Guide

We have other holiday leaders boasting impressive credentials. Newfoundland and Labrador presents dozens of logistical challenges for anybody coordinating a tour or learning holiday. There are routes without bathrooms or other basic services yet these areas feature sites of international significance and world-class life experiences. These areas can lack the support of even a simple plaque or sign.

Mark Tsang is one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s best known skiing and winter sports enthusiasts. Working with us for springs, summers, and falls since 1997, Mark has led most of our Viking Trail Experience holidays. He specializes in outdoor explorations for travellers interested in the wildlife and wilderness of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula and Southern Labrador.

The polar bear monitor during our second 2008 Northern Labrador Polar Bear Expedition was John Terriak, one of Canada’s most celebrated Inuit carvers. John’s commitment to his traditional lifestyle made him a feature in a National Geographic article during the 1970s while his art and stories have inspired articles written by cultural anthropologists and collectors of aboriginal art.
  

Ken Knowles is a birder, naturalist and experienced tour leader. He has been leading tours for fifteen years for a variety of tour companies and cruise lines including Newfoundland and Labrador’s own Wildland Tours.

Ken’s love of nature began thirty years ago as a birder and wildflower enthusiast, and since then his interests have broadened into all areas of natural history. He has compiled one of the largest lists of bird sightings in Newfoundland and his photographs have appeared in national and international magazines as well as coffee table books.

Jean Knowles is a nature lover who has been hosting group tours in Newfoundland and Labrador since 1984. Like many of our Wildland Tours leaders, Jean has lived in remote places with seabirds and seals and has always had enthusiasm for our cultural and natural heritage. She comes from a long tradition of involvement in the natural world — her uncle Harrison Flint Lewis was the founder of the Canadian Wildlife Service — and she has enjoyed stints as a cruise ship naturalist, whale holiday leader, and volunteer on oiled seabird clean ups.

Dan Hickey grew up in the shadow of historic Signal Hill and spent his youth exploring its trails, highlands, caves, and 16th century battlefields. Heading into his 8th year with Wildland Tours, Dan has been leading groups since 1997. During one of his 1998 Newfoundland Adventures he spotted the province’s fourth Magnificent Frigatebird. Through his time with Wildland Tours Dan has worked in logistics with the company’s growing cruise ship support service, travelled most of Labrador and Newfoundland, and experienced the beautiful Labrador Straits.

Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Ann Simmons returned to Newfoundland in 2000 after 15 years on the mainland where she worked as an event planner and creative soul with a Nova Scotia advertising company. Before this, Ann worked in the food service industry holding such positions as area manager for Dunkin’ Donuts Canada and general manager for Wendy’s Restaurants of Canada. The call of her Newfoundland home proved hard to resist and once she was settled back home, Ann joined the office staff of Wildland Tours in 2001.

President
Dave Snow is a naturalist and educator who first fell in love with the seabirds of the North Atlantic in 1979 while living and working as a researcher on Gull Island, part of the Witless Bay Seabird Sanctuary. He started Wildland Tours in 1984 to help protect the seabird sanctuary and the province’s many other wildlife resources by demonstrating their economic value to business-oriented politicians.