Whooshing wonder of nature
We've been looking forward to this for a long time! On the border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York, there is a magnificent natural wonder, the Niagara Falls.
After the exhausting Toronto we stay for three nights at the beautiful Sunset Beach in St. Catherines, a small village about 20km away from the falls. Nomen est Omen! Every evening we experience a sunset of the extra class. The course is simply perfect, as it has a small but fine sandy beach and refreshing Lake Ontario on the one hand, and is away from the tourist crowds on the other. And all this for free!
A good opportunity to not only visit the waterfalls, but also to take care of other necessities such as oil changes, washing clothes and replenishing food supplies.
We visit the Falls for the first time in the evening and buy the Niagara Adventure Pass (75 CAD p.p. = 56 CHF) with four included attractions (nothing else to indulge in...). After the first admiration of the impressive water masses that plunge into the depths on the opposite side of the Niagara River, we immediately join the line for a tour with the "Hornblower". Our plan works out, the rush is limited shortly before the end of the day and we can go directly to one of the last ships, which will bring us very close to the falls. Before the entrance we get red plastic rule coats to put on (are recycled by the way).
Fully loaded with funny-looking red males, the hornblower drives off and tells us some facts about the American Falls, while we pass the part of the cases on the US side, before we advance to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. At that moment, the "Maid of the Mist", the counterpart of the Americans, is approaching us. You can tell by the blue wrapped passengers. Dripping faces and joyfully waving arms peep out from under the plastic.
Here we can already feel a slight breeze and individual drops in our faces. With every meter we approach the wall of water, we get to feel this force of nature more and more. Until we come to a cone where the water splashes from all sides and a strong wind blows. Impossible to talk to each other here. This experience is truly breathtaking.
The next morning we belong to the group "Früher Vogel", because we learned that with the Canadians nothing works before 9.00 o'clock and the early morning hours are the best time to visit a sight in peace. So we have the cases practically to ourselves.
The other three attractions of our pass are "Niagara's Fury". There we get told by Mister Flat-Tail (by profession beaver 😊) the origin history of the Niagara Falls. Then we do the "Journey behind the Falls". There is a tunnel behind Horseshoe Falls, which gives you the opportunity to see the wet spectacle from a different perspective. Last but not least, the shuttle bus (included in the pass) takes us to the "White Water Walk", where category 6 rapids can be found. That means you don't want to get into it voluntarily.
However, there were various "Daredevils", who were already in the 19th century death-defyingly in the floods... and died in the process. As far as I can remember, only one man has survived this action by swimming through the Rapids without any aids. The most famous sensational artist, however, was Annie Taylor, who had herself packed into an oak barrel in 1901 and dared the ride down the 53m high Horseshoe Falls...and survived.
Of course there is also the obligatory snapshot in front of a green wall at the Niagara Falls, as well as at any other attractions, which you can buy printed out for expensive money after visiting the souvenir shop. In the picture here you are back in Madame Taylor's oak barrel.
What else is there to say? From the Canadian side you definitely have a better view of the cases than from the US side. What bothered us at the beginning was that around a masterpiece created by nature, a huge city was built with casinos, hotels and whatnot. However, during our visit we learned that the cases have been "marketed" for over 150 years and that money-making has a tradition, so to speak. For all those who don't want an adrenaline rush or any other special tour, the rushing miracle is still available free of charge.