Canadian Wilderness Expedition

A portage is a process of moving a watercraft - such a raft, canoe or kayak - overland to traverse an obstacle or a section of the river which is not safe to paddle down. On this expedition, there's a big portage section when you reach three consecutive class VI rapids - about as big and dangerous as a rapid can get! So part of the adventure is helping the guides portage the rafts and expedition gear around these rapids ready for the final camp at Magpie Falls and the final section of paddling on day 7 to reach the end of the expedition. The portage does involve some hard graft, however, it's a real team effort and there are plenty of scenic rest and swim stops throughout the day, plus some paddling and swimming when you reach the lake beneath Magpie Falls. The guides will ensure you have plenty of fun and soak up more of the wilderness during the portage. You're experiencing a time-honoured Canadian river tradition, as explorers through the ages carried their canoes around river obstacles and from lake to lake, covering incredible distances and pioneering river travel as is Canadian wilderness tradition.

Your host knows the river and the surrounding area better than anyone and has carefully planned the departure dates to ensure the best chance of good conditions on and off the river, avoiding the stormy season that rolls in for a few weeks during mid-August. The one element of this trip which can be affected by extreme weather is the floatplane. Simply put, if the conditions are not suitable, the flight won't go ahead. This is relatively rare within the dates that the expedition has been planned around, however, nature can and does throw even the best-made plans off-course. Your host has made contingency plans for this outcome, so in the rare and unfortunate event that the flight can't take place, day 2 will involve an alternate day trip to an island or national park within range of Sept-Îles. In this instance, the floatplane will take place on day 3 and the expedition condensed into 5 days instead of 6 (this is easily manageable with a bit of extra time on the river each day).

Tips are not included in the cost of your adventure, and tipping in Canada is customary. You should budget 10-15% of the price of the tour per person as a suggestion for your guides on the adventure, with the upper end suggested if your guides did an amazing job. We also suggest you budget extra spending money to cover tips while dining out in Sept-Îles, as tipping in restaurants is mandatory in Canada.

Your guides will bring along filtering equipment and water purification tablets. However, you are in a pristine wilderness environment so a lot of the water from the streams and rivers on the expedition can be drunk with no purification required.

Yes, your host can store your luggage at their base in Sept-Îles at the start of the trip, to be collected on return ready for much needed fresh clothes.

Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.

Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.

Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).

For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.

We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.

We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.

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All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.

You're always in good company on one of our adventures.

Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.

Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way. Check out our Community Values – a shared code to make sure that everyone's experience is safe, inclusive and brilliantly unforgettable.

It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.

Don't just take our word for it:

• 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
• 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
• 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends

See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.