The value of a good tour guide is personified in Sandy McRuer. Sandy describes his ecotours of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island as “experiential tourism”. When you go on a tour with Sandy you’re getting more than just a walk through the woods and a few flora and fauna facts delivered lecture style. Sandy is a storyteller, jokester and occasional Snowy Owl impersonator. He takes you to the areas you may get lost trying to find yourself, and makes you feel at home once you’re there.
After spending a career in forestry—where he specialized in reforestation—Sandy started his tour company Rainbird Excursions in 2005. Through Rainbird Sandy shares his devotion and appreciation of the natural world. Entertaining and unique—he’s everything a good guide should be.
What are some common questions you get from people on your tours?
It could be anything under the sun. Mostly it’s “Show me a Douglas Fir,” or “What kind of plant is that?” and I’ll answer, “Well, do you want Latin or English?” [Laughs]
[People ask about] culturally modified trees and the First Nations use of the land. If we’re going by say the Martin Mars water bombers on our one trail at Sprout Lake they go, “Oh what’s that?” So It can be anything from man made objects to certain mountains and that sort of thing.
Kelowna is a city with a lot of reasons to celebrate itself: it’s an outdoor paradise, the region’s wineries are world renowned and its foodie scene is growing. The city is full of festivals and cultural events. Here are a few of the best:
This roaming festival hits Kelowna March 8-11th, 2012 with 38 documentary films, many of them award-winning, from over 25 countries. Fair trade, social justice, the environment and community development are common issues addressed by the films at this festival. The best thing about the event? Everything is free to see.
Hi there dudes and dudettes. Travaergence is looking for guest bloggers to write about San Francisco, Orlando, Hawaii and British Columbia. Any takers? Email donald@travergence.com if you’re interested.
Deep pow and some gnarly riding in this video of a few dudes snowmobiling in Quartz Creek near Golden, British Columbia.
Awesome views of Glacier National Park and a wide variety of terrain makes Quartz Creek one of the most popular snowmobiling locations in BC. The provincial government actually describes the area as “snowarama”. Governments don’t just throw around the world “snowarama” all willy-nilly.
