Today is my first day not in Bamfield after four months in Bamfield. I’m very sad.
Well, also bonkers, over-the-moon ecstatic and grateful that I got to spend four months in this teeny coastal community at the end of the logging road on Vancouver Island, B.C., where mail arrives by boat, the night sky has stars, not streetlight, and you’ll meet as many bald eagles as people.
I grew up playing in tidepools, but Bamfield is where I began a richer exploration, understanding, and appreciation of the natural world thanks to the wonderful teachers I had at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. My life is so much richer for the outdoor education and experiences I had there. I hear with increasing frequency that people’s interest and exposure to the outdoors is on the decline*—this trend is a detriment to us all, not just the individual who rarely steps off a sidewalk.
*Nice introspection by marine biologist James Mortimer here, includes a list of articles and studies.
I say, visit Bamfield if you can—this gorgeous little corner of Barkley Sound is a special place. If you can’t, find your own little corner and connect with nature in whichever way floats your boat: hiking, mushroom-hunting, fishing, sitting on a bench, scaling cliff faces only a goat could love—whatever! I’ve roughly grouped my reasons for loving Bamfield as Adventures, Nature, and Outdoor Education. Today I’ll share some adventures. Enjoy! (and don’t tell my mom about the rope swing…)
Adventure #1: Swinging from trees. Your arms are stronger than you think, and you may not realize this till someone convinces you to run off a ledge holding a rope tied far above you to a tree—securely you hope, though I never remember to inquire till after I’ve stepped off the edge.
Adventure #2: Salvaging logs to make a chicken coop. Did you know you can, like, use the things you find washed-up on the beach for more than just looking pretty on a windowsill? It’s been years since I helped my dad salvage driftwood for the wood stove; I forgot there’s good lumber out there! And how ridiculously fun the hunt can be: scouting new beaches, running along logs, figuring out how to get them down the rocks and into the boat. I tagged along on a few log-hunting expeditions with friends, their goal to make their own chicken coop, starting with foraging their own supplies! Ingenious.
Adventure #3: Hiking. Walking through rainforest, a beach at the end of the trail. These beaches. Enough said.
Adventure #4: Getting up close to wildlife, especially by kayak. There is so much biodiversity and so many habitats to explore in Barkley Sound—giant trees and tons of mosses in the rainforest, birds overhead, seaweeds on the rocks, sea stars in the shallows and everyone’s favourite, the mammals. A kayak lets you get up close to all of these amazing creatures and explore every nook and cranny of the sea shore.
Adventure #5: Getting to play in the water. Whether going for a dive or lounging in Nature’s version of the infinity pool on a hot day, there’s quite so wonderful as playing in the ocean.
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