Whales, bears, Indigenous culture, and of course birds! This Pacific Northwest tour has it all.
Vancouver will be our home base as we explore the region. This celebrated North American city takes its influence as much from Asia as it does from traditional Canadian culture, and when we talk about tradition, we’re talking about thousands of years. Asian explorers visited as part of the early human settlement of the North American continent and we will get to hear stories from their descendants and experience wildlife they must have encountered as we’re enchanted by the sea, the rainforest, and the people of the region.
We’ll visit the famous Fraser River estuary, south of Vancouver, where a spectacular diversity of migrating and wintering shorebirds and waterfowl array themselves with the marvelous backdrop of the Coastal Mountains. A marine outing to Johnstone Strait will provide excellent opportunities to see Orcas and Humpbacks, as well as a myriad of seabirds and other wildlife, including Northern sea lions! We’ll immerse into the world of the Kwakwaka’wakw culture via U’mista Cultural Center, where interpretive visits to the burial grounds and the iconic totems, amplify our walk in the island’s ecological park. As if that’s not enough, our excursion into the Great Bear Rainforest to observe Grizzly Bear and Black Bear during the fruitful salmon run will cap a week of memorable natural experiences that are sure to create lifetime memories.
17 Sept. 2022: Arrival in Vancouver
18 Sept. 2022: Iona Island & Sea Island Conservation Areas
19 Sept. 2022: Reifel Bird Sanctuary and Boundary Bay
20 Sept. 2022: Vancouver to Port McNeill, Vancouver Island
21 Sept. 2022: Cormorant Island & Alert Bay
22 Sept. 2022: Telegraph Cove / Whale Watching
23 Sept. 2022: Great Bear Rainforest day
24 Sept. 2022: To Vancouver
25 Sept. 2022: Departure from Vancouver
Arrival in Vancouver, BC where our Birds, Bears, Whales, and Indigenous Culture in the Pacific Northwest tour begins. As the group members may arrive on different flights and at different times, we will meet in the evening to socialize, dine, and review the plan for the days ahead. We will be spending the next three nights at a business hotel conveniently located near our destination