点评:I joined Kingfisher Adventure’s Ultimate Gwaii Haanas Explorer for a 15-day adventure in August 2023. My expectations were huge, based on knowing that the flora, fauna and geography were spectacular (I’d been to Haida Gwaii previously), excitement about visiting Ninstints / SGang Gway Linagaay (with some knowledge of the pre- and post colonial history of the Haida Nation), and looking forward to 2 weeks of ocean kayaking. I kayak at least weekly with a local club and have been on numerous guided trips off Vancouver Island’s Pacific Ocean coast but had never been on a 2-week trip. I had additional expectations based on Kingfisher Adventures website that was informative about its equipment, meals and so on. These expectations were met mostly.
The disappointment came with Kingfisher’s guides. Competent guides would be expected, but I could have never anticipated the rudeness and dismissive attitude of the head guide. The assistant guide was on her inaugural trip with Kingfisher so she was learning but from the way she treated us and spoke, it seemed as if most of her experience might have been with children’s camps. The head guide was experienced as a guide and kayaker, but her attitude toward the guests was awful. Right from the time of our arrival, she spoke to us in a condescending way, cut people off mid sentence or just told them they were wrong, discouraged conversation about anything or any questions regarding daily or weekly kayaking plans. We all soon learned to ask no questions and start no conversations with the guides present which was not difficult because during the long afternoons when we were ashore, they spent most of the time in their own tents coming out only to make dinner or otherwise sat far away reading. In one instance, the head guide cried when giving an interpretive talk; at another, she yelled at all of us during one of her “team meetings”.
Team leadership skills were lacking in spite of this guide insisting that we work as a team. She pandered to the one person who continuously complained privately to her. The inconsistency in her instructions was confusing and divisive – we were told not to do anything until she instructed (e.g., coming ashore in the kayaks, moving the kayaks onto higher ground, choosing boats with respect to doubles or singles and who we shared doubles with), yet she complained when we didn’t do those tasks on our own, saying we should know how.
One morning we got up early and on time for breakfast, moved the boats as instructed, and then sat around doing nothing for 2 ½ hours until the tide was right; of course, tide tables could have given us such information had those tables been shared with us. That behavior seemed to be testing our ability to obey; otherwise, we might have chosen to rise later and enjoy a more relaxed breakfast or at least keep our reading books out of packed kayaks.
Another issue was the routes we took. Obviously, there was a general overall plan to go from south to north during a 2-week period, yet most (not all) days we did very little paddling. We spent a lot of time ashore although there was only one day that we were held up due to weather. I read a 400-page book but would have preferred to do that at home and spend way more time each day on the water.
I did not expect to pay thousand of dollars, enjoy outdoor activities and be amidst spectacular scenery to be treated with distain. It seemed that the paying guests were an inconvenience. I have no doubt that the head guide would have been happier kayaking on her own without the encumbrance of Kingfisher guests, except that the pay is not as good. Outdoor guiding takes both kayaking skills and people skills and the latter was clearly missing on this trip.
翻译:2023 年 8 月,我加入 Kingfisher Adventure 的终极瓜伊哈纳斯探险家 (Ultimate Gwaii Haanas Explorer) 进行为期 15 天的冒险。我的期望很高,因为我知道这里的动植物和地理都很壮观(我以前去过海达瓜伊 (Haida Gwaii)),对参观 Ninsints 感到兴奋/ SGang Gway Linagaay(对海达民族殖民前后的历史有一定了解),期待为期两周的海洋皮划艇活动。我至少每周都会和当地的俱乐部一起划皮划艇,并且参加过温哥华岛太平洋沿岸的多次导游旅行,但从未参加过为期两周的旅行。我对 Kingfisher Adventures 网站有额外的期望,该网站提供了有关其设备、膳食等的信息。这些期望大部分都得到了满足。
翠鸟的导游令人失望。导游很称职,但我万万没想到导游的态度如此粗鲁和不屑一顾。助理导游是她第一次和翠鸟一起旅行,所以她正在学习,但从她对待我们和说话的方式来看,她的大部分经历似乎都是在儿童营里度过的。领队是一位经验丰富的导游和皮划艇运动员,但她对客人的态度很糟糕。从我们到达的那一刻起,她就以一种居高临下的方式与我们交谈,打断人们的话,或者只是告诉他们他们错了,不鼓励谈论有关每日或每周皮划艇计划的任何事情或任何问题。我们很快就学会了不问问题,不与在场的导游交谈,这并不困难,因为在我们上岸的漫长下午,他们大部分时间都呆在自己的帐篷里,只是为了做晚饭或坐得很远。外出读书。有一次,领队在做解说时哭了。另一次,她在一次“团队会议”中对我们所有人大喊大叫。
尽管本指南坚持要求我们作为一个团队工作,但我们仍然缺乏团队领导技能。她迎合了一个不断私下里向她抱怨的人。她的指示中的不一致之处令人困惑和分裂——我们被告知在她指示之前不要做任何事情(例如,乘皮划艇上岸、将皮划艇移动到更高的地面、选择双人或单人的船只以及我们与谁共享双人) ),但当我们没有自己完成这些任务时,她会抱怨,说我们应该知道如何做。
一天早上,我们早早起床,准时吃早餐,按照指示移动船只,然后无所事事地坐了 2.5 个小时,直到潮水合适。当然,如果与我们共享潮汐表,潮汐表可以为我们提供此类信息。这种行为似乎是在考验我们的服从能力;否则,我们可能会选择晚起并享用更轻松的早餐,或者至少不要在拥挤的皮划艇上阅读书籍。
另一个问题是我们采取的路线。显然,我们有一个在两周内从南到北的总体计划,但大多数(不是全部)日子我们很少划桨。我们在岸上待了很长时间,尽管只有一天因为天气原因而滞留。我读了一本 400 页的书,但更喜欢在家里读,每天花更多的时间在水上。
没想到花几千块钱,享受户外活动,置身于壮丽的风景之中,却遭到蔑视。付费客人似乎给我们带来了不便。我毫不怀疑,如果没有翠鸟客人的阻碍,领队独自划皮划艇会更开心,只是报酬不那么好。户外导游需要皮划艇技巧和人际交往能力,而这次旅行显然缺少后者。