It’s amazing—I mean, the serendipitous discoveries one can make just by reading a hotel brochure. Two summers ago, on our way back to Toronto from Canada’s Maritime provinces, my wife and I found a brochure for a multi-acre prehistoric playground that was on our way home anyway so we decided to drop by. Whether you’re traveling northeast or southwest along either the busy 401 highway or the more scenic Highway 2 by the St. Lawrence River, Prehistoric World is easy to get to because you can either drive south from the 401 or north from 2. It’s almost equidistant between those two major transportation arteries. It’s also halfway between the two Canadian cities of Kingston and, farther northeast, Montreal.
If you happen to be in the Ottawa area, Prehistoric World is about 90 minutes southeast— Triceratops about 80 kilometers (50 miles). Two friendly retired brothers, Paul and Serge Dupuis, have been running this attraction for 38 years (as of this writing in May 2019).
We arrived at the parking lot of 5446 Upper Canada Road on the 21st of June, the first day of summer when the kiddies were still in school—so we had no busloads of school children to contend with and the place was sparsely attended. We went into the house, paid our entrance fee, and spoke to Paul. The Dupuis family have constructed over 50 life-sized figures of prehistoric creatures and scattered them along a one-kilometre trail that winds through a forest and grassy clearings. Paul reminded us of the need for bug spray, as the skeeters can do a number on you if you’re not prepared. I looked outside as we rubbed on the spray and noticed an unfinished model of what appeared to be a Moschops. Never one to pass up a chance to show off, I asked Paul if that was, indeed, intended as a Moschops. He confirmed it. A little online research has shown that the model is now painted and nearly complete.
This story is from the Fall 2019 edition of Prehistoric Times.
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This story is from the Fall 2019 edition of Prehistoric Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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