Niagara Falls

Aug 7

Wow! This is a must see on anyone's travel list. They are fantastic, everything you ever expected and the roar can be heard half a mile away, awesome!

The trip to Niagara - literal meaning 'thundering water' is really easy from Amherst, so if you ever stay here it's no problem being that little bit farther out. Beware tourist information people trying to sell their tours because they are a complete rip off. They charge $59 when the ticket to all the attractions and the trolley bus (hop on, hop off) is just $30 dollars in the state park itself. This is one of the best value tickets we have had to date. To see the Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side, it's an easy walk over the Rainbow Bridge into Canada; the Skylon Tower is also on the Canadian side. And, you get to have an immigration stamp in your passport too!

The Maid of the Mist is excellent but do go there first because the queues later in the day are much longer; and the blue plastic poncho is so very 'flattering'... Next go onto the observation bridge because the views of the falls are spectacular. The Cave of the Winds is a completely different experience altogether. Another 'flattering' poncho, this time bright yellow, together with a pair of sandals..... why sandals? Because your feet get absolutely soaking, as do your jeans/trousers if you don't roll the legs up! An elevator takes you down 175ft to the bottom of the falls and a series of wooden decks/steps allow you to walk along the side of the river and experience the falls from a completely different angle. The noise is not as loud as you would expect but it is again, great fun. It's also the best place for seeing the rainbows in the water. Ladies, cropped trousers or shorts are the best mode of dress for this excursion - especially if you do the Hurricane Deck as I did. You literally stand under a small waterfall and get truly soaked. Fantastic, for those daring or daft enough like me to do it. However, the jeans did suffer and they were drenched all the way up to my knees!

They have a great idea for the sandals afterwards though, they can be donated to third world countries where shoes are not readily available and help to stop ground parasites getting into the feet of the people who live there.

The only disappointment for me was the film they show of the history of Niagara Falls. I expected a lot more information on how they were formed but it gives a potted tale of the myths and human history of them instead. One of the myths is of 'the Maid of the Mist' - a young Indian girl was married to a wise elder of the village but could not love him. She left the village because she could not shame them or the elder and was called by the gods to the falls and over she went. The gods put out their arms and took her to them. Some say she can still be seen in the waters.......

At 9:00 pm there is a light show on the falls. We learned from this trip today that to experience the excitement and noise of the falls you need to be in the USA but to see them at night you need to be in Canada. From the Canadian side you are looking at them directly, not from the side, so the lights will be much more effective.

Should you decide to walk across the bridge into Canada, there are superb views of both the falls and the river because you are at least 300ft above the river, it's quite unnerving looking through the railings to the swirling water below. (No good if you suffer from vertigo!) Quite bizarre to see a London double decker bus doing the tourist trips on this side. Don't worry about currency if you stay in the US though because US dollars are quite acceptable, as we found when we stopped at a cafe.

Another surprising fact is that only half the water that comes from the lakes now goes over the falls because it has been diverted into a power station to provide electricity. Imagine what they would be like if this was not done!