Thoughts and response to the current Covid-19 crisis.
Luckily in mid-March when the Covid-19 pandemic really started to ramp up we had no groups out of the country at that point. We had a tour scheduled in Costa Rica for March 18-30. Chuck Gangas, our local leader and I huddled and discussed what to do. We ended up postponing the tour, which turned out to be a very good decision as Costa Rica and many other countries ended up closing their borders a few days after that. We also had several workshops here in the US scheduled for April and May which we also ended up postponing as well as a tour to Slovenia. With the Costa Rica tour, Slovenia tour, Arizona workshop and several other tours scheduled for 2020 which either have been postponed or may need to be postponed in the future we had paid out funds to lodges and guides in those respective countries. The practice of those lodges and guides has been not to refund monies paid out for a postponed trip but rather apply theses funds to a future trip. In truth many of the lodges and guides need those monies to survive and many may have gone under if they had to refund all of the tour money we and others forwarded to them. We certainly want to be able to go to all the wonderful lodges and places that we have used historically so we want them to survive and continue to be open when travel opens back up again. So cancellations of the tours and refunds of money to Trogon Photo Tours and then to participants has not been a practical option. Of course we recommend our participants have travel insurance, but unfortunately many of these policies, unless the participant had purchased with the "cancel for any reason" rider, did not cover a pandemic.
So the way we as a company in coordination with our guides and participants are handling this is any cancellation/postponement either by a participant or by Trogon Photo Tours during 2020 and going forward at least until the end of 2021, and possibly longer, the whole amount of your tour funds can be applied to any future tour you would like to do. The first option is we let the participant know when their specific trip will be offered again and give them an option to reserve a spot on that trip. However we realize that some people may not be comfortable or able to travel that soon or on the exact dates their trip was rescheduled for. We feel strongly that if you are not comfortable travelling right now for any reason, you shouldn't be travelling. So we are allowing those that choose to do so to either apply their funds to any other trip that we have on the schedule which has space or to let us know in the future when they are ready to travel and which trip they would like to apply their funds to. This way participants will not lose the value of any of the funds that they have paid for a tour or workshop.
With this uncertainty regarding foreign travel and the realization that some photographers would still like to get out, do some bird and wildlife photography and see some beautiful outdoor scenery we have decided to add more US based photo workshops. We have further decided to limit the total participants, both photographers and nonphotographer spouses to 3 people on each of these workshops that we are adding. We feel that very small group workshops will be more attractive to participants due to the current situation. While we will not be able to social distance on these trips within our group, we will try to avoid other groups of people to the maximum extent possible by social distancing, visiting remote areas and in some cases visiting areas during off peak season. We also realize that with the uncertainty of the pandemic going forward that both participants and us need as much flexibility as possible. So for these US based workshops through February 2021 we are not requiring payment of the remaining balance until 30 days before the workshop and participants can cancel up to 7 days before the workshop and have all of their tour funds applied to any future workshop. These tours can be run with 2 participants, if you are the only one to sign up and you would like to have a private tour, we will give you the option of a private tour but at a higher price. If you decide against a private tour you can either apply your funds to another workshop or get a refund. To reserve a spot on one of these tours or workshops you would pay your initial deposit. If one of your tours has been postponed and you would like to apply your funds to one of these trips, please let us know either by email or Nate is available to speak on the phone at 281-778-1486 about any of your options or the tours and workshops. While we will photograph some birds on those workshops, the main focus is mammals. We will be adding more workshops with Nate leading which focus on birds first. So keep checking our website for updates. Nate is planning to lead one in South Texas in November which will include one of the South Texas ranches and a few days in the Rio Grande Valley. It's also likely we will add one to the wild far Southeast corner of Arizona (Portal and nearby) for January. The plan is to offer at least one of these workshops a month until at least February 2021. The workshops are listed below. If there is any other spot you would like to go let us know and we will consider adding it.
In this current situation we also recognize that private tours and workshops are more attractive than ever. Nate is available to lead workshops at the South Texas ranches and in Texas generally. Ken is available to lead workshops throughout much of the American West. We have listed just a few of the possible trips, along with prices for a couple or 2 photographers sharing a room on the website at Private Photo Tours. As Ecuador, Peru and other locations open up our photography guides are available to lead private tours there including ones which have hummingbird multi-flash photography. Again you can email or call Nate to discuss any possible options at 281-778-1486.
We want to thank our participants for their support during these times, the vast majority of them have been extremely patient and understanding.
Signed Nate and Angie Chappell, May 28, 2020.
List of 2020/2021 US Workshops with 3 participant Maximum - this will be added to.
June 18-23, 2020 - Washington Eagles and Seabirds - Join Ken Archer to photograph Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons feeding on spawning fish, seabirds and beautiful landscapes as well as wildlife on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.
September 20-27, 2020 Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone -Join Ken Archer to photograph Wild Horses, Pronghorn, Mule Deer and Birds in the wild San Wash Basin. Then photograph Moose, Bighorn Sheep, Elk and birds like White-tailed Ptarmigan and Clark's Nutcracker in Rocky Mountain National park.
September 29-October 6, 2020 - Yellowstone and Tetons in the Fall - Join Ken to photograph a wide variety of wildlife including Bears during the rut with beautiful fall colors and landscapes.
November 7-14, 2020 - South Texas Birds - Join Nate to photograph the raptors and specialty birds of South Texas with 3 full days photographing from blinds at Laguna Seca Ranch and another 3 days exploring various sites in the Rio Grande Valley.
December 6-12, 2020 - Yellowstone Winter Workshop - Join Ken to photograph Wolves, Bison, Elk, Bighorn, Pronghorn and Birds in the Lamar Valley and Northern Range of Yellowstone.
January 25-31, 2021 - Yellowstone Winter Workshop - Join Ken to photograph Wolves, Bison, Elk, Bighorn, Pronghorn and Birds in the Lamar Valley and Northern Range of Yellowstone.
March 20-25, 2021 - San Diego Birds - Join Ken to photograph displaying Grebes, Peregrine Falcons, Wood Ducks and a great variety of both waterbirds and passerines. We have access to feeding stations and drips which attract great small birds.
