can book this package without worry. No more than 6 clients at a time, so you are really going to have a great time. Please check out the itinerary for this package with prices.
