Bat Caves and Ziplining at Arbraska Lafleche

As frequent readers of the blog may know, I am someone who greatly enjoys outdoor tourism. From ziplining, to kayaking, I feel like there are few things I have yet to check off my bucket list. Something I hadn't done before this weekend is spelunking, more commonly known as cave exploration. Luckily,I was able to not only ride a zipline for this weekend’s excursion at Arbraska Lafleche, I also visited my first cave- and because it's hibernation season, I wasn’t alone in it.

Upon our arrival, we were warmly greeted by the staff of Arbraska Lafleche. We met our guide, who gave us our helmets, ready to bring us to the cave. He led the way, educating us about how caves form and the geology of the area. After a short walk, we arrived at Gatineau’s puncture in the Canadian Shield: Caverne Lafleche.

We entered through a man-made tunnel, dodging ice stalactites and stalagmites. Our guide then opened the door, at which point we turned on the flashlights and walked in. Almost immediately, I looked up and saw a bat!  It was half the size of my hand, black, covered in frost and hanging upside down directly above my head. As I looked forward, dozens more bats were revealed, scattered in miscellaneous clumps on the cave ceiling, all deep in hibernation. A spooky sight to some, but definitely a rare glimpse into this part of nature.

We continued walking through the cave, seeing some small lakes along the way. Throughout the tour, our guide informed us on bats, the history of the cave, and some more geology. At one point, I was allowed to squeeze into a small tunnel that led to a chamber with more water, and carvings from explorers that had been there decades earlier.

We then made our way up a steep metallic staircase, where we entered another chamber. It was here that our guide got us to turn off our lights and experience what the cave is really like: pitch black and silent, with occasional interruptions from dripping water and chirps from half-sleeping bats.

With that perspective into the subterranean world, we returned to the sun’s domain, at which point I continued my vertical ascent to Arbraska Lafleche’s zip line. The zipline overlooked the lake that is connected to the cavern water, with a beautiful view of Canadian shield mountains covered in evergreens. Once it was my turn to go, I jumped off the platform and flew through the air above the scenic park, just as the bats below me will in the spring. A fitting end to a great visit. 

From the depths of the earth, to the thrills of the sky, I had a wonderful time at Arbraska Lafleche. On top of cave tours and ziplining, the park also offers hiking (snowshoeing in certain conditions) and a full zipline-powered aerial trek in the forest. These are all suitable for ages 5+. There is also a night trek via zipline for ages 16+. For more information, click here.

David is a fifteen-year-old aspiring adventure and travel writer living in Ottawa.  Skydiving is on his bucket list. He received a complimentary ticket for this post, but all views are his own.

Activities for teens: Zero Latency VR

Welcome back our teen blogger David who got to experience playing some first-person shooter games in VR at Zero Latency VR recently.

As a 15 year old teen, pretty much everyone I know loves to play video games, particularly first person shooters. From Call of Duty, to Counter-Strike, these games are a staple of modern teenagehood. However, sitting on a couch with a controller in hand can get boring after a while, and eventually there comes a craving for something more immersive. This is why I invited three of my friends to try out Zero Latency VR over the weekend.

We arrived at the VR place and met Milad, the manager who greeted us warmly. We took off our shoes and were shown a quick video about the rules and instructions of the experience. My friends and I were then given headsets (including headphones) and were taken into a spacious room. This gave us the ability to walk freely without crashing into each other. Just in case we did, an alarm would go off when we got too close to another player or a wall. It was now time to start the first game. 

We commenced the experience with Engineerium, a collaborative non-violent game where we had to traverse a floating path and reach the orb of friendship. My friends and I immediately realized how immersive this game was. When a path went up, down or twisted, it would feel as if the floor was on an incline, despite remaining perfectly flat. This led to more than one of us falling down at certain points. After a tumultuous but incredibly entertaining first game, we moved on to the shooter game- Undead Arena.

Between the two games, we were given guns that we would use to shoot at zombies that would come from all directions. As soon as Undead Arena began, I felt as if I had been transported into another world. There was something about moving your body with the game that made it feel more realistic than any Xbox could accomplish. My friends and I spent the next 30 minutes screaming, moving around the room and shooting a lot of zombies. It was one of the most intense half hours I ever experienced. 

Once the game was over, we took off our headsets and had the chance to see some footage from our experience. It turns out that while I thought I looked like Scarface when shooting zombies, I looked a lot sillier on the outside. It was clear that, while in an empty room, my friends and I were 100% immersed in the fight against zombies, a testament to the quality of Zero Latency’s operation. All in all, we had a great time playing one of the most engaging video games we ever had. 
If you want to shoot bad guys in a hyper realistic simulation with your friends, Zero Latency VR offers five unique shooter games plus Engineerium. From zombies in Undead Arena and Outbreak, to criminals in Far Cry, Zero Latency offers an exciting variety of environments and enemies to play in. Maximum capacity per booking is up to 8 people. The recommended age is 13+. The cost starts at approximately $55/person. For more information, click here.

David and his friends received free passes to play at Zero Latency but all thoughts are his own.

A Walk with the Alpacas at Maple Hill Urban Farm

Welcome back our teen blogger David, as he visits Maple Hill Urban Farm and takes a walk with April the Alpaca

David walking down a path with two alpacas

I have always considered alpacas the most underrated domesticated animals. They are very friendly and docile creatures, perfectly suitable for young children and families. I find them to be smart enough that you can get meaningful interaction with them like a dog, and with fur that is great for petting, like a sheep. When I heard of a place in the NCC greenbelt that offered tours where you can walk an alpaca, I was all for it.

We arrived at Maple Hill Urban Farm and met Don, the owner. We entered the stables and met our alpacas. Mine was named April. We grabbed onto their leashes, and brought them out. I quickly learned that April had a rebellious personality (though Don mentioned they adopt the personality of their handler), with a resistance to walking with me. I finally managed to get her moving, and we began trekking down the trail.

While walking with my alpaca, I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the farm while petting its soft fur. Don mentioned that the Alpaca walk can be very therapeutic for visitors with special needs and young children. After walking on the gravel path for a while, we went onto a small bridge. For some reason, my alpaca totally switched its personality and enthusiastically ran in front of me to get to the other side. I went from dragging April around to having April drag me! It was an incredible experience to spend time with my alpaca and look around the Maple Hill property.

After putting our alpacas back in the stables, we got to visit more of the farm. First off, we fed some cows pita bread, which they calmly munched out of our hands. We then visited a pig pen, and petted the small hogs as they devoured scraps. Finally, we got to see a grain silo from the 1930s. Apparently, it has had many uses since then- including serving as an illegal marijuana planting spot. All in all, I had a great time at Maple Hill Farm, from spending time up close with one of my favourite animals to seeing the other aspects of farm life.

If you also want to walk an alpaca, Maple Hill Farm will be open most days during business hours. For more information, click here.

Price:

$60 for 2 adults

~extra children 5-12 yrs old add $10

~extra adults add $15

~Toddlers are free with strict adult supervision

Location: Maple Hill Urban Farm is located at 200 Moodie Drive

Additional info: Tours last 45 minutes. Please arrive 10 minutes before your tour time. Children are welcome but must be accompanied at all times. There is a clean outhouse available. Alpaca walks are available in all season.

David is a fifteen-year-old aspiring adventure and travel writer living in Ottawa.  Skydiving is on his bucket list. He received a complimentary ticket for this post, but all views are his own.

Haunted Walk Ottawa - Activities for Teens

Friday October 13. The haunted day and the month of fear meet around once every seven years. While I may not be a superstitious person, it's hard not to see the significance of this spooky calendar event. What better way to spend it than at one of the most iconic Halloween attractions in the city- a haunted tour of the Bytown Museum?

We arrived on Sparks Street at 7 pm, ready for our tour. Our guide was wearing an ominous black robe, setting the mood for the experience that lay ahead. We set off, walking by city hall and listening to our first spooky story next to the Rideau Canal. The stories our guide told were historical anecdotes of mysterious ghostly phenomena around the area, including the Chateau Laurier. After walking down the locks, we arrived at our main destination- the Bytown Museum. 

The museum is a small brick building, reminiscent of Ottawa’s early days. We made our way in and sat down to hear our first ghost story, recounting how the ghost of Colonel John By haunts the building. We then made our way upstairs to the first exhibition room.

In the exhibition room, there was a full collection of artifacts dating back to the mid-19th century. Among them was the cast of Thomas D’Arcy McGee’s hand; an improvisation due to the fact that his face was too mutilated to make a death mask. I was quickly finding this tour to be an exploration of Ottawa’s early history with a creepy twist. 

We continued walking through more of the museum's displays, with each coming with a scary story. Finally, we arrived at the last room- the vault of the building. It was in this room that important weapons were stored. We cycled through it, as our guide told one last story about the many construction workers for the Rideau Canal that perished. A chilling end to a ghost tour.

If you want to see the city in a scarier manner than ever before, check out Haunted Walks’ ghost tours. On top of the Bytown museum, they offer the original haunted walk (downtown), Beechwood Cemetery, former prime minister Mackenzie’s estate and, for the last season ever, an abandoned jail. The original, Mackenzie’s estate and jail tours are available in French. The Haunted Walk also has tours in Kingston and Toronto. For more information, click here.

David is a fifteen-year-old aspiring adventure and travel writer living in Ottawa.  Skydiving is on his bucket list. He received a complimentary ticket for this post, but all views are his own.

Activities for Teens: Escape Room Lockdown Ottawa

Like most high school students, I have a firm separation between fun and tests of intelligence. A math quiz is not exactly my idea of a relaxing Friday evening, and it doesn’t take much thinking to go to the movies. Work and play don’t mix for me… with one exception. I find escape rooms to be a thrilling test of the mind that I can enjoy with friends. That's why I chose Lockdown Ottawa’s Trudeau Towers for my most recent outing.

As soon as we entered the building, we were excited to check out the escape room. My friends and I climbed down the metallic stairs in the windowless structure and checked in. We were then taken to another floor and shown a video about the story behind our escape room. The plot for us was that we were visiting Trudeau Towers, Ottawa’s newest luxury hotel. The guide then showed us into what appeared to be an elevator and closed the door.

Suddenly, the lights went out as we were left confused for around 10 seconds. When they turned on, an announcer over the speakers revealed that our elevator was stuck and we had 45 minutes to diffuse a bomb before it went off. Just like that, our puzzle-solving began.

Obviously, I cannot reveal how to solve the escape room or give too many details. The clues consisted of riddles and various creative contraptions. Each clue lead to the combination key of a lock that would open up another clue. We had to work together as a team to figure out how to solve the escape room.

As the game progressed, we used the walkie-talkie for one of our limited hints and eventually opened a trap door connected to a crawl space. As the clock wound down and the bomb came closer to detonating, we organized ourselves into different roles to solve the clues more efficiently. Just as we were close to solving the second last clue, the door opened and our guide revealed that the bomb had gone off. 

While we weren’t able to escape before the clock ran out, we had a great time solving clues and working together. We were impressed by the creative ways we were supposed to find lock combinations and how engaging the design of our escape room ones. My friends and I will be sure to check out another one of Lockdown Ottawa’s escape rooms sometime in the future. 

Lockdown Ottawa offers 5 different escape rooms, each with different themes. For a Halloween themed escape, check out their CarnEvil room. The other available themes are hockey, time travel and aliens. Unlike many other escape rooms, the cost for these rooms are a flat rate of $109+HST regardless of number of players (which ranges from 2-6.) For more information, click here.

David is a fifteen-year-old aspiring adventure and travel writer living in Ottawa.  Skydiving is on his bucket list. He received a complimentary ticket for this post, but all views are his own.