Haida Gwaii
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From $4234.58
1 reviews (5.00)
Price varies by group size
Lowest Price GuaranteePricing Info: Per Person
Duration: 4 hours
Departs: Vancouver, Vancouver
Ticket Type: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Free cancellation
Overview
Surround yourself in flourishing rainforests, windswept sand-dunes and endless beaches. Visit the totems that honour 10,000 years of history and meet a Haida Watchman. Sit down to a traditional feast of seafood, fresh from the ocean.
A globally unique ecosystem that partially escaped the last ice-age, Haida Gwaii is an archipelago of more than 150 islands that evokes comparisons to the equally isolated and biologically diverse Galapagos Islands.
As a small group of five, we unobtrusively visit quaint shops and galleries and tread lightly in the rainforest. Delve into quaint shops and galleries and meet the Haida artisans we have come to know. Visit remote Anthony Island’s Ninstints, a UNESCO World Heritage Site or Skedans and Tanu. Experience Mary's Spring, Tow Hill, Balance Rock and the site of the Golden Spruce. Immerse yourself in the wild, ocean-swept landscape of Naikoon Provincial Park. Reconnect with your life-force. Leave calm, strong and inspired.
What's Included
Air-conditioned vehicle
four dinners
one lunch
seven breakfasts
What's Not Included
All Fees and Taxes
Traveler Information
- ADULT: Age: 25 - 64
- SENIOR: Age: 65 - 90
Additional Info
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
Cancellation Policy
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
- Experience may be cancelled due to Insufficient travelers
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Reviews
Our plans to visit Haida Gwaii started in 2019 for a trip in 2020. Covid changed those plans but in 2021, The Great Canadian Travel Group in Winnipeg offered us a small group tour to Haida Gwaii with Midnight Sun Adventure Travel with only 5 guests. In the time of Covid the small group appealed to us very much.
Our tour concentrated on Graham and Moresby Islands, rather than the more popular southern area of Gwaii Haanas, due to scheduling issues with float planes and the availability of pilots. However, our journey introduced us to members of the Haida Nation who were more than willing to share their culture and traditions with us. We had the privilege of meeting and visiting with three well respected carvers in Old Masset, who shared their current work and explained the significance of each. We would never have met these artists without the knowledge and good relationships they had with David our Midnight Sun guide/driver. In addition, we met jewellers, painters, and musicians.
We met jewellers at Haida Arts one of whom, Judy Smith made me a pair of red beaded earrings. We also enjoyed the amazing beaches, where we were able to enjoy walks everyday. In fact, everyday included a hike into the forest or on a beach or even in a cemetery.
We enjoyed the food of renowned chef Roberta Olsen in her cosy beachside home, as well as food in our accommodations. We had three different accommodation experiences.
A local motel with its lovely attached rooms that served the most delicious breakfasts: Smoked Salmon breakfast bagels and their homemade scones were a must. A bed and breakfast by the beach on Hecate Strait, introduced us to the ingenuity of people who live on Haida Gwaii, where resources are limited and infrastructure for visitors not fully developed. And a lovely lodge located in the rainforest overlooking the beach for our final three days where we had a personal chef provide dinners and lunches.
One of the highlights of this week (there were so many) was the trip to Skedans or Kuuna Linagaay, on the Northeast Corner of Louise Island. This village is outside the boundary of Gwaii Haanas National Park but is still a Haida Heritage Site with a resident Watchman. We enjoyed the site, a picnic on the beach, and on our way back, pods of Orca hunting seals on a neighbouring beach, and Sea Lions sunning themselves on a rocky outcrop. We were accompanied on this trip by a Haida elder, who sang traditional Haida songs, provided traditional tobacco to the Orca and drummed a “thank you” for presenting themselves to us.
Another, highlight was being educated by Haida members in the art of crabbing on North Beach at Taw Hill.
Haida Gwaii has little infrastructure for independent travel on the islands, and with few roads and even fewer rental cars, taking a tour such as this one ensured that we got an immersive experience into the Haida Culture. A Safari indeed!
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