Bus tour with Jafar and Will was amazing! They were informative and helpful. We went to Banff and back. They pointed out wildlife and even stopped to watch a Mama bear and her 2 cubs. We stopped in Hope BC which is where Rambo was filmed and Highway thru Hell. It was a really nice small town. Our 1st night was at Mike Weigels heliport resort. The resort was really nice but definitely not what we expected. Thankfully Jafar took our suitcases to our room as we could not have gotten them up steep outdoor stairs. We had to stop at a grocery store to buy our dinner as there are no restaurants open. We bought subs, others bought food that needed to be cooked in a communal kitchen, dining hall and living room, that we didn't know about, but was a great way to meet the people we were on the bus with. The resort did provide us with a very nice breakfast. We stopped in Jasper for lunch but only had 40 minutes and spent that in the deli waiting for food, so never saw anything of the town. Stopped at Athabasca Falls which was beautiful and a few other informative spots. Onto to the Columbia icefields, because another couple and us were from Ontario and have seen snow, we didn't do the extra tour to the top of icefield. So Jafar was kind enough to take us to the bottom of the icefield and we could walk on the bottom of the glacier and see how far it had receded over the decades. Banff is SPECTACULAR! We went to Sulphur Mountain on the gondola and had a paid for breakfast, sights were amazing and saw a mountain goat relaxing or trying to get warm outside the restaurant. The breakfast was ok but could have been hotter. We had a day on our own which was nice and other couple and I went to the hot springs. Nothing special as it was in an outdoor pool but since it was cold out it was a nice to see the views from a warm place. Lakes Louise, Morraine and Emerald were so beautiful we lucked out as the ice had melted. Onto Revelstoke, we stayed in the Sutton Place Hotel that was amazing, we had our own suite. We had dinner in the hotel that was very good. Stopped at the Last Spike and a taste of wines at an Indigenous Winery, in Kelowna Drove through the Fraser Valley, back to Vancouver where we said good bye to many friends that we made on our 5 day journey. We stayed in the Sheraton Wall Centre. The next morning we were met by Nick and Brandon, our new guides to take 5 of us from the first half of our trip to meet up with others taking the Pacific Rim tour. Took the ferry over to the island had breakfast (pretty good) We stopped in Parksville to see a nice beach. We stopped in Coombs at a flea market type town. So many nice things to see but the stop was definitely not long enough to eat and shop!! 45 minutes I could have spent half a day!! But then again I like to shop. We stopped at a grocery store again and picked up breakfast stuff and snacks for our stay in Ucluelet at Black Rock Resort. OMG what a resort, right on the ocean, views from our room were great. Again another suite with a kitchenette and bathroom to die for...soaker tub and huge walk in shower with views of water. Dinners were very good there.
Next day we went to Tofino. If you aren't doing any of the extra activities (whale watching, kayaking, surfing) you better ask the guides if they can take you back to the resort or stay back, as it is a very long day at least 7 hours. Nick and Brandon were kind enough to take 4 of us back as you can only see so much in Tofino after being there 4 hours. Next day went for a 3km hike and had amazing views of the ocean and lighthouses and trees bent every which way. Onto to MacMillan Provincial Park where we saw 800 year old trees that were so large you can't imagine. Back on the ferry and then say good bye to the new and old friends that we met on this wonderful trip. The only negative I have is that I wish we had worn masks as we 5 of us came home with Covid. The guides are not required to wear them.
I highly recommend this tour if you are a young at heart and love nature. Hotels are 1st class and tour guides fun and informative and they want your trip to be amazing. Thank you Jafar and Will and Nick and Brandon.
A must see/do for all Canadians!