Wildlife Holiday

Bigvin

Bigvin

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Hi Guys,

I'm after a bit of advice about a couple of holiday destinations for wildlife.
I've got 2-3 weeks off end of July, beginning of August next year the the wife and I are thinking of either Canada or Costa Rica.
Has anyone been to either destination?
Recommend any places to stay or agents you arranged the holiday with?

Any info appreciated.

Cheers
 
Watching to also get some insights and pointers :)
 
2 very different places. I've not been to either but know plenty of people who have.

What are you hoping to see? Is it just wildlife or do you want to mix it up with 'regular' civilisation ?

Hard core Photography based or watching and photos when you can?

Are you keen on those locations or open to ideas?

Budget? Luxury or tents?

If you can give a few more pointers it might help.

Mike
 
Cheers Mike.

pooley said:
2 very different places. I've not been to either but know plenty of people who have.

What are you hoping to see? Is it just wildlife or do you want to mix it up with 'regular' civilisation ?
Mainly wildlife and scenery.

Hard core Photography based or watching and photos when you can?
I'll be taking the pictures, the wife will be enjoying the sights, so probably the second option.

Are you keen on those locations or open to ideas?
We will visit both locations eventually, but are both open to other ideas.
I've also looked at Thailand, Madagascar and the Galapagos Islands.
Any recommendations welcome.

Budget? Luxury or tents?
The wife doesn't want to go too downscale but similarly accommodation doesn't have to be OTT.
We've stayed in tents at Il Moran in the Masai Mara, but also stayed in 3* hotels in Sri Lanka.
Obviously the nicer the better.
Budget £8K.

If you can give a few more pointers it might help.

Mike
Click to expand...

Cheers Lee
 
pooley said:
2 very different places. I've not been to either but know plenty of people who have.

What are you hoping to see? Is it just wildlife or do you want to mix it up with 'regular' civilisation ?

Hard core Photography based or watching and photos when you can?

Are you keen on those locations or open to ideas?

Budget? Luxury or tents?

If you can give a few more pointers it might help.

Mike
Click to expand...
Flipping heck mike I thought you wrote hard core pornography ,had to read it twice
 
Hi pal,

First reply in from Gail Bisson, a very talented wildlife photographer from Nova Scotia -

Hi Mike,
I don't know where to start!!!
Canada is HUGE and 2 weeks is not long enough to explore all of Canada! The most majestic and jaw dropping scenery is in British Columbia and Alberta. If he is looking for quaint, fishing villages, ocean scenery and beach time then Nova Scotia and PEI would also fit the bill.For wonderful history and historic city then Quebec City and Ottawa fit the bill.But our history is so much shorter than Britain and your friend may not be really impressed.
For wildlife I would recommend BC/Alberta but you have to work hard to see wildlife in most areas. You see lots of elk in Banff/Jasper area at all times of the year.
He has a good budget for Canada and really good for Costa Rica and can find loads of good accomodation in Canada.
As far as wildlife in Nova Scotia, there is very little. One can occasionally see moose and fox and rarely coyote and that is it. As far as birds go, July and early August are the quietest months for birding in Nova Scotia. The fall migration starts mid-August here.
The time frame your friend has chosen for weather is perfect although the last 2 years has seen interior British Columbia deal with severe forest fires.
So the first thing your friend has to decide is WHERE in Canada he might want to go. If he chooses the Maritimes then I can certainly be much more helpful and specific!,
Gail


Mike
 
Wow. Thanks for that Mike.

I was thinking over towards british Colombia. The wife loves whale watching and hasn't seen any orcas yet. Also i'de like to try and get some shots of the bears and maybe the birds of prey that are there.

Costa Rica I was thinking turtles on the east coast then travel across to the west coast stopping at various places and maybe seeing some whales when we get over to the west. If there's any there.
 
We did a trip to Canada 2 years ago. We made a few mistakes along the way but we stayed at a number of different sites.

We flew in to Vancouver, picked up a car and drove up to Whistler for 3 nights, and managed to see brown bears on our first guided trip out. We then drove on to Vancouver Island, and by far the best stop on the whole trip was at Painters Lodge in Campbell River, where we had another few nights. Here we had Bald Eagles nesting in the trees and saw them all daily. Harbour seals out by the jetty, and saw Whales, Orca, dolphin while out on boat trips, visited an Island that was full of various sea birds, and then went to where 2 rivers met and were amazed to see 20-30 (if not more) Eagles perched on the rocks waiting for the Salmon run to start.

We could have spent a whole week here, it was fantastic. We then drove over to the Pacific Rim, and stayed in Tofino for another few nights before coming home. More whales, more Eagles, plus we saw a few iconic perching birds (American Robin, Chicadee, Blue Jay etc).

As mentioned above, it's a VERY big place, driving from Vancouver to the East coast will take you a whole week, and people think nothing of a 300 mile round trip to see people. Unless you go there you will never get a sense of the size, and we only scratched a part of the surface. It is by far the best holiday we have ever had, and the ease with which you can be on your own, and hear nothing but nature has to be experienced.

People are very nice, food was excellent (I never thought I'd ever get fed up of eating salmon!) and the craft beers are good to. We did a fly drive, if we did it again we would spend less time in the cities, and opt for an SUV rather than a basic car, as when you go from place to place you cover lots of miles.
 
From Dan Cadieux, another top notch Canadian photographer -

Hi Mike, sorry for the late reply - back from an impromptu trip to Niagara Falls with the family!

Gail has pretty well summarized it. The scenery is beautiful pretty much any time of the year (especially British Columbia and Alberta), but wildlife is at it quietest during this time, at least that's the case here in Ottawa as well. There may be some good wildlife viewing up north, but I am not very familiar with those areas. The whole line from Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto is all good for "civilization" and history/historic stuff.

The fall season (late September to early/mid October) would have been excellent for fall foliage in the east and even wildlife in areas such as Algonquin Park, but it is late for them to change at this point.
 
I forgot to add, we went in the last week of June & first week of July. While we were there BC had it's longest heatwave in years, and it didn't rain once. Shorts & T-shirts were the order of the day, but I understand it can be more like Scotland in the summer. We were just lucky....

Jelster said:
We did a trip to Canada 2 years ago. We made a few mistakes along the way but we stayed at a number of different sites.

We flew in to Vancouver, picked up a car and drove up to Whistler for 3 nights, and managed to see brown bears on our first guided trip out. We then drove on to Vancouver Island, and by far the best stop on the whole trip was at Painters Lodge in Campbell River, where we had another few nights. Here we had Bald Eagles nesting in the trees and saw them all daily. Harbour seals out by the jetty, and saw Whales, Orca, dolphin while out on boat trips, visited an Island that was full of various sea birds, and then went to where 2 rivers met and were amazed to see 20-30 (if not more) Eagles perched on the rocks waiting for the Salmon run to start.

We could have spent a whole week here, it was fantastic. We then drove over to the Pacific Rim, and stayed in Tofino for another few nights before coming home. More whales, more Eagles, plus we saw a few iconic perching birds (American Robin, Chicadee, Blue Jay etc).

As mentioned above, it's a VERY big place, driving from Vancouver to the East coast will take you a whole week, and people think nothing of a 300 mile round trip to see people. Unless you go there you will never get a sense of the size, and we only scratched a part of the surface. It is by far the best holiday we have ever had, and the ease with which you can be on your own, and hear nothing but nature has to be experienced.

People are very nice, food was excellent (I never thought I'd ever get fed up of eating salmon!) and the craft beers are good to. We did a fly drive, if we did it again we would spend less time in the cities, and opt for an SUV rather than a basic car, as when you go from place to place you cover lots of miles.
Click to expand...
 
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