Untouched Okanagan

Thompson Okanagan, Canada

Going through all my photos for Kelowna I was surprised at how many were so beautiful straight out of the camera. I rarely take landscape photos because they end up being masses of boring green and blues.

But wow the region is beautiful. It is technically a desert but everything is so lush and the colours are so vibrant.

While I came to the area to do a wine tour I felt if I hadn’t shared photos of the land I would have left out such an important part of why I loved my time here.

This last image is from Spotted Lake in Osoyoos. It is part of a protected grasslands area and the minerals cause the rings. I have never seen anything like this in Canada or anywhere else. But what really drew me to this lake was that it is known as Klikuk by the First Nations people who believed in its healing properties. They were right there are high concentrations of salts, titanium, calcium, sulphates and other minerals.

I also learned that British Columbia has its own organization to promote Aboriginal tourism. Since visiting Crow Fair in Montana and contemplating what little I know of my own country I am going to try to get back here in next year. While the wine is enough reason to come I feel like there’s so much opportunity to do more here.

Disclosure: I was a guest of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association. They did not request that I write a favourable review or start mentally planning a new trip while in the midst of my first one.