West Adventures

This trip had been on my radar for a while and I am so so pleased I did it - it was worth every penny and every second. The itinerary was great - really well thought out, the food was brilliant - who knew you could do some much good food on a camping stove?! The guide was just lovely - even though it was her first time on the trip, Grace dealt with everything enthusiastically, effortlessly and professionally. It was great to get to know her and her love of the outdoors really shone through. The included activities were great - great to get out your comfort zone and really engage with nature, and also nice that they are included in the price. There are too many highlights to mention really, but favourite was the house boat, Whistler, Lake Peyto and all the magnificent hiking trails we all conquered - there was something for everyone. And, you can't beat the scenery - nothing else like it! The group was fantastic - I've done many of these groups trips now and I can honestly say this was one of the best groups I have had. I enjoyed everyone's company and as a group we really bonded - which is just so important on a group trip like this. West Adventures have really thought of everything and I would absolutely, highly recommend this trip, and West Adventures. Thank you for such a great experience!

My wife and I did the Okanagan Valley tour in Western Canada. Our guide for the trip had previously been used as a driver, but this was her first trip as a guide, as well as having to drive our small and friendly bunch of 5 Australians. She was a lovely lady, but was severely ill prepared for the task, as there was no firm itinerary, and most days we were winging it, usually ending up at the local information centre to find out the best places to go. The tour had been run once before, but that ended up being a winery tour, and none of us wanted to spend everyday tasting wines that most of the time weren’t as good as our basic Australian wines anyway. As a result, I felt that our tour was more of a discovery tour for the next lot to do the same tour next summer, as we were able to strike out many activities and attractions that were definitely not worth the trouble, and sourced the better activities ourselves. Our vehicle was a large 7 seater SUV which was fine for space, but had no GPS, so the guide had to use her own phone for Google Maps, trying to navigate and educate at the same time. Eventually I took the front seat and did the navigating so she could at least concentrate on driving. Understand that none of this was the driver’s fault - she was working with what she was given, which was basically where our accommodation was along the way (which was all pretty good), and that was it, apart from her own knowledge of some places we went through.
Then we get to the overnight stay on a houseboat! The houseboat was owned by Ron, the director of the company, but I have never seen a more incompetent boat operator in my life, especially when being responsible for paying customers. He apparently got his “Pleasure Vessel” operators licence off the Internet, which I know back home would not qualify you to take people out in a commercial setting. The boat had apparently just come back from the repair shop, but by the time we’d driven to our overnight destination it was clear that the Invertor was not working, so the batteries to run the lights, fridges, all other power things, would not last too long without being supplemented by running the generator, which would all be fine if he had bothered to fill it(half full), along with the fuel container(near empty). The food supplied for our overnight stay was woeful - nibbles was stale corn chips and salsa dip, plus some stuff that our guide had bought by chance on the way to the boat. Dinner was sausages, potatoes and cos lettuce, plus the cherry pie Dorothy bought on the way. Only reason it was edible was due to the efforts of our guide, who was left to do all the preparation while Ron sat around drinking beer in front of the fire that we built, and started with a lighter we found on the beach (he had no lighter or matches on board, or a tomahawk to chop wood). At least he brought a few bits of dry timber to help the cause. Then it got dark - and we were literally in the dark, because of course we couldn’t use the lights, so had to resort to a few tea candles that Dorothy found on board. We hung around the fire until late, then when everyone was ready to go to bed, he ran the generator so we could brush our teeth and flush the toilets and find our jim jams before he turned off the generator. Get up in the morning to find there was no milk for coffee or cereal (“they wouldn’t want oatmeal anyway” apparently), so Dorothy did a great job of whipping up scrambled eggs and reheating the leftovers from dinner. Then someone finds a small carton of milk at the back of the fridge at the last day of its use-by date, likely left there from the last trip, so at least we could have some in our coffee. Eventually set sail for home, and Ron proved his poor boat handling skills when parking at the marina, and he was just lucky there were a couple of us on board who could handle a rope and knew how to tie knots, because he clearly had no clue. The nicest part of the trip(for us anyway), was the horse ride at the AP Ranch. Unfortunately we got there with just enough time for the horse ride, but not enough to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and explore the farm. So all in all, I give 2 stars for Dorothy's efforts, zero for organisation and resources, and a big minus for Ron the pretendy boat driver. Luckily we had a great easy going little group to share the experience, which did make the trip worthwhile in that sense - others may not have been so tolerant.

This trip was awesome! It was the first time I'd done anything like it on my own, and it was a great experience. The itinerary was very well thought out, and gave us a chance to visit gorgeous places in BC and a bit of Alberta, the kind of places you'd usually see in a postcard. I'd recommend to bring something warm to wear on your head and feet for those camping nights, along with a few layers of warm clothes to sleep in, since the temperatures tended to drop to low single digits (even though it was August), before rising back up during the day. Having said that, I loved our camping days as much as our hotel days! Grace was our guide for this trip, and she did a terrific job. She was very organized, and knew all the best spots to go to for scenic views and hikes. She gave great recommendations on activities and places to visit depending on our individual preferences, and not to mention she's a great cook! Dorothy, our wonderful driver, made sure we had a smooth ride every time we got in the car. Her extensive driving experience would always be reflected in her safety consciousness and her ability to maneuver the trailer we had attached to the car. She made our trip all the more enjoyable with her fun loving attitude and sense of humour. Grace and Dorothy made a great team together; they're kind and knowledgeable, and were always a pleasure to be around. Thank you both for making this a fantastic trip!

I would highly recommend this brilliant tour! Although the scenery was incredible, the real highlight for me was the wildlife. We were very lucky on our trip to see so much wildlife - black bears, moose, elk, deer, muskrat, marmot, chipmunks, ptarmigans, squirrels, etc. The accommodation is roughly 50/50 camping and hotels. Be aware that you are camping - it's not luxury! But personally, I found the camping to be very comfortable & so enjoyable & preferred it to hotels. The hotels, although basic, are clean, comfortable and have everything you need, which was perfect for me.Our tour leader, Grace & driver, Dorothy were very organised & well-prepared for camping & cooking. Grace led the preparation of lovely meals every night we were camping & there were plenty of supermarket stops to get your own snacks. The tour itinerary was well-organised by West Adventures & was as described. Grace was very knowledgeable & gave practical advice & tips for the free days. She was an excellent tour leader & Dorothy was a lovely driver.There was a wide variety of extra activities available over the course of the trip, particularly in the national parks. Some of these could be quite expensive but if your budget doesn't extend to these, a lot of the free things such as the hiking were every bit as good, if not better, in my opinion.Recommendations:*It can get very cold some nights (& I went in August!) so bring thermal leggings/tops, warm mid-layers & warm outer layers as well as a warm cap for sleeping in. I had plenty of layers (up to 6 some nights - I'm a cold creature!) & was quite cosy! *I also hired a warm sleeping bag, pillow & pillow case from W.A.. which I would recommend. *Bring your own pillow case or a plastic bag to keep the pillow clean during day-to-day transport.*Bring rain-proof pants & rain jacket - it would be useful hiking or in the evenings tipping around the campsite if it's raining. *Get involved in the activities! Some days I felt tired but the early starts were so worth it! We were well-rewarded with wildlife encounters & stunning scenery.*I booked this tour through the Tour Radar website which falsely stated at my time of booking that there were only 3 spaces left (W.A. never claimed this.) In fact, there were only 4 guests on my tour which I thoroughly enjoyed as we had a smaller SUV/car type vehicle rather than a bus & I personally prefer fewer people.Overall, a wonderful experience & I would highly recommend it!