Going to the Calgary Zoo: Lions and Tigers and Scares (Oh My!)

Not the Only Dinosaurs

Story and photo by Stephen A. Nelson

Brandon Sun / Canadian Press

A lot of Canadians feel somewhat ambivalent about wild animals in captivity.

One the one hand, it seems just wrong to put migrating Beluga whales in an over-sized swimming pool or to put polar bears on artificial ice during a sweltering summer.

But Canadians also appreciate the value that a good space can have. They understand that the survival of some endangered species — Siberian tigers for example — depends on breeding programs like the ones at the Calgary Zoo. And zoos can help us understand the importance of preserving the wildlife habitat.

But there’s no denying the Calgary Zoo has been getting a lot of bad press in the past year. There’s been a string of high-profile animal deaths and some serious problems after stupid humans had close encounters with animals.

Depending on who you ask,these incidents are the result of either bad luck or bad management.

The zoo, for its part, says it’s made the necessary changes to ensure these kind of things never happen again.

So we wondered what to expect when we visited the Calgary Zoo for a “behind the scenes” experience. This walk and talk with the animals is a privilege that’s usually reserved for school children who want to make like Dr. Dolittle.

What we got was a warm reception from zoo keepers who were clearly concerned for the animals in their care. And despite some initial misgivings, we felt like big kids when we got to feed the giraffes.

We missed out on the other “big” thrill for school kids: helping the hippos to brush their teeth. These days though, brushing behemoths and giant giraffes are not the biggest attractions at the zoo.

The biggest draw is the Dinosaurs Alive area, where 20 animatronic giants turn a corner of the zoo into a kind of prehistoric park.

Of course, for grownups who saw the Jurassic Park movies, nothing short of a living, breathing T. Rex and a pair of crafty raptors will satisfy. But for kids, the roar of the mechanical “terrible lizards” was a big thrill — and sent the young ones scurrying to Mummy for cover.

Among the anachronistic animals, the Stegosaurus, Triceratops and even the Pterodactyl were particularly impressive. But our favourite was the T. Rex’s cousin, the Albertosaurus — which prompted someone to comment, “See! The Socreds aren’t the only things in Alberta that became extinct.”

Calgary Tower: You Can See the Canadian Rockies from the Centre of the City

Calgary Tower

Story and photo by Stephen A. Nelson

Brandon Sun /
Canadian Press

Practically in the centre of the city, the tower is the very symbol of Calgary, if not Alberta.

Sometimes Calgarians seem to take the tower for granted. But Calgary’s space needle boasts a panoramic bird’s eye view of the city and — on a clear day — a spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains.

A guided tour is a great way to get a new perspective on the city. In the space of half an hour, you'll get much greater appreciation and understanding of Calgary's culture and history. And you can figure out where you're going next.

Make sure you stop at the Tourism Calgary information centre at the base of the tower.

www.calgarytower.com

Calgary Cultural District /
Calgary Arts Development

Headquartered a stone's throw from the Calgary Tower, this group acts as a central hub for the arts in the city. It is a happening place, especially for those people who say Calgary has no culture.

On the first Thursday of each month, they organize First Thursday — featuring free arts and music events around downtown Calgary.

 www.calgaryartsdevelopment.com

www.calgaryculture.com

CALGARY'S CULTURE CACHE: GLENBOW MUSEUM

It's Around Here Somewhere:
This is Indian Land

Story and photo by Stephen A. Nelson

Brandon Sun / Canadian Press

The Glenbow Museum is just a stone’s throw from the Calgary Tower. And, as the jewel in Calgary’s cultural crown, you’d think it would be hard to miss.

Unfortunately, people seem to miss it all the time. Located in a nondescript, almost windowless edifice that looks like a mall/office building, we walked past the place twice before figuring out that you had to go into the “mall” to find the museum’s entrance.

Once inside the museum, we were glad we’d persevered — and wondered why we’d never been here before.

The star attraction of the Glenbow is the Blackfoot Gallery — featuring the story of this area’s first peoples, as told by the descendants of those tribes and nations that made up the Blackfoot Confederacy.

Of course, it’s a long and complex story and it would probably be best told over several nights. Ideally, it would be told by real storytellers to a real audience, sitting around a real campfire.

But the Glenbow has made an admirable attempt at working with the Blackfoot to help them tell their own stories through voice and video recordings, photographs and artifacts.

And we did get some insight into Blackfoot culture and history — from the beautiful stories of Creation to the horror stories of the residential schools.

Sometimes the story seems a bit simplified or uneven — like learning Biblical history from “Mysteries of the Bible” on A&E.

Still, of all the exhibits at the Glenbow, this seems to be the most careful, most complete, most “correct.” If other exhibits were done as well, you couldn’t hide this jewel for long.

Sands of Awaji-shima - Awaji Island (淡路島) Japan - First born of the gods

Photo and story by Stephen A. Nelson

This is a small island connected to the main island of Awaji, in central Japan.

 It's in the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea between the islands of Honshu and Shikoku - so it's a relatively short boat ride from the port city of Kobe.

It is connected to Kobe by the longest suspension bridge in the world - even though that bridge collapsed during the 1995 earthquake that flattened much of downtown Kobe. The fault that caused the earthquake cuts right across Awaji-shima.

  

In the Japanese Shinto creation mythology, Awaji was the first of the oyashima islands born from the union of two Japanese deities, Izanagi and Izanami.

So it's an important place in Shinto, as well as a centre for a 500-year old form of puppet theatre that has its roots in religious ceremony.