Two of our brilliant providers have been in the press this month for their local expertise.
One of the best things about being part of WONDER SEEKERS is the brilliant businesses we work with. Most are local and all offer unique, authentic experiences and give you the information you need to understand and appreciate what you are seeing.
Based in Scotland, Wild Roots Highland Guiding take an inquisitive approach to mountain guiding. As their website says, “if you often find yourself looking at your surroundings and thinking ‘I wonder why…’, then our journeys are for you.”.
And it is this inquisitive approach that so impressed Guardian journalist Holly Tuppen. Holly joined a hike to sample a Slow Adventure which has similar roots to WONDER SEEKERS. The experience offers the opportunity to learn about the unique mountain culture, ecology and natural environment. In her piece, Holly describes the trip as showing “how some tour operators are now trying to ensure local people benefit from visitors, rather than being bypassed” and said “had never heard of Spean Bridge, but by the end of the trip I’d crisscrossed the village several times, explored the landscape with a local mountain guide, and been welcomed into several homes. I left hugging hosts like old friends, hoping our paths would cross again”. This is the very essence of slow travel and has much in common with the concept of science tourism, taking time to observe, learn and understand.
You can read the full Guardian article here.
Another provider to hit the headlines is Two Ravens in Greenland. Their co-founder, Adam Kjeldsen, was the local guide for the first ascent of one of the world's tallest arctic sea cliffs, Ingmikortilaq. Featured in National Geographic, the expedition was to get access to glaciers, remote fjords and the Renland Ice Cap to gather previously inaccessible samples. World-leading climbers Alex Honnold, Hazel Findlay and Mikey Shaeferhelped Glaciologist Heidi Sevestre cross the secluded ice cap, using different research techniques to gather critical climate data.
You can read the full National Geographic article here.
These are people working ‘hands on' in the field and their experience brings huge value and enrichment to the experiences their businesses offer. They are locals, grounded in their environment and keen to share their expertise and understanding so that you get more from your travel, safe in the knowledge that you too are contributing to the local community, science and stewardship.
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Our Providers
Wild Roots Highland Guiding offer three experiences in Scotland with WONDER SEEKERS:
Two Ravens offer two experience in Greenland with WONDER SEEKERS:
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Ari Laakso
Ari is the Project Manager of WONDER SEEKERS, and an Arctic Science Communicator at the University of Lapland Science Centre in Rovaniemi.
