Museums and Freemasons
The bulk of the itinerary was devoted to museums and
One of the most fascinating things we did was take a
historical attractions, a category in which Winnipeg excels.
Hermetic Code Tour at the Manitoba Legislative Building.
Two of the city’s top destinations are the Canadian Museum
Our knowledgeable guide regaled us with facts and stories
for Human Rights and the Manitoba Museum. The former is
about Frank Albo, an architectural historian and expert on
a dazzling glass and stone building that opened in 2014, and
Freemasonry, and the decade’s worth of research he did on
the latter is a sprawling downtown attrac-
the symbols, secrets and significance of
Canadian Museum
tion that is part history museum, part sci-
the neoclassical building.
for Human Rights
ence museum and part planetarium.
As we saw examples of numerical
The world’s only museum dedicated to
symbolism and learned the impor-
the exploration of human rights presents
tance of the angles of certain statues
stories of violation, resistance, resilience
and windows throughout the capitol,
and tolerance from Canada and around
it felt like we’d walked on to the movie
the world. There are a number of inter-
set of the Winnipeg version of “The Da
active components throughout the 12
Vinci Code.” I came away fascinated and
galleries, and groups could easily devote
slightly puzzled, and mos tly feeling that
far more than the two hours we spent to
the Freemasons may rival the ancient
ensure they have time to fully explore it.
Egyptians regarding the amount of atten-
The themed galleries at the Manitoba
tion they pay to architectural detail.
Museum provided a wide-ranging look at different aspects of the
We also stopped at Lower Fort Garry National Historic
province’s history—both human and natural. While our guide pro-
Site, where re-enactor programs and period buildings offer a
vided good snapshots of key moments in Manitoba’s development, look at what life was like for the trappers and traders of the
including the major roles the Hudson Bay Company and the North
Hudson’s Bay Company during the 1850s. And we toured the
West Company played in making the area a trading hub, I felt
Royal Canadian Mint, which has produced coins for dozens of
we only scratched the surface of all that the museum offers.
countries around the world.
We left the city behind one morning to pay a visit to Oak
Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre, which is located 30 min-
utes north of Winnipeg. This bird-watching hot spot is home
to more than 300 species and welcomes up to 100,000 water-
fowl a day during migration months.
One of Oak Hammock’s research projects is a bird tracking
program. We met with the coordinator, who showed us the
steps that volunteers take to evaluate the health of the birds
and tag them before releasing them back into the wild—pre-
suming everything checks out OK. While I’ve never had much
interest in birding, getting to hold one of the tiny creatures in
my hand before she flew off was cool.
We also took a 30-minute paddling tour around a small
wetland near the visitor center. Our guide said he’d never had
anyone fall overboard and, although you’d only plummet four
feet, I was happy we kept that string intact.
On the final day
during our breakfast
at the Fort Garry Hotel,
Spa and Conference
Centre, I ask Sarah
about getting a ride
to FortWhyteAlive to
do one of their bison
safaris, as I had a few
hours before I needed
to head to the air-
Bird releasing program at Oak
Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre
port. While we were
24
October 2017
Bison at FortWhyteAlive
discussing the details, the tour operators in the group decided
they had time and would like to come along.
Sarah worked it out with the motorcoach company for us to
keep the bus for a couple more hours and texted the attraction’s
Kalyn Murdock, who said it was no problem for more people to
join the tour. The main activity once we arrived was riding out
to a pond, where we got an up-close look at a herd of around 20
grazing bison. The 90-minute visit at FortWhyteAlive—during
which I found it hard to stop snapping pictures of the playful
giants—seemed like a perfect way to close the trip.
As I headed to the airport and was reflecting on that unex-
pected, cherry-on-the-top stop to see the bison, I couldn’t help but
wonder what other memorable Winnipeg experiences I missed.
Guess I’ll find out the next time I visit the city. Who
knows, I might even try and schedule in a couple of days to
go to Churchill.
Bison and birds and other natural things