May 23-30 was Tourism Week, an annual celebration of our tourism industry and its importance to our lives in the North.

In partnership with Northwest Territories Tourism, we marked Tourism Week with a thank you to the many NWT residents who have supported our industry’s operators (and our territory’s overall health and safety) by Staycationing.

Here’s another one of their stories...

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After spending close to a year in the Northwest Territories because of travel restrictions, Alexandrea Malakoe and her family decided, last January, that it was time to take a staycation.

Having heard rave reviews about Blachford Lake Lodge, they figured it would be the ideal location for a winter getaway.

“January is always a tough month with the dark days so we booked a staycation to Blachford for three days,” Alexandrea remembers.  

The lodge itself is roughly 25 minutes outside of Yellowknife by way of bush plane. Built from locally sourced spruce, the custom-designed lodge offers hotel-style comfort with heating, internet service, and running water for showers and washrooms. In addition, guests have the choice to stay in either the lodge or one of the five rustic log cabins.

It turns out the decision to take a staycation at Blachford was both a “fun” and “incredible” experience.

“I was born and raised in the Northwest Territories and it was fun to finally take time after all these years, to go out and explore a part of the territories that I had never been to,” Alexandrea says. 

“They had so many different activities you could take advantage of. Every day we did one of their different hikes, [by either] snowshoeing or walking.” Alexandria and her family also tried new activities like fat biking and kick sledding.

Beyond enjoying the numerous activities, Alexandria had great things to say about the food. “I have travelled all over the world and the food at Blachford is definitely right up there, it’s some of the best food I’ve had.”

The ability to have a getaway so close to home also comes with other advantages. “There’s no jetlag because there’s no 24 hours of travelling to the other side of the world.”

Whether you stay for a few days, as Alexandrea and her family did, or longer, it's clear that Blachford Lake Lodge provides an experience that is uniquely northern and well worth the staycation.

 

Share your Staycation experiences at Instagram.com/spectacularnwt

You can find these stories on the ITI newsfeed or read them here.