Travel Alert--Remember to take passports to any of the Caribbean, Central American, Mexican, and Canadian locations. Even children traveling with their parents need passports.

Manitoba, the Province for a great outdoor adventure, borders Minnesota and North Dakota and has “majestic” rivers, lakes, forests, desert dunes, Arctic coastline, islands, and escarpment with miles of trails. The Manitoba escarpment dominates central Manitoba and has terraced ridges that separate the rolling western plateau from the Red River Valley. It has glacial origins and remnants of a large inland lake that stretches south to include the Dakotas, connecting Canada and the United States with a unique geological formation. In North and South Dakota, it is called the Pembina Escarpment. Young scientists and geologists love exploring the Manitoba and Pembina Escarpments.

Manitoba is an easy province to access either by the scenic Trans-Canada Highway, I-29, which follows the Red River from the Dakotas, and air to Winnipeg. When preparing for a trip to Manitoba, pack a passport, camera with many rolls of color film, paddles, binoculars, beach wear, golf clubs, and gear for hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping.

For eco-tourists, the Manitoba prairie seems like a vast sea of waving grasses with golden wheat, lavender flax, and yellow canola-almost an impressionistic painting. Along the sand dunes, pincushion cacti dot the slopes, rugged gorges, and steep terraces of the Manitoba Escarpment. Moving north eco-tourists can find parklands of aspen and ancient forests that border tundra before it reaches the Hudson Bay.

Winnipeg, the capital city, is sophisticated with many fine restaurants, shops, galleries, and hotels. Winnipeg also celebrates its multicultural heritage that includes the people of the first nations, French, English, Icelandic, and Slavic. Additionally, the metropolis of Winnipeg is only minutes away from Lake Winnipeg and provincial parks for hiking and camping. There are also swift running rivers and streams for canoers and kayakers. Lake Manitoba and other scenic lakes including, Dauphin, Winnipegosis, Cedar, and North and South Moose, are northwest of Winnipeg and only a few of the 100,000 lakes that are waiting for outdoor adventurers to explore. The lakes, marshes, and rivers of Manitoba are world renown for their sports fishing. Some outfitters use seaplanes to access their best fishing spots.

Over 300 species of birds go to Manitoba because of its many lakes and rivers. Eco-tourists find the Province a perfect wild-life watching destination. Besides the many bird species, Manitoba has "high densities" of moose, elk, black bear, wolves, fox, and beaver. Near the Hudson Bay, wildlife watchers can view polar bear, beluga whale, artic fox, and ptarmigan. Many eco-tourists enjoy flying into Churchill to search out polar bear.

Golfers enjoy Manitoba as a "golfing trail" destination, driving from one fabulous golf course to another.

Manitoba is a hunters' paradise. The Province draws hunters from throughout Canada and the United States. One visitor commented that she was the only non-hunter on the airplane from Chicago!!

Other interesting side trips:

• For an extreme outdoor adventure, paddle from Minnesota or Ontario to Manitoba-portage and eat fish along the way.
• Explore the Escarpments, starting near Fargo.
• Follow the Trans-Canada Highway from east to west and visit all the Provinces