This special edition trip, with Canadian Geographic and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, is a day longer than our classic tripsr, and brings brings you a VIP resource person (past resource people: Wade Davis, Robert Bateman, Severn Cullis-Suzuki) and plus special, extra programming.
About the Haida Gwaii Tour
Haida Gwaii / the Queen Charlotte Islands is a must-see destination for those who love wildlife, far-flung places and/or northwest coast First Nations culture. This expedition cruise explores it all - from rich intertidal life to rainforests to huge whales that feed here. From hot springs to Haida village sites, including UN World Heritage Site, SGang Gwaay. From northern Haida Gwaii to the islands of the southern archipelago.
Haida Guides
In addition to the Haida watchmen, guides and Haida and locally owned businesses we work with, on this trip you'll have the opportunity to be personally guided on your journey by cultural expert Gaajiiaawa (Linda Tollas). The small size of our ships means you'll have one-on-one time with our other expert guides and Haida resource people.
Gaajiiaawa Linda Tollas is of the Skedans Raven clan and lives in Skidegate, Haida Gwaii. Having lived most of her life in Haida Gwaii she’s both a seeker and sharer of ancestral knowledge, spending a fourteen-year tenure educating on Haida culture as a natural Cultural Heritage Interpreter with Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. Linda has also provided guided hikes of the forests and evening slide shows to visitors, as well as delivering educational and interactive programs to all schools in Haida Gwaii.
Linda served as a local educator to university students from across Canada enrolled in the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society (“HGHES”) Semester Program since its inception 5 years ago. Her enthusiasm for cedar, ethnobotany and Haida culture, and her engaging approach have always made her guided hikes of Spirit Lake a favorite of the Semester Program.
A highlight of her career with Gwaii Haanas was accompanying the Skidegate Haida Immersion Program (“SHIP”) elders as they circumnavigated Moresby Island for their Haida place-naming project. Inspired with SHIP’s work, Linda retired from Gwaii Haanas in 2012, and joined SHIP to learn the Haida language.
Special Resource People Daisy Gilardini and David McEown
Each year, amazing special resource people from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society add extra expereinces on this trip.
2024: This trip includes the exclusive opportunity to explore and learn with two incredible Canadian artists: lauded wildlife photographer Daisy Gilardini and award-winning painter David McEown.
You’ll learn photography and/or watercolour techniques via lectures and extensive one-on-one tutoring in the field from Daisy and David.
About Daisy
For more than a decade Daisy has roamed bear country, from her home province's rainforest, all the way to Alaska and the high Arctic. During this tenure she has documented the challenges facing North America’s bears, including black bears, grizzlies, polar bears and of course, our emblematic Spirit Bear.
About David
British Columbia-based artist David McEown has used the medium of watercolour for the past 30 years to explore and express many of the planet’s biomes. The subjects of his paintings span from the North Pole to Antarctica. David’s work is represented in collections worldwide.
David is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, which in 2005 and 2018 awarded him the society’s prestigious A.J. Casson Medal. He is also a sought-after teacher and has conducted workshops and presentations for numerous art societies and museums.