QUESTIONS ABOUT QUEST NATURE TOURS

1. Who is Quest Nature Tours?

Quest Nature Tours was founded by Barry Griffiths in 1987 and since then has been operating high-quality nature tours from its offices in Toronto, Canada. We have always designed our tours with two basic premises in mind: we want to take our participants to some of the most exciting places on the planet to enjoy wildlife at its best, and we want to provide the best organized tours with top-notch services at all times.
The fact that we are the largest nature tour company in Canada with land tours and expedition cruises, going to all seven continents, seems to underline our success in achieving these two goals. Many of our participants have traveled with us on numerous tours and, currently, we are enjoying an annual repeat rate of over 65% – we must be doing something right!

2. Does Quest belong to a travel compensation fund?

Yes. Since we sell travel services in the Province of Ontario, Canada, we are required to be registered with TICO under the Travel Industry Act. No matter where our clients reside, if they have purchased their travel services from us, they will be protected by the consumer protection provisions found under the Act and the Regulation. Briefly, the Fund provides reimbursement of monies paid to an Ontario registered travel agent for travel services that are not provided due to the bankruptcy or insolvency of an Ontario registrant or an end supplier, airline or cruise line, where a reimbursement has not otherwise been provided.

3. Who travels with us?

Although our participants come from all walks of life, they share a common interest in nature and the desire to learn more about it. You don’t have to be an expert as we provide expert naturalist guides and amazing learning opportunities. Traveling on a Quest tour may find you in the company of educators, doctors, dentists, politicians, corporate executives, homemakers, judges, artists and lawyers to name a few. Most are from Canada and the United States, but we’ve also had participants from many other countries in the world.

4. Why do our participants travel with us?

A small group travel experience provides a great deal of security for our travelers, as well as the knowledge that all aspects of the trip have been considered – comprehensive pre-tour information, expert staff travel consultants, carefully planned itineraries, finely tuned logistics – all contribute to create a stimulating and hassle-free vacation. Our participants genuinely enjoy sharing their experiences with one another and enjoy the camaraderie of a relaxed group of very interesting, fun loving people. Many of our participants have met life-long friends on our tours.

5. What is small group travel?

Our land tours are designed to operate with 8 to 14 participants, and occasionally 16. The tours are led by extremely competent Canadian naturalists, many of who are experts in a number of natural history areas. When traveling outside of North America, we also have a local naturalist accompany the group to assist in the guiding and tour logistics.

6 . How does expedition cruising differ from regular cruises?

We have been operating expedition cruise with a nature theme for almost twenty years. During that time, we have developed an expertise that is second to none. We use small ships 16 passenger ships in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Amazon River and Galapagos Islands and 100 - 110 passenger ships in Central America and the North and South Polar Regions. These are ships that are purpose-built to sail into and operate in remote areas. There are on-board lectures by well-qualified naturalists and historians, zodiac landings on remote shores, high quality wildlife viewing, access to the command bridges of the ships, and wonderful cuisine. There are no casinos, dressing up for meals, or being disgorged, with literally thousands of other passengers, in crowded tourist ports.
Our participants have frequently commented on how great a feature it is to only have to unpack once and then let their floating hotel take them to some of the most exciting wilderness locations in the world.

7. How do I get travel advice from Quest?

We are committed to providing you with the most authoritative and up-to-date information as possible. We’ve done this by sending our staff on many Quest tours. Recently, they have traveled to Antarctica, the High Arctic, East Africa, India, Galapagos Islands, Peru, and Cuba. When you call our office, you will be talking to an expert in both nature travel and Quest’s many Canadian and International destinations.

8. Who are the Quest tour leaders?

We have always said that our strength is in our naturalist tour leaders. We select them very carefully, not only for their natural history knowledge, but also for their ability to share it with you. They enjoy being with people, are efficient, skilled travelers and will make sure that you have a great vacation.

9. How do you develop unique, nature itineraries?

Organizing nature tours to remote corners of the world is often complex, and requires local expertise, and realistic planning. By doing our homework and fully researching our trip itineraries by traveling to the destinations, before they are listed, we are able to ensure that we are traveling to the best places when nature is at its peak. With Quest, it is usual to travel to “off-the-beaten-track” destinations while still enjoying the good life: comfortable accommodations and good food.
9. What kind of accommodations might I expect on a Quest tour?
On all of our international land tours we use hotels, inns, and lodges that are classified as 3 and 4 star properties. At times, we may use 5 star hotels. The rooms, unless it is clearly stated in the tour’s detailed trip itinerary, will have twin beds and private bathrooms. On most of our expedition cruises, there is a selection of cabin categories available. Please refer to the detailed trip itineraries for as full description of all of our accommodations.

10. How do we travel while on tour?

The vehicles we use on our North American tours are 15-passenger window vans with a maximum of 8 participants. This leaves extra room in the vehicle to spread out. When on international tours, the vehicles vary according to the country and size of group. For example, in East Africa we use 10 passenger pop-top vans with a maximum of 6 participants in each. In Cuba, we hire medium-sized, air-conditioned buses, some with washrooms on board. In Australia and New Zealand, our operator provides comfortable 20 –22 seat mini buses. Please refer to the detailed trip notes, available for each tour, for a full description of the vehicles we are using.

11. What information will I receive about the tour?

Once you have sent in your deposit, we’ll take care of all the details and send you comprehensive information about your trip. Your final documents will include baggage tags, and a final itinerary with emergency telephone numbers.

12. Can I talk to any of your previous tour participants?

We pride ourselves on the number of participants who have enjoyed our tours so much that they travel with us again and again. Many of them are also happy to talk to you about the Quest tours they were on. If you would like to discuss a specific tour with one of the participants, please call us and we’ll set it up for you.