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Guest comments

Dear Spirit of the West Folks,

I feel compelled to write given our most recent kayaking experience. We toured Johnstone Strait with you two summers ago (our first time in kayaks), and we knew we wanted to kayak again this summer. We decided to try the other side of the Island and booked a trip with another company.

Our tour to the Broken Group was also delightful, but honestly not as good of an experience we had with your company. At the end of the Johnstone Strait tour we had a great time.........even though the weather was less than desirable. However, it wasn't until we traveled with another company that we were able to truly appreciate the quality of your equipment, experience of your guides and the professionalism of your organization.

Spirit of the West set the bar when it comes to kayaking companies in our minds.........

Camille Jensen, Calgary AB

Hello. I was on the 7-10 August Johnstone Strait trip and just wanted to thank Ron, Neil, and Terry, once again, for a terrific trip. Not only did I have a very good time, but I ate very well and appreciated the guides' knowledge. I think I must have lucked out with the best possible guides.

I'm back in Maryland, now, where it is hot and humid, and not the least bit pretty, unlike your part of British Columbia. I wish I were still there!

Thanks again.
Roy Birk

Hello Christine and John,

I just wanted to say thanks to you and your staff for the outstanding
experience we had with your company in Johnstone Straight. Our guides Ron, Rick and Breanne were absolutely terrific and worked hard to make sure we had a great time. Their knowledge of the environment and surrounding areas made for an educational and entertaining trip. The camping spot was ideal and the food was first rate. I cannot remember when I have had a more enjoyable vacation. Looking forward to joining you again in the future for another tour. Thanks again for the good time and fond memories.

Sincerely,

Eric Cooper, Australia

Just wanted to send a short note to say thanks for a great week up in Johnstone Strait. Everyone connected with Spirit of the West did a great job to ensuring my trip was the best it could be!!!

Rose in taking care of arrangements for me. Christine and John for coordinating and meeting guest needs, everything ran without a hitch. You have a great crew of
employees!

And our guides Bre, Miray, and Ron. They were great guides, full of fun, interesting facts, and they took great care of all the campers! Obviously well fed campers and
are
happy campers!!! OK seeing whales added to the trip.

Having an opportunity to spend albeit a short period of time gives you a great appreciation of how beautiful it is on Vancouver Island. I really enjoyed the quiet night by the fire after everyone had retired to their tents just listening to the waves.

Again thanks for a great trip.

Have a great summer.

Cam

PS I will tell you returning to work on Monday was the last place I wanted to be!!!

Christine Portmann
John Waibel

Hello! We just got back to the States after our four-day Johnstone Strait trip and wanted to let you know how wonderful our guides were. Ron was full of good info on the whales, the islands, and kayaking; great attitude and very helpful. Aaron is sooo sweet. And Jeff was absolutely fabulous (and I'm not just referring to his delicious
cooking or his campfire activities that drew us all together as a community); my son Eric has Attention Deficit Disorder and Jeff was incredibly patient and supportive of Eric's needs as he learned to face his fear of water and to manuveur a kayak. Jeff spent a lot of caring time with Eric to make sure he would succeed; Eric's self-esteem was definitely boosted by the rapport he developed with Jeff. You are lucky to have such wonderful people on your staff; they were truly the highlight of the trip. Thanks again for making the celebration of my 50th birthday a family memory to treasure!

Cris Jensen, Ca USA

Hello dear John and Christine,

How are you doing now that you entered the more quiet winter season?
Gregory and I certainly LOVED our kayaking experience with you (please take this us our response to your evaluation form). We could not think what you could have done to improuve this fabulous trip us unfortunately none of us are responsible for the rain!

Could you eigther send on the pictures we transfered to you via OFOTO to the others in our group or send us their e-mails? We think they bring back many good memories.

If you ever come by Geneva, please look us up... much love also to Erin

Mireille & Gregory, Switzerland

Hi John and Christine,

just wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed our kayak trip with you guys!! Thanks to Jim, Bre and Rick, they were wonderful guides and fantastic cooks. The whole trip was perfect, even the mechanical whales did a great job looking quite real.... Just kidding. I hope Elaine sent you guys her photos via the email, she had a digital
camera and got some great shots. What nice memories. Marilyn had to cut her email short yesterday and wanted me to tell you that our suggestion for your next "what to bring list" should include binoculors. Also, to bring mainly warm clothes and defenitly NO munchies, you guys fed us non stop!!! I never even touched any of the
snack food I brought. Good luck for the rest of the season. Say a warm hello to our three guides, they did an awesome job! Take care and maybe I will see you again sometime.

Bye
Monica at Cariboo Travel, BC Canada

Hello!
If u don't remember me i phoned a few times until u let me on the
Johnstone Strait tour (29 Jul to 1 Aug)!
I would just like to say thanks for letting me on at such late notice. I
had a fantastic time. Was lucky with the weather and the Orcas!!
Thorougly enjoyed the kayaking and the hike (developed a taste for
huckle berries!). The guides (Miray, Geoff and Ric) were brilliant,
always cheerful and amazing chefs!!

Again cheers for letting me come along, it was fun.

Best regards,
Camila

Hello John & Christine,

I got back from your Johnstone Strait Tour from July 29th -01Aug./02 and
I would just like to say it was great. My sisters and I are still
talking about it and having developed our pictures it brings back alot
of fun memories.

We have a great picture of a whale passing about 5 metres from our
kayak. It was amazing. I would also like to let you know that Rick,
Miray and Geoff were great guides and wonderful cooks. They were very
friendly and knowledgeable and patient.

I will definitely recommend your company to my clients interested in
kayaking. Already I know a few people that are interested and
personally I would like to go back with my kids in a few years when they
are older.
Again thank you for a great trip.

Colette Hausammann
Holiday Travel, Manitoba Canada

Hi Christine and John
Scott and I have recently arrived home from Canada, and just wanted to
let you know what a fantastic time we had on your Johnstone Strait
kayaking trip. The guides (Ron, Breanne and Geoff) were excellent and
looked after us very well! The food was great, as promised, and we were
very lucky to see lots of orcas, both while kayaking and at the
campsite. We were on the trip that had to stay an extra day due to the
windy weather (what a hardship!), and were picked up by John on the
Songhee, which was a bit of a bonus to the trip. In all, an experience
well worth travelling half way around the world for!
Thanks again for a well organised and memorable trip.

Regards
Kate and Scott Smedley, Australia

John, I wanted to let you know how much my husband and I enjoyed our trip --- it was all you promised in your beautiful brochures, excellent website and thoughtful
emails!

The weather didn't completely cooperate as it rained 3 out of the 4 days, but everything else made up for that inconvenience. I don't think we could have found more personable and professional guides than Fred and Scott. Then there was that wonderful food that they spent so much time creating for us. We had a couple paddle trips that found us in very high winds. After my initial apprehension, I found that to be very exciting, challenging and rewarding. Allot of that was because I had confidence in our guides.

The area is so beautiful and I thought base camp was well constructed. It was primitive, but totally functional. Having the tents on the wood base was nice. I have been tent camping in the rain and gotten rather muddy in the past.

Thanks to you and all of your staff for a well-organized and memorable vacation.

Sincerely,

Debbie Crawford , Springfield, Oregon

John and Christine,

I'm happy to report that I've been successful in uploading some of my
pictures from the Sept 1 thru Sept 4 trip to an online photo album. It can be
found at the following link, http://photos.yahoo.com/deborah_duke

I know each of my fellow group members will join me in saying it was a GREAT group and a GREAT trip!! Don't be surprised if you see some of us back again
next year!

Deborah

Dear John

I'm writing this message to express my appreciation for your well organized and very flexible tour. It was very special tour I treated myself as my 30th birthday. Usually I prefer to conduct self organized tour wherever the terrain is. I'm afraid I'm spoiled with this tour too much. Not sure I could kick the all the comfort I got
for my future adventure. How guilty you are! I saw a lot of wild animals in wilderness. What made me very happy was even wild life presence makes the scenery completely different. Like one sealion comes up
to breath. It gives immense clue behind that scene to nourish this sea lion. That makes me feel very rich in my mind.

Getting to know a lot of different kind people was very intriguing experience. Everybody has different background and interesting to hear their stories around the fire.

I can't help to mention to Scott. He was excellent guide. He has immense sense of humor, good knowledge about environment of Johnstone Straight and native culture utilizing wildlife( I love the story of Bull Kelp used as sort of container for candle fish oil and water), skill of presentations. I wish you could give him extra bonus for his excellent job. I believe he deserves.

John, I love the way you organize your tour. I can tell you love the area and would like to share the beauty and wonder with your clients. Hope you could keep this pasture for future tour too. Next time I'd like to come back with my girlfriend. I was very nice to hear your experience when you're on commercial fish boat. Also very impressed with your pluralism to see things on world affairs. I'm sure not many North Americans has that objective perspective like you. Great to get to know with you.

All the best / Takashi, Japan