DISCOVER BANFF TOUR

Was a struggle to get out my nice warm bed this morning to go on my discover banff and its wildlife tour but it was well worth it! There were only 4 of us, a couple from manchester and a girl from perth, australia. was nice to have such a small group though i did expect more people. So we started off with a little history talk from hugh our guide and he told us all about the banff national park and how it was founded was so interesting! Apparently 3 railway workers stumbled on2 a hot spring in the mountains and a fight over its claim caused the government to take over it and it was declared as the start of the national park. a railway was built and tourists flooded in to see it and swim in the hot springs they were thought to have healing powers and so banff was born. it was named after banffshire in scotland!!! who;d have thot a national park could be founded by a big smelly hole in the ground?!?

so after a history lesson we were taken to surprise corner where you got an amazing view of the Banff Springs Hotel which is the biggest, most expensive hotel in banff. it was built years ago to accommodate the tourists flooding in 2 see the springs. its now 4 times the size it was when it was first built!! you can take a tour of the place without being a guest but apparently even that has been hit by the credit crunch...not as many guests this year it can hold 1500!!!

From there it was a short drive to spot a hoodoo! which is a free standing rock formation. was a pretty cool site. the scenery round about was amazing!!! everything is a million times bigger than back home. always manages to take my breath away!! we headed out to lake minnowatta which has an underwater village apparently and people come here in the winter cut a hole in the ice and scube dive to see it!! sounds awesome wish i cld scuba dive lol. was a pretty awesome sight! we got hot chocolate and biscuits here was yummy!

Well seeing as how this was a wildlife tour as well we were given a wee talk on wot lives round about and not long after we drive past 2 elk in a filed by the side of the road. yes elk dad not deer according to the guide elk loose about 40 pounds over the winter due to lack of food so yes they may look too thin but i swear they're elk unless the guide got it ttly wrong which i doubt...i hope! further along our drive we saw another elk very close to the roadside but we were only allowed to take pics out the window so as not to disturb it!

The last stop was the cave and basin national historic site were we were shown the underground cave with the thermal water which was bubbling and the basin which years ago was used as a swimming pool so people could bathe in the waters. it closed to the public in i think 1992 cant remember exactly though.

so that brought the tour to an end. the whole thing was so informative and the guide was excellent!! cant wait for next week when i do the johnston canyon walk!