Family Rafting Adventure in Southern Manitoba
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DIGGLaunching our raft over the pebbles of the shallow, clear, rushing waters, we begin our exploration of unknown territory. Seven-year-old Ben prefers to swim or wade ahead, navigating us around sandy banks and pointing out the dangers of barely submerged rocks ahead. His older sister takes her paddling responsibility seriously for now. Pulling up on the shore of a bend in the river, I don’t need much persuasion to join him in the cool waters to refresh my sun-baked back.
Back in the boat, we see a footbridge approaching. Finding it too inviting to resist, we pull up again, and off the children scramble through the rocks to the foot of the bridge, waving and calling as they skip across and back again. Having jumped in and out of the raft a dozen times, we are sitting in puddles as we paddle, but that’s the richness of the adventure.
The gurgling of the stream increases in volume and cautiously I pull over and scout out the options. Yes, there is a set of small rapids, but a wide enough path exists to navigate through. Our plan: the children stand on either side while I paddled down the center. They jump in as the canoe goes through. What fun!
And we’re whisked away to yet another turn of events. This time it’s a fork in the river – no, three streams dividing from ours. Which one to take? I choose correctly, over the pipe held down by bricks. Slowing down, we meander between shady trees and tall prairie grass on the steep slopes. “I see the van!” Ben announces, still exploring ahead of us. A little more than an hour has past, and we’ve arrived at our rendezvous point. But his sister doesn’t want to dock until we’ve paddled under the bridge. A loud rustling on the far bank arrests our attention. A large turtle has hurdled himself down the slope. Landing on his back close to the water, he manages to push himself in and swim away.
Where could you have an adventure like this? Only one hour from Winnipeg in St. Malo Provincial Park, with many wonderful experiences waiting for the young voyageurs at heart.
