Foresta Lumina By Night

We had been looking forward to this for weeks and now the evening finally arrived. We were ready to go to Foresta Lumina! 

For Anika's birthday we had brought a bag full of glow in the dark stones. Our plan was to leave them in the sun all day and bring them with us and leave them everywhere at Foresta Lumina. We forgot to leave them in the sun, but we filled our pockets and brought them with us anyway.

We went to the Welcome Center and waited for the shuttle. As the sun went down the lights on the covered bridge came on and glowed a cheery red. 

We had bought tickets for 9 p.m. and the shuttle starts at 8:30 and runs every 15 minutes. We didn't have long to wait and soon we saw the shuttle bus. It is just a small shuttle bus and there were 9 of us in our group alone, not to mention all the other people who were lined up as well. But we had arrived first and were first in line so we managed to get our whole group on board. 

The shuttle trip was less than 5 minutes. We stepped off the bus and walked towards the entrance which was a large arch of sticks all lit up in orange lights. 

We were ushered into a large waiting area full of picnic tables. There were already quite a few people there, waiting at the tables. 

At the far end was a long fence with a chalk board that covered it's expanse. It was lit up under black lights so that the chalk would glow when you drew on it. People were up there drawing things and writing things. 

We went up and drew on the board too. It was a good way to kill some time while we waited. 

They were running about 15 minutes behind schedule, but we didn't mind because that meant it would be darker when we started. Besides, there was a snack truck in the corner so you could get a drink and something to eat while you waited. 

Each of the tables had a lantern in the middle of it. The lights inside were actually hardwired to a network of cables under the table so you didn't have to worry about candles going out or starting a fire. 

In the middle of the waiting area was an amazing clock! It had beautiful silhouettes that were constantly moving and changing. Clouds would roll in, stars would move and then the branches of the trees would close in making the scene completely dark. Then it would all light up again. The hands of the clock were in the center of the moon. It was a fantastic clock and I wish I could have one of my own. I am sure they must have had this one custom made for them. 

Finally it was time to line up and we followed a path through some roped-in area (the kind you see at a bank) to the entrance. When you are in the line up it feels a little more crowded than you would like but once you show them your ticket and are ushered through the gate, the area opens up and you don't feel as crowded anymore. The Lights that looked like bee hives made of sticks during the day, now were glowing a warm orange colour.

The first area you go to is all lit up with stick lanterns above your head and the whole area is bathed in red light. 

The tablets are all lit up on either side of the path and each one has a picture and a story to tell about the fairies and the magical creatures and monsters. 

One of the last tablets explained how if you pull down on the string and speak a wish into the mouth piece then a fairy pebble would come down that you take with you on your journey and then your wish will come true. 

So we each took turns saying our wish into the mouth piece and we each picked up a fairy pebble. However, not only did I pick up a pebble, but I left 3 glow in the dark pebbles in the pile for someone behind me to find and take with them. And so our Foresta Lumina side project had begun! 

It was Carsten's job to light up the glow in the dark pebbles with the flashlight that he had brought along. At first we would take them and leave them in random places for people to find. But later on we found it was more fun to just give them to the kids directly. 

Up ahead was the giant bird, glowing red. There was smoke in the air all around it, giving it a more mysterious feeling. 

When we left the area of the fairy pebbles, things got darker and a bit more quieter. Now you could see an entire hillside covered in small,  twinkling, white, lights. Not just one or two, but hundreds. It looked like a hill of fireflies. That was when you could really start to notice the sounds in the trees. It sounded like fairies laughing and wind chimes dancing in the wind. 

We followed the lanterns up the path and right to the suspension bridge we had been on earlier that day. It was beautiful to see all the coloured lights far below as you crossed the bridge in the dark. 

At the very end of the suspension bridge you passed through a foggy doorway. Once you went through the doorway you could feel a change in the atmosphere. The sound effects playing from the trees had a darker tone to it and the fairy laughter was not as light and happy. It felt as though this next section was more ominous and that goblins could be lurking around the corner. Like you had just stepped through the doorway of fairyland itself.

On the other side of the door way was another hillside (where the cross was when we were here during the day). This hillside had lights on it too. But these lights were moving. 

And then a holographic image of a girl (I believe they call her Margaret), dancing with the fairy lights, came into view. It was impressive. It was like watching a ghost. You could see her, but you could see through her. We all stood and watched this dance for quite some time. 

When we were ready to move on, we followed a trail filled with metal boxes spilling light that looked like flames onto our path.

It led us to a section filled with large pictures in frames. They were done up as though you were looking at them with 3-D glasses. When the light changed colours, the pictures changed too. So, it looked like they were moving. 

The music at this point had become noticeably spookier.   Most of these pictures were of the creature. 

But some were of Margaret. 

​As we left this area we could see red eyes glowing from the dark trees around us. 

As we left the dark woods, we could see a large bright area up ahead with plenty of things going on. It was like a party and everyone was encouraged to join in! 

The ropes on boards that we had seen during the day turned out to be a musical instrument! When ever you pulled on a rope, it would light up and a musical note would come out of it. So, together with everyone tugging at the strings all at the same time, we were all making music. 

A few feet away were some drums. Every time you hit one of the drums it would light up and make a musical tone. 

And a little more further down the way were round discs that you could step on and they would light up and make a musical tone. So we began jumping from disc to disc and we had a great time. We were probably having more fun on these than some of the children were. 

The interesting thing was it seemed that each (or at least some) of these musical instruments were somehow connected to a large tower of light. And the more music that was played the higher the light would travel up the tower.  

High above all this, glowing in blue light was the Foresta Lumina logo made of sticks that we had seen earlier in the day. 

It was in this section that there were benches and the bathroom. So we stopped here for a break and sat in the dark for a bit. 

The next place we came to was the section that looked like a scene from an episode of Survivor. There was a fire going in the fire pit, and tiki torches all lit up. There were benches where people were sitting and watching a silent movie on a decorative screen.  This was one of the places we had the most fun with our glow in the dark pebbles. As each child came and sat down Carsten would light up the pebbles with his flashlight and I would go around and hand them out to the kids. The kids just loved it! Their eyes lit up with joy! Of course we didn't speak French and they didn't speak English so when they wanted to ask us what they were or how they worked, we had a little bit of a communication barrier. But for the most part that didn't matter too much. We had a great time giving away these pebbles!  I wondered if the parents may have thought we worked there or something. It was an amusing thought. 

We watched Margaret and a mysterious man in a suit and top hat on screen for awhile before moving on. 

The next section was one of my favourites. A real tree was illuminated with graphics, made of light, making the tree look like it had a face. And in the background the silhouette of a sinister man was projected ​on the rocks. 

The sinister man set the tree on fire and destroyed it. But then the fairy lights started to encircle the destroyed tree. 

Soon the fairies were working their magic and had restored the tree back to life. 

The next section was like walking through a rainfall of light. The air was foggy and the lights were falling from the tree tops all around you and changing colours. 

From there you go down a flight of stairs to the most beautiful place in all of Foresta Lumina. This place was just gorgeous! When you looked up into the leaves of the trees it looked like thousands of colourful diamonds and gems were shining down on you. Every inch of rocks, trees, gorge were covered in glittering lights. It was like being in the middle of a star cluster. We stayed here in this section for a long time. We wished we could pitch our tents right here and stay for the night. It was truly magical! 

In this same section were all the inukshuks that we had seen earlier in the day. There was a sign that said to leave your wishing pebbles here to make your wishes come true. So we placed our fairy pebbles on the inukshuks. Then we set about to give out more glow in the dark pebbles to more kids. 

We were reluctant to leave the glittery land of inukshuks and fairy pebbles, but there was still a bit more to see.  As we approached the Hydro Plant building, we could see an image projected across the gorge onto the stone cliff.  The cliff looked as though it was opening up with molten lava.

Once it opened up a cave was revealed. Inside was a fairy. The fairy danced around for a bit before the stones closed back up again and the entrance disappeared. 

We were almost at the end now. The pillars of bamboo we had seen during the day were all lit up now. 

They created an interesting pattern at our feet as we walked towards the exit of the park. 

As we walked across the wooden bridge to the other side of the gorge, we looked back and saw that the moon was large and shining brightly in the sky. Under the moonlight we could still see some of the blue lights from the places we had just come. I thought about turning around and running back to where we had just come form so that we could do it all again. But the rest of my group was already up ahead and I didn't think it would be a good idea to get split up from them in the dark. So I continued forward instead of back. 

At the end of the trail is the photo-op place. This time it was all lit up and looked much more impressive than it does during the day. 

We had to wait in line to take our pictures here, so while we waited we decided to give away the last of our glow in the dark pebbles that we had. As we were doing this we were approached by 2 little boys and their parents who we had given glow in the dark rocks to earlier in the evening. By this point their rocks were barely glowing anymore. They didn't speak English but I could still tell that they were trying to ask us how to get them to glow again (or maybe if they could have more since theirs weren't working anymore). I motioned them over to Carsten who pulled out his flashlight and proceeded to re-light their pebbles for them. The looks on the faces of both the boys and their parents was that of amazement and understanding. Up until then, they did not know how the pebbles worked. When they saw how simple it was to re-light them, they were over joyed! Now they could take them home and make them glow whenever they wanted. The parents smiled huge smiles and thanked us. After seeing them all so happy, I think it would be a wonderful idea if the people who run Foresta Lumina would get glowing pebbles for the kids that go there.  I know if I ever go back I will definitely be bringing more glow in the dark stones to give away. It was so much fun! 

It was after 11 p.m. when we were done the Foresta Lumina hike. The trail leads into a stone building where there is a gift shop where you can buy souvenirs. 

Inside the gift shop is a big tree made of sticks with glass balls that look like bubbles hanging from it. There was a T-shirt that I had very much wanted to buy but they were all sold out. So I bought a different one instead. (Just a note on that: When I got it home I found that it was too small. So if you buy a shirt there remember to buy a size bigger than what you normally would).

We left the gift shop just in time to catch the shuttle back without even having to wait.  We  got to our campsite tired but happy and delighted to have had the wonderful experience. It will be something that we will always remember! I may even go again sometime!