Lecture trip through Canada in may 2019 – from Hanover to Winnipeg

Hannover to Winnipeg

My lecture trip through Canada began with the flight from Hanover to Winnipeg. And here I almost got the first problems. We landed in Toronto on time, but then we had to wait more than 30 minutes on the taxiway until our plane got a place at a gate. But then it got really close with the boarding for my flight to Winnipeg, because I had to wait for my luggage (despite the “priority” label!), to go through customs with it, to check it in immediately…
But luckily my flight to winnipeg had enough delay, so I even had to wait at the gate.

In Winnipeg

In Winnipeg I was already warmly welcomed by my friend Spencer Jack and his girlfriend Jenn at the baggage carousel. Since I had been on my feet all day and there was nothing good to eat in the plane, we made our way to the next Hooters 😉 Strengthened we went home to Spencer & Jen. In my room a huge welcome in Canada plate full of sweets, Canada socks and a Canada coffee cup awaits me. That was really great.

The next morning we went to Spencers store. There I was able to settle in comfortably. After visiting the whole shop I started to prepare the lectures (I learned too much from Ingo 😉…) in my “canadian office”😉. In the evening we were going back home, and after a nice BBQ I went to bed early. After the long journey (more than 25 hours) this was urgently necessary.

After a hearty breakfast at McDonalds we went back to the shop on Thursday. In the afternoon/evening we made a round trip through Winnipeg.
Friday Spencer has arrange to have some freetime, so that we could drive to Lake Winnipeg. Our friend Chris Biggs accompanied us and I spent the next day with him… On the way to Gimli we also arrived at St. Andrews Lock and Dam. The funny thing was, that this weir is equipped with a fish ladder, which brings only little advantages to the fish, because the pelicans looked at it as a covered food table and ate themselves full. At Lake Winnipeg we could even admire the ice remains of this winter, which were blown by the wind. There is also a Viking statue to remind of the former inhabitants.

On the way back we stopped at the Half Moon Drive Inn and ate a real Poutine. Afterwards we went on to Spencer’s shop, where we only dropped of Spencer and then drove on to Ste. Anne and the Biggs family. Here Biggs prepared some great steaks. Then his friend Ray stopped by and we discussed fish, aquaristics and the world until late into the night.

On Saturday we got up quite early, because we had a video shoot on the program in addition to the visit of his fish room, but we also did that well and confidently, the result you can see later on his Youtube-Channel.

So in the early afternoon we could show up again at Spencer’s store – just in time for the DFO-Meeting – where I was supposed to give my first two lectures in Canada. But before that we made a short stop at the center of Canada. I started – not unusual – with a talk about wood eaters. That are the plecos of the genera Panaque, Panaqolus and Cochliodon (or Hypostomus-Cochliodon-group). The people liked these animals so much that I could even sell some Panaqolus tankei (L 398) for Spencer. After that the suckling pig was ready, so that we were busy with feasting. After everyone was well saturated, we could continue with the second lecture. It was about the north of Brazil – the source of the ornamental fish. Almost two hours I could inspire the spectators with biotopes, species and places in the north of Brazil, no matter if it is in Pará or Roraima, or in Manaus, Belém or Altamira. There were numerous moments to smile about but also which made them think. Especially when it came to the Rio Xingu and the dam built in the Volta Grande…. At the same time I could also present my aquaristic art prints. They have been so well received that Spencer will also include them in his assortment.

Afterwards we sat together in smaller groups and discussed until late into the night. Then it was time to say goodbye to my friend Chris Biggs. Spencer and I drove back to his home, where we celebrated a big family party on Mother’s Day the next day.

On Monday morning it was time to say goodbye to Jenn and then Spencer took me to the airport where I went on to Edmonton.

Here are some pictures of these fantastic days in Winnipeg: