HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2011
Here follow some highlight memories from Gentle Giants' season 2011 which I would like to share with you.
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We opened up our doors and started the season earlier than ever before with our first tour on the 21st April. Around that time Gentle Giants also went through some major developments:
° A new and elegant Ticket Centre came in place in the end of April.
° Amma Sigga arrived in the beginning of May; our blue RHIB which can give you the same butterflies as a world class roller coaster.
° We launched three new tours last year; Pro-Fishing, Puffins Exclusive and Big Whale Safari. The two later ones are run on Amma Sigga. This RHIB really opens up for new possibilities and will also be involved in our new tour for 2012; Hiking the Mountains.
Our RHIB Amma Sigga arrived in May 2011.
One really fun thing we got to experience in the end of June was a beautiful wedding which took place on Flatey Island. The whole GG crew was involved in organising, shipping the 130 guests over and taking part in this unforgettable wedding, during the time of year when the sun never sets. Do not hesitate to contact us if you want to do something similar or maybe something completely different; the limitations of possibilities are up to your imagination.
The beautiful wedding on Flatey which GG helped organising.
One great way to celebrate a honeymoon is to get a multi-trip-pass by us and go whale watching as much as you can for as many days as you want. “It is perfect as no two tours are exactly the same. We get a new adventure on every trip we join!” said Matthew, a multi-trip-passenger who went on numerous tours with us in June.
My personal highlight from 2011, whale-wise, must be the non-stop-jumping humpback on 15th July which made us forget both time and space. I was guiding the Big Whale Safari on Amma Sigga and what could possibly suit better than a gentle giant breaching some 70-80 times? - right in front of us! Unforgettable!
My best whale memory from 2011; the non-stop-jumping humpback.
To the list of most amazing encounters last summer we also have to put guide Daniel's curious blue whale. What happened was that Sylvía was peacefully drifting with the waves. They had spotted a big whale in a distance and were waiting for it to come up again. When Daniel - in the middle of a conversation on deck - threw an eye down the water, he realised that a blue whale was swimming towards them, and was already very close - “The blow holes were so big that Kalli and I could have put our heads down there!". It swam under the boat from the front to the back and when the head appeared in the aft, the fluke was still on the other side. A once in a life time experience. If even.
The blue whales are massive and often give us great experiences.
2011 was an amazing season with big whales from start to end. A humpback got lost in Húsavík harbour in March and blue whales entered our bay as early as the last days of May. We had top conditions in August and the real gentle giants stayed throughout the season.
Daniel and I got the honour to represent Gentle Giants at the festival Whale Fest which was held in Brighton&Hove, south England in November. It started with a workshop where chosen whale and dolphin watch operators from all over the world came together, sharing experiences and ideas to learn about how to improve and make our whale watching more sustainable. After that a whale fair was held which turned out to be a success with more than 2500 entrance tickets sold (plus hundreds of free children's tickets). The whole thing was organised by the founders of Planet Whale - the world's biggest search engine for whale tours online.
Me representing Gentle Giants at WhaleFest in England, November 2011.
This was our season 2011 in short. Preparations for the one to come are in full swing by some of the GG staff members. Our captains spend the wintertime in Húsavík harbour and on their boats fishing while most of our guides study or work elsewhere in the world. But we all have one thing in common – we are eagerly awaiting the next season to start.
Remember that life is not the days that passed by, it is the days that you remember. Welcome to experience unforgettable adventures with us, here at Gentle Giants.