Fan Mail

Here’s what past participants are saying about Wild Women Expeditions..

” I had looked at the Wild Women Expeditions website for several years, but always found reasons to put off going. Money could always go someplace else besides being spent on me! Last summer I had reached a point in my life where I could no longer ignore myself and I went on my first trip. I could not have begun to realize the healing, personal growth and joy that comes from spending time with such exceptional women as I found there, and who have become friends since.  I am hooked!!  I just came back from another wonderful winter adventure in Algonquin Park run by the incomparable Ally Lyske! She is a gem of a human being, sharing her love of nature and bonding a diverse group of women together with the glue of laughter and shared experience! We had fabulous food, hiked in the park one day and then had the choice of snowshoeing or skiing the next.  When Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating for a few hours we had an impromptu yoga session and some relaxation time before heading out for the hike. The scenery was spectacular. Decisions are always made with everyone’s abilities in mind, and when I needed a few extra stops on the last leg of the snow shoeing I felt totally supported by the others. Kim and Natasha were excellent trail guides.  Already booked another trip for August and can not wait!  Linda from London

“The Pacific Rim trip is one of the best trips I have ever been on. The group of girls on the trip was incredible and it was especially nice to spend time with Karen again. The group really jived and we all had the same skill level and interests. The guides were great and very knowledgeable about the area and history, as well as kayaking, cooking and camping in the wild. It’s hard to believe we actually kayaked in the Pacific Ocean; there was such a difference between lake paddling and the ocean. You could really feel the swell of the ocean and it was very awe inspiring. Everywhere you look there were majestic mountains as a backdrop, with snow peaks even. Hiking in the Rain Forest was so different from the Ontario trails, hard to wrap your arms around those trees. Surfing was a great experience and an opportunity that doesn’t come by too often. I loved Tofino, what a great little Mecca. We sampled everything from the fine dining to the local bar, “The Mcqinnes”. Paddler’s Inn was a great location for all of us and I loved the bookstore and coffee bar downstairs. Thank you for picking The Shelter Restaurant, what a great 5 star ending to a super trip! I’ve got pleasant memories to carry me through until the next trip”

“‎I couldn’t have asked for anything more – I was absolutely satisfied with the people, the place, and the experience…I am filled with awe and humbled by the beauty, mystery and magic of the Nahanni…It feels wonderful to have been able to be fully present, to live in the moment with wonderful women, to have experienced so much as part of a very skillfully guided and facilitated 10 days – “PERFECT!” ~ Liz Penman, New Zealand

 “My time at the WWE weekend was a healing experience. Spending time with so many fabulous women all looking for something: time in Nature, time with other women, time in contemplation, reminded me of some of the most important things in life. Sometimes we spend the precious time we have, lost in this concept called Busyness–which is really an avoidance of the things that really matter. Looking back at the 90 year old Woman in the Mirror, we won’t be wishing we’d been busier, we’ll be spending time in the peak memories of our lives. Time at a WWE weekend is really an investment in our present and our future selves.” ~ Kari Klassen, Toronto

 “The trip was woooonderfuuul! We had a great time, terrific group of women. We got along really well and enjoyed ourselves. A lot of laughing. Valerie was a super duper guide. She’s excellent. We got lucky with the whale watching too — we saw 4 Fin whales, 2 Humpbacks, several Belugas, some Minkes and Harbour Porpoises. The food was excellent. The chalet was very comfortable and served our purposes very well. Thank you!”

 “I can hardly believe I was on such a great trip! My friends have politely listened to me rave on about my trip to Newfoundland…I had the most memorable holiday imaginable. Thank you.“ - Helen

“Trips I have taken with WWE have always been incredibly playful and fun.  They are about celebrating the joy of being outdoors in beautiful natural open spaces and I think most people really let themselves relax when they are in this environment.  They are about sharing common quests and challenges; for the most part with people you barely know.  By the end of the trip you feel as if you’ve been friends forever.” – Betsy, Toronto

  “Our guide Jennifer is truly an exceptional young woman. Her knowledge and skills were very apparent from the time we set off, her enthusiasm and laughter contagious. When I think of her, I automatically laugh now, as she had a way of getting everyone in a good mood. Prior to our departure, Jennifer asked if we had any goals for this trip. She made it her mission to see that we reached these goals. Mine was to see a moose (I’ve yet to see one despite my years of travelling north.) Beth, Jennifer got up each morning before dawn to go with me on a hunt. While we weren’t successful, it was certainly not from a lack of trying on Jennifer’s part! And this is just one small example of how Jennifer worked to ensure each of us had the experience we wanted and needed. Jennifer was encouraging, engaged, and is a very sweet girl. We could not have asked for a better guide. Her commitment to providing us with an exciting time, where each of us felt valued and appreciated for our contribution was apparent right from the start. She fostered a sense of shared leadership and truly cared that we felt we were welcome to share out thoughts and opinions. She’s pretty damned strong as well! What a great time Beth. I can’t express to you how much I enjoyed myself. It was everything I had hoped for and more.”

“The winter weekend was great! I came from MN for the weekend, so I had a good financial investment in a “weekend”  ;o) Food, as always, was so good.The hostel was cute, clean, warm, and the flush toilets/showers were a plus for me!I have traveled with Ally previously, and that was a draw for this weekend. She did a great job on the WWE kayak trip I took a couple years ago, so it was wonderful to reconnect.And again, the group of women that participated were so very different, independent, interesting, and welcoming.The yoga instructor was very open to questions and shared suggestions on making our yoga experience a good one…I do hope you do more winter adventures. The beautiful land is so worth spending some time with. It was a great weekend!” – Page Kern

“Ally was a superbe guide – tending to our every need and participating with us as though we had her youthful body and energy . She empowered us to do things we might not have known we could do – and praised the results ! Each woman on the trip was touched by her in some way – thank you so much for putting her in charge of our trip !!!!!!! We love her dearly !!!!!!! And kudos to you for putting to-gether the logistics and providing the base-camp from which we launched and to which we returned! Very smooth !!!!!!! Thanks for everything !!!!!! See you next year!” - Warmly, Helene, from London

“Hi Ladies! We just wanted to thank you for the most amazing time of our lives. You all did so many things to make our honeymoon incredibly special and unforgettable. Laura, your food was delicious! Ally, we trust that your next expedition was another wonderful experience for you, but I hope WE WERE BETTER! LOL. Beth, our only regret is that we didn’t get to meet you. You have created something truly extraordinary in WWE, and you must be one extraordinary woman. We know that we’ll be back again soon. We did get some magnificent photos, and we’re sending a CD! You’ll see us again, without a doubt. WE’RE WILD, WE’RE SUCCULENT, AND WE’RE LOUD!!!!!!! (ask Ally!!) – All the best, Nancy and Lettie

“I just want to let you know what an awesome person Ally is and what a great leader. She balances leadership of women old enough to be her mother with finesse and delicacy. She laughs and joins in with times of fellowship and never makes any one of us feel undermined even when we do stupid things like capsizing a canoe right at the shoreline!!!!! She’s an unbelievable cook too! Don’t ever let her go, She’s the best.” – Karen, from Ottawa

“I wanted to say thank you! The long weekend in August was the best of 2008! I remember how you greeted me when I finally arrived at Nairn Centre.. which by the way, I wasn’t sure would happen. My text messages and phone calls to my friends can confirm that. I remember walking across the grass and feeling at home, more than even in TO .. even with my roommate who is the greatest. It’s the greatest place ever, everyone and everything.” – Shona , from Toronto

“What a great, great wild women’s week I had up there! No place like it, and I plan to be back next year. Greetings too to all you guys at Base Camp. What a fun and wild group of women. Best time I’ve had all summer and best trip I ever took (okay, except maybe salmon fishing in Alaska). All you other wild women, if you’re ever in the Philadelphia area, stop on by if you need a place to stay! Hope the rest of your summer is good.” - Leigh from Phillie

“Thank to you and your team for an amazing weekend and especially to Katie. She’s a remarkable young woman – incredibly competent and a very gracious guide. I think everyone really appreciated her and indeed each other. We has a great group and even the weather goddess restrained herself from hurling anything nastier than a full on wind. We were blessed I think and Killarney is undoubtedly a magical place.”- Sal from North Bay

“We had a great trip – please pass on our thanks to everyone who participated in our great experience. The food, route, weather, etc was fabulous. Most of all, please pass on our thanks to Karen – She is a truly talented, knowledge and lovely person – it was a pleasure to have her with us during our trip.” - Donna from Ottawa

“I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful Temagami trip. It was the best vacation I’ve had in years and I can’t wait to come back! I appreciated your expertise, your resourcefulness and how you made sure the trip was fun for everyone. Kat and I made it as far as Sunridge before we had to crash – I guess all those late nights and early mornings finally caught up with us. Until we meet again!” - Kiersten from Toronto

“Just thought I would send you an email and say hi. I was at the yoga retreat and then the canoe trip with Karen in July this summer. I am looking forward to coming back again someday. I wanted to say thank you for everything that you offer at your place. That definitely was the start of my personal growth journey and will always be remembered as the start of new beginnings for me. Talk again soon.” - Caroline en route to India

“Our North Channel Kayak trip was fantastic. Fabulous small group and great guide Ally. I keep regaling my coworkers with descriptions of living with really interesting women in a “Group of Seven” painting with sparkling water, rocks that look like the glacier just left, on Paradise Island with great swimming and gourmet food. I have proudly displayed those beautiful muscles in my left arm and done the “loose hips” dance. Bonus to find a group of coffee-drinking, meat-eating, beer-swilling, cigar-smoking poker players too. That was fun – for my inner “bad girl”. The trip replenished my spirit… Thanks again.” - xxoo Rhonda from Toronto

Hi girls. Hopefully Karen gets this message… I can’t thank Karen enough for being such a fantastic guide. I honestly had one of the best and most fun weekends I can remember in a long time. I will definitely be coming on another WWE trip in the near future. Thanks again for giving us all a great weekend. - Kathy from Chatham p.s. hugs to Ditch and Nellie.

Ally my Dove, I started missing you and all my kayak buddies the moment we left basecamp, and when Rhonda dropped me off at the bus station in Sudbury (thanks for the good directions, by the way), I was feeling positively weepy. Part of that, I know, was caused by sleep deprivation, but I’ve really missed you guys and can’t wait to say hi again in November…

“I can see now why my friend booked back-to-back trips this summer. Once you’ve had the shower and put on clean clothes, you’re ready for more. I certainly felt that way when I got home: No, I want to be on the water and playing around those islands.” - Nancy from Ottawa

” Great to get your newsletter- it always takes me out of my day-to-day to imagine a place greener & full of love & peace. I wanted to thank you for the amazing trip that Tessa & I had in Aug. Ally & Karen were super and the whole trip itself was everything we needed it to be. From the challenge of paddling to fun around the campfire & the beauty of the lake, trees & rocks – the entire experience captured a piece of my memory that I’ll always hold dear. Seeing you, what you do & how you do it with such consistent loving energy is truly inspiring (don’t ever change – except for the better!) Thanks again for a trip Tessa said was “the best time ever” and kept me smiling all the way back to T.O. See you in November! “- xoxo Sonya from Toronto

I wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed myself on the recent Killarney trip, and also struggled — a good thing for as Edward Albee once said, it is cruelty and kindness together that are the teaching emotion. In particular, I wanted to thank you and your staff for incorporating the gluten-free meals into your program to accommodate me. There was the pasta dish on the last day and at one point in the trip, Katie pulled out a gluten-free cake mix she got for me. Both acts were very touching. The food itself, in general, was varied and terrific. Katie too was a great guide. I particularly liked how relaxed yet effective she was… Thank you for the experience. Much enjoyed. – Pinelopi from Toronto

“Hi…just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the bike trip. It was FABULOUS. Meeting all of you there and the gang I was with was great. Thanks for all your consideration and caring – Karen and Kate on the trip. I feeling greatly empowered and have proved at 63 we can be very alive and kicking. Hope to see you all soon. “– Marion from Ottawa

“I was swept away by the quality of experience we had this weekend. I don’t think I adequately thanked you, Issa or the rest of those amazing women. I will cherish it, and expect it will continue having benefits for all of us for a long time… Love and best wishes.” – Sue from Kleinburg

“Now that the dust has settled I just wanted to thank you for facilitating that amazing experience I had on the Temagami trip. I feel so good, back at work but can_t stop thinking about the trip. I see a canoe and I want to get into it. I want to buy a canoe, there are a million lakes here to paddle. The women on our trip were wonderful, It was a huge learning experience. Bless you for empowering women to join together and experience this great north land, and each other. If I thought I loved women before I am absolutely sure of it now. Hope to see you in November. Bye for now” – Tammy from North Bay

“Abi and i had a really great time and i just wanted to let you know how much we appreciated your great hosting and guiding. we spent the drive home avoiding actually getting there. we picked asparagus, visited friends, stopped for lunch, went grocery shopping, got stuff to fix the barbecue, went to see if the community pool was open…we finally got here and we’re still feeling pretty chilled out so that’s good. i was afraid it would go away the second we walked through the door. i was happily wrong. ok thanks again and again and again.” – megan from Toronto

” Just arrived back in computerdom and wanted to drop a line and thank you for the excellent trip. I especially wanted to thank you for your professionalism in doing your very best to keep us safe throughout. Good call on the hunkerdown before the big blow. One of my friends who works in insurance says that Manitoulin is considered ‘ground zero’ on this one, and that the insurance industry has categorized this incident as “catastrophic”. Guess that makes for big dineros from them. We were very lucky and had great guiding! Anyhow, thanks again for the excellent adventure. And, at least 3 of of us are very serious about you making the trip longer next year. Hope you are able to give it consideration. For sure if my back holds and i am otherwise healthy I am planning to return next year” Sincerely, – Tom (aka Jan) from Toronto

“As I sit in my office surrounded by all this technology I reflect on the days past and truly appreciate the experience. I realize more fully the desperate need for balance in our lives. Thank you Beth for the wonderful contribution you have made to the adventurous women everywhere in this great region. You have created the possibility to truly experience the beauty of nature through a multitude of personal challenges in the company of strangers who become sisters. You are a nurturing guide and I thank you sincerely. Hope to see everyone in November. Allez Les Bleus! (That means Go France Go!!), xx to all my sisters” – Andrea from Toronto

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