Kamloops – the Oasis in the Desert

The drive from Clearwater to Kamloops takes you directly from the green mountain forests to a desert-like landscape. It is such a striking change, we barely could believe we were still in Canada and just travelled around 100 km south. Kamloops and its huge lake appear like an oasis in the desert. The lack of rainfall is due to its location in the rain shadow of the Coast Mountains in the west and the Rocky Mountains in the east. There are also plenty of “hoodoos” to see. In this area, they are earth pyramids, composed of compacted soil deposited in former glacier lakes. We hiked up the Cinnamon Ridge to have a closer look. It’s a really dry but fascinating scenery, and it’s actually cinnamon-coloured.

The downtown of Kamloops is rather underwhelming but the Riverside Park is nice. There was a busker festival taking place and it was fun to watch some performances. We had lunch at Kekuli Café which serves indigenous food. The traditional bannock bread was delicious, especially the sweets.

Though the highlight of the day was the Kamloops Wildlife Centre. We could see lots of animals we already spotted in the wild, like black bears and mountain goats. The Grizzlies were busy digging a huge hole near the fence, so maybe they’re planning their escape…? The arctic wolves were really pretty and even a cougar was showing itself. At the entrance, on of the park rangers had a burrowing owl outside on her arm, which looked cute. But the Kermode bear was the best. When we arrived at its enclosure, it was right in front of the window. Kermode bears only live in a small area at the coast of British Columbia and they’re actually black bears with white fur because they lack a gene to produce melanin. It looks beautiful, though!