Wildlife Tours to Ecuador & Galapogos British Columbia
Photo:
| Tour Ref. | Days | Dates | Party Size |
Cost |
Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC1/12 | 14 | Friday 24th August to Thursday 6th September 2012. | 8 plus leader | Est. £5350 (£645)* | TBA |
*Single room supplement
Tour Destinations :
- Vancouver
- Vancouver Island, Ucluelet/ Tofino, MacMillan Prov-incial Park, Pacific Rim NP, Port McNeill, Johnstone Strait
- Bella Coola
- Tweedsmuir Provincial Park
Tour Summary
British Columbia
The wildlife of British Columbia provides a stunning spectacle in wonderful landscapes and our 14 day tour has been designed to provide the opportunity to witness at first hand the best it has to offer concentrating on bears, whales and other sea life and birds.
We begin in the beautifully located city of Vancouver, travelling south a short distance from there to take the short ferry crossing to Vancouver Island. Our base for the next three nights will be on the west coast of the island from where we will explore the Pacific Rim National Park on whale watching and bear watching trips, always keeping a keen eye out for the many bird species on view as the southward shore migration of birds passes through the area. Moving to the north east of the island, we have further whale watching opportunities in the Johnstone Strait near Port McNeill. The Strait is noted for the resident pods of Orcas to be found at the time of our tour there along with Minke and humpback whales, porpoise, dolphins, sea lions, seals and otters all of which are commonly sighted.
A full day ferry trip from Port Hardy –which is sure to be a wonderful wildlife experience in its own right - takes us further north and back to the mainland at Bella Coola where we have a further four full days to absorb the beauty of this stunning area. The tour has been timed to co-incide with the salmon run and we will be viewing the bears lying in wait to feast on the rich harvest of the salmon migration, as we drift gently down the Aknarko River to secure excellent views. There will doubtless be eagles in attendance eager to enjoy a share of the spoils! We will also have the opportunity to take a hiking tour searching for bears and learning about the ecology of the forests.
After our stay in Bella Coola we will fly directly back to Vancouver for an overnight stay. Our final day in British Columbia offers an opportunity to visit the city before we head for the airport and our overnight flight back to the UK.
Itinerary
Day 1 : Depart from the UK for Vancouver where we stay overnight
Day 2 : Transfer to Ucluelet, Vancouver Island
A short drive from our hotel which lies to the south of the city of Vancouver, takes us to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen where we board a BC Ferries boat for the two hour crossing to Nanaimo. On arrival we will be met by our local wildlife guide who will be our constant companion throughout our stay on Vancouver Island. He has worked on the island as a Forester and Naturalist for over twenty years and his local knowledge is sure to greatly enhance our stay. We will travel westwards travel by road to Ucluelet on the west coast of the island, our base for the next three nights.
During our transit of the island we will be pausing to view the magnificent Douglas Firs in MacMillan Provincial Park.
Days 3 and 4 : Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
We have two full days to explore the Pacific Rim from Ucluelet and nearby Tofino. We will take guided tours by boat on both days, focussing on both the whale watching off shore and the viewing of bears on land. The remainder of each day will focus on wildlife watching on shore where we will hope to see a wide variety of birds on the coastal fringes.
Day 5 : Transfer to Port McNeill
After breakfast we will set off to drive back across the island calling off at Stamp Falls Provincial Park to view the migrating salmon. A salmon ladder with underwater television camera gives excellent viewing of the fish making their way up stream and the nearby falls will hopefully provide some spectacular leaping displays. Bears in search of salmon carcasses often call by. We will then continue our journey northwards up the eastern side of the island to reach Port McNeill, our base for the next two nights.
Day 6 : Johnstone Straits
A short drive after breakfast will take us to Telegraph Cove where we will board our morning whale watching trip in the Johnstone Straits. Orcas frequent the Straits along with other marine life including Dell’s porpoise, harbour porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea lions, seals and Minke, humpback and grey whales. And the presence of a variety of sea birds and perhaps some migrating species will add to the interest.
In the afternoon we will be visiting another local wildlife site before returning to our Port McNeill lodge for a second night.
Day 7 : Transfer to Bella Coola
We begin the day by heading further north on the island making for Port Hardy where we bid farewell to our Vancouver Island guide. We join the BCFerries boat for Bella Coola, an all day trip of about eleven hours which promises to be a wildlife experience in itself as we sail through the Queen Charlotte Sound and then well inland up the Burke Channel to reach Bella Coola, our base for the next five nights.
Days 8 to 11 : Bella Coola and Tweedsmuir Provincial Park
We have four full days to explore the beauty of this spectacular part of British Columbia and a programme of daily excursions will embrace bear viewing by boat and on foot and short hikes to introduce rainforest ecology and aspects of local cultural life for those tour members interested. The highlight of the stay is sure to be the bear and salmon watching from rafts drifting slowly down the Atnarko River – a spectacle the photographers are sure to relish!
Day 12 : Transfer to Vancouver
After a final morning in Bella Coola we transfer to the local airport to catch the midday flight back to Vancouver. We will be back in our Vancouver hotel by late afternoon.
Day 13 : Vancouver and flight home
There is an opportunity for a choice of activities today. A visit will be organised to the nearby George C Reifel Migratory Bird sanctuary or tour members may wish to take the opportunity to explore Vancouver itself. We will be checking out of our hotel late in the afternoon, transferring to the airport for our flight back to the UK.
Day 14 : Arrive back in the UK