Glamping Across Canada: Adding Glamour to Wilderness Camping

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Guest post by Vinay Shingornikar. Vinay is a popular and accomplished writer having authored a number of articles across a wide variety of online publications. Currently, he is happily employed with Flight Network. Founded in 1998, Flightnetwork.com has grown to become Canada's second most visited online travel agency, specialising in offering highly discounted prices for domestic and international flights, along with hotels, cruises, vacation packages, and car rentals.

Forget resting in a sleeping bag on a cold and hard ground while you are camping outdoors. Imagine staying in the heart of wilderness and relaxing on a comfy bed in a luxurious tent complete with crisp linens, carpets and polished wood floors. If relaxing in a king-size bed with access to spotless toilets and sparkling showers is not enough, you can pamper yourself at fancy spas and taste fine cuisine in the midst of serene surroundings.

Sounds like a dream? Not really. “Glamping” makes your dream a reality by combining nature's beauty with the comforts of luxury aesthetically. The term itself was coined from the delightful blending of “glamour” with “camping”. In this manner, glamping truly offers the best of both worlds.

If you are wondering where to head for the perfect glamping experience, mentioned below is a list of the top five glamping destinations in Canada.

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort (Vancouver Island, British Columbia)

Fly to Vancouver and head to the wild west coast of Vancouver Island to step in the Clayoquot Wilderness Resort. Nestled in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, this resort is the jewel in the crown of luxurious glamping.

Embraced by a temperate rainforest, you can relax in the ambiance of a safari tent furnished with antiques, oriental carpets and polished wooden flooring. Stepping outside the comfort of your room, you can do hiking, kayaking, horseback riding, and fly-fishing. When you feel like pampering yourself, have a massage and relish the cuisine at the open-kitchen bar.

Rockwater Secret Cove Resort (Sunshine Coast, British Columbia)

Situated on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Rockwater Secret Cove Resort is a quaint bunch of treetop tents and ocean-side cabins. Walk along the treetop boardwalk and head to your private Tenthouse Suite, which is blissfully snuggled between the surrounding dense rainforest and offers fantastic view of the vast Pacific Ocean. Alternatively, you can also choose to stay by the ocean in the Ocean Edge Cabins or even in the poolside rooms.

Relax in the remote-controlled, hydrotherapy Euro-soaker tubs and bask in the bedroom fireplace as you step on the heated slate floors. If you are in the mood for some activities, you can do horseback riding or kayaking. Moreover, the food is local and organic.

Yukon’s Uncommon Journeys (Yukon Territory)

Dogsled to a remote wilderness yurt camp in the Yukon Territory that elevates the thrill of winter camping with a touch of pleasant comforts. The deluxe yurts have pinewood floors, skylights and large windows. The outhouse has insulated seats and offers a stunning view of the aurora borealis (top photo). You can also enjoy sauna and hot shower facilities in a tent or warm yourself by the campfire while savouring juicy steaks.

Quebec’s Hôtel de Glace / Quebec's Ice Hotel (Quebec)

If you plan to visit Quebec City during winter, it will be worthwhile to check out Quebec's Hôtel de Glace (Ice Hotel). Each winter, Hôtel de Glace is open to guests from early January till the end of March. Camp with your friends or family in this unique ice retreat. The exquisite suites are crafted from scratch each year from fresh blocks of ice and snow. The entire hotel is made of ice, including the cafe, bar, chapel, tubs, fireplaces, furniture and even beds! However, since we are glamping, the icy bed is covered with thick layers of deer fur, foam mattress and a sleeping bag. The bathroom is the only spot that is not made of ice.

Misabi Adventure Company (Lake Obabika, Ontario)

The Misabi Adventure Company is located on the shore of Lake Obabika in the wilderness of Ontario’s Temagami region. Glamping enthusiasts are certain to experience nature's best with a touch of flair in this eco-friendly camp. Raised on Crown land in Temagami, Misabi Adventure Company is a tranquil retreat that also offers activities like canoeing, angling, and forest trails. In this manner, it presents something for everyone – whether you are looking to let loose in physical challenges or just relax with complete peace of mind.

Summary

Change your perception of camping in the wilderness. Discard the leaky tent, uncomfortable sleeping bags, packaged food, heavy backpacks, Coleman stove and instant noodles! There is no need to sleep among creepy crawlers anymore. Instead, sip on some Soju and hang out in an elegant tent complete with wooden flooring and furnishings. Go glamping!

Photo Credits: Aurora, Clayoquat, Rockwater, Dog Sled, Ice Hotel, Obabika sunset

Photo of the Week: Baird Glacier (Alaska, USA)

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The race is on. As our small skiff bobs and bounces its way across Thomas Bay (which has the unfortunate nickname of The Bay of Death) towards Baird Glacier, the mist slowly sinks into the valleys, turning the daylight into a daunting greyness. Not far from the Alaskan town of Petersburg and approaching the final inlet, the icy wind knives us in the face, the breeze off the glacier savagely chilling the air. Woollen hats are adjusted and jackets zipped up. Arriving at the glacier, our group of three intrepid travellers stood and watched not brave enough to wander too far for fear of being enveloped into the silvery fog. After all, the weather gods were in a mean mood.

While it appears a god-forsaken location, the weather in Alaska swings dramatically from the grim to the sublime. White-outs are quickly replaced by sparkling blue skies. Sunny weather on the tidewater Baird Glacier must change the mood of the place, highlighting the rearing dark mountains and the snaking ice river meandering its way to the so-called Bay of Death.

Petersburg Vacations

In the Footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci - Part Two (Florence, Italy)

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See Part One for Leonardo's early years in Vinci.

Showing early signs of being a fine painter, Leonardo moved to Florence with his father when he was fourteen and was apprenticed to master painter Verrocchio (only a couple of blocks from the stunning cathedral).

In those days, the apprentices worked as a team on many of the commissioned works though tradition dictated that all were credited to the workshop master. Hence the difficulty today in assigning who actually painted various paintings. It is well documented that Leonardo painted the angel in the lower left of Verrocchio’s The Baptism of Christ (pictured) with most considering it the finest part of the painting (it is hung in the nearby Uffizi). Stories abound that Verrocchio never painted again and turned solely to sculpture.

Early on, Leonardo pioneered subtle shading and smudging techniques called sfumato to create subtle differences in tone and mood which is apparent in all his works.


As it is today, Florence was an elegant cultural city becoming the ultimate Renaissance City. While the buildings have obviously changed and the city walls gone, the general panorama of Florence is little changed with its grand cathedral (duomo), main piazza and stately Ponte Vecchio already built by the time Leonardo moved there in 1466. Note Vasari’s painting of Florence from 1460 (top photo) and contrast it with the wonderful and recommended panoramic view from Piazzale Michelangelo. As with Paris, the city centre has been spared from tall modern buildings with architectural integrity being maintained so well.

The relationship to art is well noted with statues and artworks all over the city in the main squares along with a number of world class galleries. To imagine that Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, a remarkable trinity of renaissance painters all spent overlapping time in Florence, leaving a cultural influence that remains bedded into the fabric of this city to this very day.

A few years later, Leonardo set out by himself (aged 25) but struggled to find much work with competition fierce between the painters serving the elite and wealthy citizens. His lifetime habit of being both a perfectionist and procrastinator left him with a nasty early reputation of being unreliable and not completing work.

Leonardo must have seemed an odd person to his fellow workers. He was left-handed (seen as the work of the devil by many), homosexual (evidently not as unusual in Florence, but illegal and strongly disliked in the highly influential church) and a vegetarian (very rare) on compassionate grounds.

Not being as well known, sadly little remains of Leonardo’s time in Florence apart from a handful of his fine paintings that are on view in the incomparable Uffizi Gallery (a public gallery since 1591!). These include The Adoration of the Magi (one of several unfinished paintings) and The Anunciation. An occasional habit of painters of the time was to include self-portraits with speculation that the young man on the far right looking outwards is a youthful Leonardo.

His finest times were to come as he moved to Milan under the sponsorship of the Duke of Milan. Part Three takes up Leonardo’s life in Milan.

In the Footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci – Part One (Vinci, Italy)

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Leonardo is probably the most universal genius of all time. Variously described as a painter, sculptor, writer, architect, town planner, scientist, cartographer, engineer, philosopher, aeronaut, inventor, anatomist, botanist, musician and geologist – his achievements in any single field would have left his mark in history. For his time through the Renaissance, Leonardo was widely travelled, taking various roles for a number of military, regal and religious leaders of the day. Leonardo is my invited guest to the well-known but pointless query about who I'd most like to share a dinner with.

This series of articles explores Leonardo’s travels starting with his birthplace in the small Tuscan hillside village of Vinci (hence his surname). Born illegitimate to a father who married four times, Leonardo’s ordinary and unprivileged early life is fairly undocumented. Today the small town of Vinci dines out on their famous son, nearly every element of the town carries his name.

Built around the so-called Ship Castle due to its elongated shape, the long narrow town is surrounded by rolling hills, covered in the trademark Tuscan vineyards and olive groves. Tasty wines and olive oils compete for space with Leonardo memorabilia and knick-knacks in the numerous small shops. Vinci feels lost in time – Leonardo may well still feel at home in the narrow streets and stone houses of the tiny town.

Independent of Leonardo, the castle tells a fine story of a Vinci military leader who was arrested for treason and sentenced to death by being thrown from the castle. In the spirit of the day, prisoners who survived their death were pardoned as it was seen as God’s way to rescue wrongly charged folks. Imbued with a glass of the local wine, the man survived his death by miraculously gliding – the town also recording record harvests that year. To this day, this event is celebrated in the town.

The Leonardo Museum boasts quite a number of models taken from his detailed but cryptic notes revealing the breadth and depth of thinking of this extraordinary individual. A car, double-hulled ship and a skin-diving suit (with breathing tube) shares space with innovative war machinery, bridges, gliders, a crane and a weaving machine. Each model is captioned with the relevant page from his notes showing the detailed sketch from which the modern models are constructed. For further detail, the neighbouring library (Biblioteca Leonardiana) contains copies of all his written works, though no originals.

The font likely to have been used to baptise Leonardo remains in the Church of Santa Croce, while a fine horse statue graces the centre of Piazza della Liberta at the other end of the village.

However, the best way to enjoy Vinci is to escape the visitor bustle and undertake a pleasant hour-long stroll to his underwhelming but humble honey brick birth house in Anchiano via a fine hiking trail. Under shaded trees and near farmyards to the sounds of twittering birds and alongside a peaceful stream, maybe Leonardo’s later ideas and inventions were formulated and stimulated along this very path. The views back on Vinci alone make the walk worthwhile.

At fourteen, Leonardo moved to Florence...

Photo Credit: Vinci map, parachute

Exploring the Big Four Canary Islands (Spain)

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Guest post by Amanda Hattersburg. Amanda writes about everything travel related focussing on Canary Islands holidays. She writes frequently on travel subjects and enjoys publishing guest articles.

Despite being a set of seven distinct islands, much of the tourism in the Canaries is centred on four of the islands.

Being the second largest of the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura boats a booming tourist economy. Although a quieter destination than other islands in the region, holiday makers are attracted by the wealth of opportunities for exploration here. The island is home to over 150 beaches and many archaeological sites: creating the perfect balance between exploring natural wonders and local history. The waters off the coast of the island are home to whales, dolphins, marlin and turtles; ensuring that underwater exploration is a must when visiting the island.

Tenerife has often been heralded as the party island in the region but there is much on the island to entice those looking for a little more from their trip. Holiday makers are able to visit such natural wonders as the volcanic crater of Mount Teide (photo above)and the cliffs of Los Gigantes, whilst those looking for some historical and cultural exploration will find a visit to Puerto de la Cruz is a must.

Individuals enjoying Canary Islands holidays will often wish to explore the natural habit of the island of Gran Canaria. The island has been described as a horticultural centre due to the countless plantations home to numerous species of plant and crop, but Gran Canaria also boasts huge sand dunes which can be explored to the full on the back of a camel. Not only are there countless natural features to the island but the bustling metropolis of Las Palmas enables tourists to explore the biggest city in the region. Las Palmas is home to various different local sports and at the right time of the year holiday makers can find the city in full swing during one of the many local festivals. This is the perfect time to explore the cultural heritage of this fascinating region.

The remaining of the big four islands in the region, Lanzarote, provides holiday makers with possibly the most interesting landscape to explore. The entire island has been designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve due to the unique volcanic landscape which is found here. A trip to the Fire Mountains will enable visitors to fully experience the wonders of this inhospitable landscape as they will be guided through the area on the back of a dromedary and will witness the earth seethe in places despite the area being officially described as dormant.

Whichever of these four islands is the chosen destination there is huge scope to explore one of the most interesting areas of the world.