Laura Simmo

After a few days in San Jose, Brad and I headed to the Osa Peninsula, where we were promised birds, plants and wildlife. We took a light aircraft flight with the company Sansa to get there – a little twelve seater Cessna something. Though much more pricey than the bus, the flight was 45 minutes compared to the 8 hours on the bus! Besides the time saving, it was a great birds eye view of Costa Rica... the plane rose sharply (and bumpily) over the central valley and mountains, then headed out over river deltas and Parque Nacional Manual Antionio, hugging the coastline until we reached the small Drake Bay airstrip. Though I may have been ashen faced the whole time, it was definitely worth it! We were met at the door of the plane with ... read more

Manically trying to recall to Brad the details of the first Anne of Green Gables novels, then the subsequent 7 sequels, we headed towards Prince Edward Island over the controversial Confederation Bridge. And what a bridge it is! Twelve kilometres of concrete over the Northumberland Strait, high in the air too; we were left in awe wondering how it is possible to have that kind of bridge operational in the icy cold winter. Our first introduction to the ‘potato province’ was a trip through agricultural land (ok- really the whole island is a giant potato farm!) from Summerside to the north-west part of the island. We made it as far as West Point and Cedar Dunes Provincial Park. Somehow in the years since reading Anne of Green Gables, I forgot that PEI is also almost completely ... read more

Where on earth has September gone? We cleaned out the van from head to toe (uhhh.. except somehow I forgot to clean the windows, something I have been swearing to do since, um, Vancouver!?), Brad attempted to re-attach the broken door handle to the door (did I explain that one? Nevermind , it promptly broke within minutes of leaving Phil’s), left middle and rear seats with Phil, packed and hit the road again. First stop was the beautiful Kenisis Lake, near Haliburton Forest where cousin Dave and his wife Shelley live. Lovely! An afternoon swimming, then out on the boat, cocktail hour, family dinners, searching for beavers, long walks with Shelley.... We also visited the Wolf Centre at Haliburton Forest (privately owned – very interesting!), where we observed a wolf family of 4 adults and 4 ... read more

The last couple of weeks of August we spent in Mexico. I submitted an abstract about my honours work for the Society for Ecological Restoration Conference in Merida; which to my delight and utter surprise was accepted. We found ourselves planning a short trip down to Ol’ El Paso. Finally the day came! After a short schmozzle – I left my poster beside Phil’s front door and realised just over halfway to the airport – we made record time getting to Toronto airport for our Montreal-Cancun flight. Hey, in my defence, it was a VERY unsociable time in the morning! Our excitement grew as the plane descended into Cancun and we could make out the distinct junglyness of tropical plants and vegetation! On landing we were greeted with the longest immigration and customs line-up I’ve ever ... read more

As we descended down from Cypress Hills Provincial Park, we crossed the border into Saskatchewan... and onto a hunting trail. Outside the park boundary we were met with what appeared to be endless fields. It was incredible! The road ahead travelled straight towards the horizon, with a few small knolls between us and the ‘end of the earth’ as I started to call it. Following dirt roads for what felt like hours, we ended up back on bitumen outside a town called Consul. We noticed that most vehicles were heading towards the outskirts of town where there were a few large festival type tents set up. A rodeo!!! Talking to the lady on the gate, who happened to be Linda Brown, the Mayor of Consul, we were sold on the idea of staying for the rodeo ... read more