Canada Wildlife safaris game drives Trips

Thank you to Carl & the Explore team for a fabulous holiday. Carl went out of his way to ensure everyone enjoyed the trip - with lots of Canadian-themed activities - including wildlife bingo, snacks and music! We all enjoyed the restaurants Carl selected, booked ahead and shared meals with us. Carl was patient, kind, attentive and accommodating throughout the trip . Some feedback for Explore - the Vancouver hotel is too remote from everything Vancouver has to offer & I suggest reinstating the original more central hotel offering.

I just completed the Whales & Bears of British Columbia tour and it was incredible. From the first ferry ride to Vancouver Island, I was immersed in wild coastline and ancient rainforest. We spotted humpback whales breaching off the bow and watched black bears comb the shoreline for crabs. A full-day outing to the Orford River treated us to grizzlies feasting on salmon amid misty fjords. The group was small, the guides passionate, and every day brought something surprising. Yes, there were long drives and changeable weather, but it all added to the adventure. I’d highly recommend it

The leader with very accommodating, the hotel in Calgary was not brilliant with several members of the group having some sort electrical faults. My coffee machine didn’t work but was Leaking from the bottom. I loved the wildlife, it may have been better to do the mousse trail in the morning, as more of a chance to see them, and the Moraine boat trip later, but the group leader was trying to accommodate everyone! All in all a great Trip and I will certainly be hoping, finances allowing, to book another trip with Explore!

Carl our leader demonstrated a high level of knowledge about every location we visited. He drove us safely over I guess 3000 miles; recommended superb restaurants; and was an open friendly chap.

I cannot fault this holiday at all. The itinerary allowed for enough time to be able to have some time to yourself as well as following the routes provided by the guide. The guide was fantastic, she pulled the whole group together and nothing was too much trouble for her. thank you

The only negative issues with this tour are related to the itinerary. At times the tour leader was trying to accommodate many different option choices which required her to drive various people in different directions and pick them up again on the same day, as other transport options were limited. This must've been very tiring for her, as she was managing a tightly scheduled tour and doing all the driving- often whole days of driving- at the same time. She seemed to have a different list of visits to the published itinerary at times, and was concerned her agency might penalise her for not visiting everything on it, so perhaps more liaison with the agency is needed here. Whilst she was generous enough to offer to cut out a walk on one day so we could spend more time in Victoria, this meant out voting another member of the group who wanted the walk. I would recommend changing to this on the itinerary anyway, so that a whole afternoon is spent in Victoria, which is a really charming place. There also seemed to be a very long diversion just to see bears and whales which could've been seen elsewhere on the trip. The element that really made the trip was our tour leader Manon, who constantly went above and beyond to ensure we had the best experience possible. She was always enthusiastic and energetic, and worked hard from the start to bond us, so we were a very happy and integrated group during the trip. She organised a WhatsApp system of voting for choices of restaurants or trip options, and made some great recommendations, and she helped by buying picnic food for a small group of us to share for some of the lunches, and also took us to supermarkets so we could buy our own lunches. Accommodation and food was generally of a high standard, and whilst I believe several people would request the inclusion of hotel breakfasts, I would've found the extra cost off putting, as this has been the most expensive tour for food and optional trips I've ever been on. This is an amazing holiday, seeing a variety of stunning landscapes from beaches to waterfalls, snow topped mountains and glaciers. Whistler was a high point, as was Lake Louise, and I would really recommend the peak to peak gondola, the zodiac bear watching trips, Fisherman's Wharf in Victoria and the harbour cruise in Vancouver.