Circle North BC Tour

First Nations culture, fish, furs and gold rush fever—discover them all on this Northern BC tour. It’s just one option for exploring British Columbia, a province that’s bigger than Britain and France combined. Day trip or expedition, get out there and take a look. In this Okanagan Life article I circle north on Vancouver Island to take the BC Ferries Inside Passage route from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, then board another ferry for Haida Gwaii. Back on the mainland I check out the Museum of Northern BC in Prince Rupert and the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site in Port Edward. Heading inland along Hwy 16, stops include Ksan Historic Village and Museum in The Hazeltons and Fort St. James National Historic Site before heading south to wrap up the tour at historic Barkerville.

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Hacienda Dona Engracia – Puerto Vallarta

Here’s another excellent un-beach experience near Puerto Vallarta ~ Hacienda Dona Engracia. When we arrived, a Holland America shore excursion group was taking in an “authentic” Mexican experience of dancing and cowboy rope twirling, piñata bashing and tequila tasting. That was fine, but the hacienda also offers horseback riding and that’s what we were after.

Estero El Salado – Puerto Vallarta

An eco-reserve in the heart of Puerto Vallarta’s jam-packed hotel zone? Unbelievable, but that’s exactly what I found at Estero El Salado, one of the city’s newest and most unexpected attractions.

In spite of the traffic, it took only about five minutes to drive from our beachside hotel to the incongruously green haven separated by chain-link fence from the restaurants, shopping emporiums and high-rise resorts that crowd bustling Boulevard Francisco Medina Ascencio.