You Never Know Who You'll Meet En Route

It was two years ago- in the summer of '07 - while en route to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro that I ran into some new friends. While standing to check into our flight heading from London to Ethiopia's capital city- Addis Ababa, I couldn't help but wonder just how I knew the guy standing beside me. And than it clicked- it was TV host an animal expert Jack Hanna, who you'll know from his regular appearances on David Letterman, Ellen and his Emmy winning show "Into the Wild." Hanna and his wife Suzi were traveling to Rawanda to produce a documentary with Natalie Portman on the famed Silverback Gorilla's.

With our flight cancelled and our schedule's delayed Jack, Suzi, myself and my travel mates Sue Lambert and Colin Herbert had the chance to share some laughs and time while traveling south to our destinations.

We stayed in touch and that meet and greet turned into some additional adventures. Over the next year and a half I worked with Travel Alberta and a host of folks who helped to produce a stellar road trip featuring some of the best of the best of what this Province has to offer in terms of wildlife. It was just through August Jack, Suzi and the team from Spectrum Productions traveled together through Alberta, Canada filming episodes for upcoming episodes of Into the Wild.

And I joined them.

Follow along through these daily dispatches as we cover some of this province's top adventures.

For more on Alberta and all is adventures check out Travel Alberta's website

A History with Critters

It was at 11 years of age that Hanna discovered his passion. Cleaning out cages at his local zoo in his native state of Tennessee, little did America's most famous zoo keeper know that the work on the number two’s was going to take him so far. Fast forward to today and now his passion for animals, their education and conservation has taken him around the world and develop a TV career delivering his message to millions weekly around the world. It was in 1985 that David Letterman first invited him on set, which opened up the door for a TV series of his own- Zoo Life with Jack Hanna and than into Animal Adventures (now in cydication with re-runs running seen in 40 countries). It’s his latest work he’s now most proud of with, Spectrum Production’s Into the Wild winner of a Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Series (2008).

The purpose of his time in Alberta was for him and his crew to shoot three episodes for upcoming episodes of Into the Wild

Innisfail Discoveries

Our travels through Alberta shooting episodes for upcoming episodes of Jack Hanna's Into the Wild next took us into Innisfail- in the heart of the province.

Boston Pizza is known for great food, but did you know it was also a great place to meet animal enthusiasts.

“Walking through the doors of BP’s, as it’s commonly known, we discovered Deb Rowland & Doug Bos, owners of the Wilderness Discovery Park in Innisfail AB- about an hour outside of Calgary. “The educational part is outstanding, where else can you get this close and personal with a bear and have the chance to listen and learn about bear safety and education,” said a very enthusiast Jack Hanna about our discovery of the park. “People don’t get it until they see it on TV; they need to see something not in a brochure or a piece of paper. What we need to do is get the Park Service folks up here and construct a video of how to right there,” exclaimed Hanna.

“I feel badly for people when I hear them say they don’t go hiking because they are scared of bears. At a place like this you are able to get educated,” said Suzi Hanna about the daily bear show’s the facility hosts as part of anyone’s day here at the Park.

“You would loose the wonder if you didn’t have creatures like bears and cougars in the wild, they provide an element of excitement. The chance you will see them in very small, but it heightens the experience. You have to make smart choices, like never hiking alone and always making noise,” said Suzi.

This park is home to 13 bears from Grizzly to even black Brown Bears. It’s important to know your bear tips. It comes down to education, and knowing about the animal so you appreciate at it more. "Without there animals in our wildlife, it wouldn’t be wildlife, it would take out some of the wonder," said Suzi. You may recognize the Grizzly in the shot with Jack and Suzi, can be seen in the movie Anchorman with Will Farrow.