Celebration time.

“Grizzly bears or ursus arctos horribilis are among the most lethal creatures seen in the wild”, according to Wikipedia. We celebrated our safe sighting of 2 pretty, blond ones – they had cute round fluffy ears – with a festive lunch consisting of the salmon My Captain had caught in Pruth Bay. I prepared it the Montignac way “en papillote”, accompanied with a red bell pepper-onion-white wine cream sauce. It was very very yummy.

The grizzlies found the tall grass also very yummy. They sauntered along a shore of Knight Inlet and looked absolutely huggable as they were munching mouthfuls of grass and minding their own business. We were a private dinghy amongst 4 small commercial skiffs watching the scene from a respectful distance of 200 meters. The skiffs carried excited customers that had booked the wildlife package at The Knight Inlet Lodge. They had been flown in by floatplane from Campbell River and were flown out again that way. We had been a bit nervous, showing up on O2 just like that and going for the same sights for which people had to cough up quite the amount of money. But the awesome guides didn’t give us the cold commercial shoulder. Instead of treating us as party crashers, they warmly welcomed us in their community of wildlife aficionados. They pointed us in the right direction where all the bear activity was to be expected and told us to tune in on VHF channel 66A so we could be alerted in good time. We would love to join them on the bear viewing platforms they have put up over the river to watch bears gorge on spawning salmon in the fall.

An even greater cause for joy was the arrival of our son. His somewhat problematic entry – his Cote D’Or filled luggage only arrived days later from Frankfurt- was celebrated with a glorious hike in Strathcona Provincial Park. The abundance of majestic vistas was an ointment on sore legs, while I was getting a molar extracted in a case of emergency. It didn’t hurt one bit and I was off the antibiotics just in time for the open bar at M&M’s wedding. 

Ferries, boats, cars, trains, and planes had brought family & friends together for an exuberant wedding in Seattle. The funky invitation full of swag (which included the promise of an open bar especially for the Belgians) had in fact inspired us to postpone our passage from Mexico to Polynesia for at least another year and to go on a big tack from Mexico to Hawaii and from there to BC instead. We couldn’t miss our cute niece Michelle getting married, now, could we !? 

After gawking at so many floatplanes soaring up and swooping down on the inside waters of BC, we had booked months ago a flight from Campbell River to Seattle with Northwest Seaplanes….which was cancelled the evening before boarding.

The lake in Seattle where we were supposed to land was not an official US port of entry and therefore couldn’t clear in Belgians for the first time.(The 90 day misery again). Cries of dismay rang out over the river as we started our frantic googling for last minute solutions. This resulted in a 3-hour taxi ride with a rather erratic driver, followed by a 1,5-hour ferry to Vancouver where a family member was waiting with a rental car for the 3-hour drive to Seattle where we arrived just in time for the festivities. 

The festivities took place on the MV Skansonia, a vintage ferry boat built in 1929 and now used for weddings and such like events. We were totally charmed. Generally speaking, we are not so into weddings, but this wasn’t a general wedding. This was Michelle & Mitch’s -aka M&M’s- international partaaaayyy, as one of the enthusiastic wedding guests put it. There we all were gathered on Seattle’s Lake Union, under blue skies followed by a full moon night filled with romance and unbridled glee: funny and heartwarming speeches in English & Russian, toasts in German, Hebrew, Arabic & Swahili, and a magical bride & groom – love you guys! – that made everybody swoon and feel giddy in the head. Hava Nagila indeed!  Follow-up plans have already been made. After all, Seattle and BC are just a floatplane (now that we are properly cleared in again) or ferry away. 

We are back on O2 now. And this time we did catch our floatplane. (Canada is less fussy.)But not after first having had to defeat the notoriously treacherous enemy known as Covid 19. Fortunately, our vaccinated (and in My Captain’s & my case also doubly boosted) bodies prevailed and we are doing our utmost to get back on track. 

My Captain has plotted a course which should maximize our chances to behold both marine & land wildlife in action. Just like the First Nation Peoples do, “we see nature as a community to which we belong, rather than a commodity to possess.” (I have forgotten the name of the Professor whom I am quoting here.) In other words, we are ready for yet another festive connection. This time with all creatures great and small that call “Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park” home.