Access Okanagan (A-OK)

21st May 2007 12:20


I came across this blurb while looking through one of the local tourist brochures. It gives a bit of a new slant to the long told story...


"The legend has it that the Native gods turned a demon-possessed man into a giant sea serpent as punishment for murdering a local man named "Old Kan-He-K" (Okanagan Lake was named in his memory).

The sea serpent was named Ogopogo which was a popular music hall song in the 1920's. The serpent was said to live in a cave near Rattlesnake Island. Natives avoided this area unless they had a small animal with them to provide as an offering to the serpent who was reported to have claimed many lives. Many sightings have been reported. The Ogopogo is said to be dark green with a snake like body one to two feet wide, and between 15 and 70 feet long. Its head is bearded and resembled that of a horse or goat!!"


When you're on the shores at Peachland.... be sure to keep an eye open for Oggy!!

14th August 2007 01:52

My wife has seen a similar creature in the waters near where we live in Exmouth, U.K.. I've not seen it myself as I'm always swimming. However a recent home video she took did appear to show a fat bearded creature floundering in the shallows. Unlikely to be Oggy, but maybe a distant relation?

14th August 2007 05:01

I've always had a good laugh at the Ogopogo stuff, but recently it seems to of taken a bit of a turn. Just last week I was talking to a group of 4 Drs who seemed to be pretty switched on! Anyway they were out on their boat early one morning fishing and they followed what appeared to be a 50 foot snake like creature for 4 miles! Being pretty sane they're still trying to work out what it could be (if it wasn't an ancient sea monster) and the only thing they can think of is that it was a group of sturgeon swimming in formation, but they seem to think this option is as unbelievable as the green monster theory!

Another story I heard was of a man swimming from Penticton to Vernon and trying for the record a couple of years ago. He was swimming with a crew and half way he saw what he described as a giant eye in the water! He really wanted to get out, but his crew persuaded him to finish. He's never been in the water since......
I still think it's a load of BS, but who knows!

14th August 2007 08:21

Wasn't it a doctor who took THE famous picture of the Loch Ness monster in the 1930s? Too much self medication maybe?

I first heard of the Ogopogo from my penfriend in the 1970s.
I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and was desperate for it to be real....

14th August 2007 08:52


It is real, I believe

14th August 2007 11:22


*chuckles* I like your sense of humour, Firbolg!

PS) We figure Nessie & Oggy must be related somehow!

14th August 2007 12:42


Well if anyone should have insider info it ought to be you and Siv!

Here's a CBC news report from a few years back. I have a feeling that poor Oggy might have had a bit of a fright if he caught sight of the glasses on that Calgarian!!

http://archives.cbc.ca/science_technolo ... lips/9706/

Are they still offering a million dollars to anyone with proof Ogopogo is real?