Day 7: 16 May 2017, Tuesday

After one night in Ottawa, it was time to move off yet again. We checked out of our apartment just after 9am and drove 82km to Parc Oméga, a safari park located roughly in between Ottawa and Montréal. KP had brought his family here before and they enjoyed it, so he recommended it to me.

The park’s opening hours and entrance fee vary according to the time of the year. When we visited, it was during the last few days of the winter/low season. The park opens at 10am during winter/low season, so when we arrived at 10:12am, we were one of its first visitors. The entrance fee was CAD$26.00 (S$26.91) for adults and CAD$24.00 (S$24.84) for senior citizens aged 65 and above, inclusive of taxes. Note that the sales tax rate here in Quebec province is 14.975%, higher than Ontario’s 13%.

After purchasing our tickets, we drove to the Park House, where we bought three packets of carrots to feed the animals. The carrots cost CAD$2.50 (S$2.60) per packet, but you can bring your own carrots if you wish. The ones sold at Parc Oméga were quite plentiful and one packet per person should be sufficient. No matter what, you need carrots or you will have nothing to feed the animals.

Parc Oméga is an open safari much like our Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. There are no cages but the enclosures are cleverly designed such that they form natural barriers and the animals can stay safely within the boundaries. Many of the animals such as deer and moose are allowed to roam freely within the grounds. The park is a drive-through experience and the car journey is on a 15km marked path. There are also a few walking trails and picnic areas where you can get off the car and stretch your legs.

Together with your entrance ticket, you will be given a coloured map of the grounds. You can see the map on the website here. The stops are numbered so you know where to go and what animals to expect. It was my first time experiencing a drive-through animal park so I was very excited.

Shortly after departing Park House, we had our first encounter with the deer. Two of them blocked our way and refused to move until we offered them carrots. As I nudged the car gently forward and wound down my car window halfway, the deer approached me and gleefully bit on the carrot. Ransom paid, they allowed us safe passage through to continue our journey.

Our first stop was at the First Nations Area, where there was a 0.7km trail that goes around a lake. The lake was quite pretty but we had seen some very beautiful lakes during our time at Algonquin Provincial Park already, so this was nothing to shout about.

Scattered along the trail were several totem poles. Totem poles are monumental carvings made of wood and they have a special significance in Canada. They have symbolic meanings and often relate to the relationship between man, nature and the environment.

Having gone through much longer and more beautiful trails at Algonquin, this First Nations Trail was nothing. We also didn’t see any animals during the trail. We sped through it and went back to our car, eager to see the other animals in the park.

It didn’t take long before we encountered more deer. They were all over the road and were waiting for us to feed them. The younger ones, especially, looked at you with doleful expressions and you just had to offer them a carrot. Some of the deer were quite large and it was a little intimidating when they approached our car. You should never wind down your car window fully. Just wind it down halfway at most, with a gap large enough to stick your carrot out of the window. Don’t let them stick their heads into the car because they tend to drool quite a bit too so you don’t want them to salivate all over you!

It was very fun as we got to see the animals up close, and I mean really up close. From near, we saw that the deer’s antlers were furry like a coat of velvet. I used to think that they were hard and smooth and I didn’t expect them to be furry. They looked so nice and I felt tempted to pet them. But of course, you should never do that because the deer may turn aggressive and attack you. Just feed them the carrots and don’t attempt to touch them. You should also stay in your vehicle at all times, except at the designated areas where you can alight.

Feed me!

After that, we saw the bison/buffaloes from a distance. They were really huge and were grazing happily on the grass. According to the Parc Oméga website, the male buffalo can weight up to one ton. Its weight and considerable strength make it a dangerous animal even without aggressive intentions. You are not allowed to feed the buffaloes. In any case, they kept their distance so you won’t be able to get too near them. They had quite an ugly coat of fur that was uneven and patchy, like a shaving job gone bad. Nevertheless, it was a treat to see these majestic creatures.

Moving on, we also saw the musk ox, which were quite similar to the buffalo but they had a thicker coat of fur.

We then stopped at Zone 11, the Colonization Area, where we got out of the car and walked among the countless deer. The deer were everywhere and they would follow you until you fed them. This is where you can take selfies with the deer. There was another trail here but we didn’t walk the trail. We then got back on our car and continued the journey.

We saw the arctic wolves, which were totally white and were very beautiful. I felt like the weather was too hot for them.

Up next were the Alpine Ibex, a type of mountain goat with impressive looking curved horns. They looked a bit scary because the pupils in their eyes were horizontal instead of vertical. Compared to the deer and caribou (reindeer), they were also much more aggressive. They had their hooves up and kicked our car when we did not feed them fast enough.

Finally, we saw the black bears at the end of the journey. They were quite far away initially but they came closer to us as we drove by. The bears had smooth and shiny coats of black fur and were very pretty.

In all, we spent about 1 hour 45 minutes on the car journey. We then went back to the Park House to have some lunch before heading to Montréal. Upon inspecting the car, I saw that there were several scratch marks on the door due to the hooves and prodding from the animals. Luckily it was a rented car and we had bought insurance to cover any damages. It’s not a place you would go when driving your own car for sure!

As we were leaving, we saw more visitors streaming into the park. I imagined how much carrots the animals were being fed with every day. I wondered if they would be over fed, and would they reject the carrots because they were too full? Therefore, the best is to arrive early in the morning when the park just opens, so that the animals are still responsive to your feeding.

At about 1pm, we left Parc Oméga for Montréal, some 130km away. KP was still at work so we would do some sightseeing on our own first before meeting up with him. We arrived Montréal at about 2:30pm and went to St. Joseph’s Oratory at Mont Royal.

St. Joseph’s Oratory is Canada’s largest church and its dome is the third largest of its kind in the world. It was completed in 1967, so it is relatively new compared to many of the basilicas I have visited. Indeed, its interior is much more modern and sparse, with its stark concrete walls giving it a minimalist look.

Located nearby is a tiny chapel painted in white and teal called Chapelle du frère André. Brother André Bessette (1845 – 1937) was said to have healed thousands of sick people through his devotion to Saint Joseph with oil ointment taken from a lamp. However, Brother André refused to take credit for the cures and instead, credited Saint Joseph for all the miracles. In 1904, Brother André campaigned to erect a chapel in honour of Saint Joseph, and that was how St. Joseph’s Oratory came about. Inside Chapelle du frère André, you can see many of the crutches lined up against the wall. These belonged to the handicapped people who were supposedly cured by Brother André.

At about 3:15pm, we left St. Joseph’s Oratory and proceeded to KP’s apartment at Boulevard Angrignon. KP was not off work yet so we went to the nearby shopping mall to while the time away. It was a suburban mall with quite a good range of shops, but I was sad to learn that the HMV store had closed down just a few months ago.

At about 5pm, KP came back from work, and he ushered us to his humble abode. It was a condominium apartment and it was very spacious because he had his family stay there with him for half a year before they went back to Singapore at the end of 2016. So KP had been staying alone there for the past five months and was glad to have some company too.

After depositing our suitcases in KP’s apartment, we drove our rented SUV to the nearby Enterprise office at LaSalle to return the car. We then picked up a smaller car, a Toyota Corolla, for our day trip to Quebec City tomorrow. Upon KP’s advice, we had opted for a smaller car because it was cheaper than the SUV, and we needed it only for a day.

After that, KP brought us to an excellent Chinese restaurant called Ping, which was just around the corner from the LaSalle office. KP had dined here with his family many times in the past, so he was familiar with the restaurant and the staff. We ordered a mushroom & egg soup, long beans with minced meat, sweet & sour pork and roasted chicken. The food was excellent and authentically Chinese, yummy!

We then popped by Walmart nearby for some grocery shopping before heading home. This was the first of our three nights in Montréal so we just took it easy. We were glad to reunite with KP once again. Thanks KP for offering us a shelter here in Montréal!