>Anticosti Island, Québec
© 2001 Robert A. Mackall
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Anticosti Island is big and sits in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. You can't miss it. It is 138 miles (222 km) long and 28 miles (45 km) wide and therefore nearly identical to Long Island, NY except that only 335 people live on Anticosti. With its herd of 120,000 Virginia white tail deer, it is a Valhalla for hunters. It is also a land of great ecological wealth, breathtaking natural beauty and once the playground of France's greatest chocolate magnate. It is for the last three reasons that we are visiting Anticosti Island.On Friday, at our evening meeting, we learn about the "geological" Anticosti, its abundance of fossil material and the forces that created the sedimentary layers through which was cut Vaurèal Falls. We are encouraged to hunt along the seashore for these millions of years old fossils and keep them if we find any. In addition we will be visiting the museum of Henry Menier, the French chocolate king and one time owner of all of Anticosti Island.
At dawn we find ourselves at anchor off Rivière-aux-Saumon in the northeast corner of Île d'Anticosti . After breakfast (we hardy adventurers go nowhere without one of Sylvie's breakfasts) we pickup a box lunch in the lounge and are tendered ashore at Safari Anticosti Outfitters Here we will have the opportunity for hiking and fossil hunting until later in the morning when we will board another yellow school bus and begin our adventure into the interior. As we are landing ashore there are big salmon jumping in the river.
The school bus is fine; it's the road that's bumpy. As we head out over a gravel road that runs the length of the island, the dominate landscape is trees and rocks and more trees and rocks. Although there have been some attempts, cultivation of the soil appears impossible. We have with us two guides from Safari Anticosti who provide a running commentary about this unique island. Marie Odile and Marie Jöelle are also with us and they are able to help us with some needed translations. We pass the Aeroport de Rivière-aux-Salmon which is purported to be capable of handling 747 jetliners. Airport is too strong a word here; it's just a long concrete runway and an outbuilding. Both of which are unexpected in the middle of all these trees and rocks. Soon we stop for lunch at a small waterfall and are torn between Sylvie's packed lunch and exploring the river and eroded landscape. The neat thing about Anticosti is the completely level layers of sedimentary rock. it's like a several million year layer cake.After lunch it's back on the bus and off to Vaurèal Falls which are magnificent and worth the bumpy ride. We spend our visit going back and forth between two lookout spots trying to get that great picture and wondering why we didn't bring the video camera. Our return to Safari Anticosti was uneventual and left us with an abundance of time to explore the Henry Menier Museum, the fossil museum and hike the the woods and shore of Anticosti Island. We noted numerous works of art; metalwork, woodworking, and sculptures, throughout the Safari Anticosti compound. One of which is shown at the top of this page. It was explained to us that artists were allowed to come to Anticosti and stay in one of the rustic cabins gratis if a work of art was left behind. Trés, trés chouette. We are ferried back to the mother ship in the zodiac as the tide had gone out and did not allow enough draft to get the big launch back in to pick us up... a somewhat slow and tedious exercise but one that allowed us even more time for exploring the shoreline. And then Victoria bought us all a drink. Victoria is the best!
Tomorrow's adventure is at Quarry Island in the Mingan Archipelago. So this evening's talk is about the flora and fauna and birds of the Mingan. Marie-Joële has prepared a special PowerPoint presentation that covers everything that we will see and do tomorrow. In addition she is making a special private presentation in English for us few anglophone passengers. We really can't say enough how both Marie-Joële and Marie-Odile have gone out of their way to make certain that we were informed, happy and included in all the activities on this trip. We hope that someday they will come and visit so that we can repay their kindnesses.
Bob is the Distance Learning Facilitator at the local secondary school in Buxton. In that capacity he delivers a course in French I and II. Thirty-something years ago Bob was studying French in prep school and later at Boston University. This trip was to be a proving ground for his linquistic prowness. At dinner this evening in discussing everyone's various fossil finds on Anticosti, Bob noted in his very best French that Katie did not need a fossil from Anticosti Island because he was a "Vieux Fossile" (an old fossil). There was silence and confused looks at the table until one gentleman broke the ice and asked why Bob had called himself a "Vieux Faux Cil" - an Old False Eyelash.Related Links for Anticosti Island
