Tara Sparshu’s
love for travel began in childhood during family road trips across the United States. She vividly remembers telling her parents she’d one day travel the world and she’s done just that. What started as a personal dream has become a fulfilling career spanning more than 20 years.
As a travel consultant, Tara brings energy, experience, and a deep curiosity for the world to every trip she plans. She’s passionate about helping her clients discover new destinations, whether it’s a relaxing beach getaway, a romantic escape, a multi-generational family vacation, a cruise, a destination wedding, or an unforgettable adventure. Tara takes pride in crafting personalized travel experiences that reflect each client’s unique style and interests.
About Adventure Canada
Adventure Canada is known for its small-ship expedition cruises that bring travellers to some of the most remote and breathtaking corners of the world, places like the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, and beyond. Their trips combine adventure, education, and cultural connection, with expert guides, local knowledge keepers, and a deep respect for the environments and communities they visit. From wildlife sightings to Zodiac landings and onboard programming, Adventure Canada offers a one-of-a-kind way to experience the North.
Read on to hear about travel consultant Tara Sparshu’s firsthand experience exploring Greenland with Adventure Canada.
Q & A with Tara
You spent time in Iceland before boarding the cruise. Where did you go and how long were you there?
I flew in three days early and packed as much sightseeing in Iceland as I could. I did the famous Golden Circle, visited the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and explored the South Coast. All as day trips from Reykjavik, leaving some time in the early morning and evenings to explore the city of Reykjavik.
What were some of the highlights from your time in Iceland?
I LOVED both my Snaefellsnes Peninsula tour and the South Coast! Both these trips offered me tall cascading waterfalls with the opportunity to either walk underneath or to the top. Snaefellsnes also gave me beautiful rugged coastlines, amazing rock formations, lava fields, black sand beaches, and I got to see a family of Arctic fox! The south coast provided black sand beaches, unique rock formations, the chance to see Puffins (though from a distance) and walk along the glacier. As a Game of Thrones fan, many of these stops were actual filming sites from the show, so fun to see them and try and remember what scenes would have been filmed there.
I know so many people say that the Golden Circle is a “must do,” but I would recommend, if you don’t have the time to visit all three areas, to skip the Golden Circle and do either the Snaefellsnes Peninsula or the South Coast.
What was your favourite Icelandic experience: natural hot springs, waterfalls, food, or something else?
My favourite experiences were the waterfalls and all the various ways to view them, from wading through ice-cold water barefoot, climbing hundreds of steps to the top or getting drenched standing underneath! Each one was so different, magnificent and beautiful.
I also loved the black “sand” beaches. I say “sand” as they are more like rocks and pebbles, as they are all formed by lava. It’s not often that you get to see this type of beach. This was also the location I got to see my first puffins.
Our tour guide told us that it was rare to see Arctic fox in the wild, as in the winter, they are white and blend in. And in the summer, they are brown and still blend in. So it was very special at one of our stops to be able to not only see a family of Arctic fox but to be able to watch the little ones play.
I went to the Icelandic Bar recommended by my tour guide. I was lined up out the door even at 8:30 pm, which I figured was a good sign. I was right! I tried the reindeer burger and it was delicious!
What were your first impressions upon arriving in Greenland?
Our first experience arriving in Greenland was a orca pod sighting. There were about 6 ocras that were swimming just off the ship. Our captain got us as close as he could for optimal viewing without disturbing them. It was a pretty special and exciting moment for all of us on board. As we sailed towards Greenland, we were met by icebergs of all shapes and sizes. The coolest part of that for me was the vibrant blue colours. I’d never seen ice that colour before. For me, the first impression was excitement to see an experience more of the glaciers and icebergs and whatever else Greenland had in store. And that’s big for someone who doesn’t normally like the cold.
Why did you choose to travel with Adventure Canada specifically?
My passion is not just seeing the world and new countries but really immersing myself in the places and cultures that I visit. And I love it when I am able to help clients have those similar travel experiences and work with clients who are looking for those types of experiences.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve really focused on small group immersive travel, and one of those types of travel is expedition cruising. I’ve done a lot of online training with various expedition cruise lines. You can learn a lot by online training, but there is nothing like experiencing it yourself.
When Ensemble Travel, a consortium that we are a part of, partnered with Adventure Canada to offer us ann educational trip to the Arctic, I jumped at the chance. These opportunities are offered to agents so that they can really understand the product and sell it effectively.
After learning about Adventure Canada both through the online training and the one-on-one call with my Adventure Canada business development manager, I really felt like this was a company that I would feel comfortable sending my clients with. It was great to experience it myself and see that they do offer a great product; their expedition team was great and has great relationships with the communities that they visit. They are also a Canadian family-owned and operated company, which is also important to a lot of clients.
What stood out to you about Adventure Canada’s expedition team and onboard programming?
The Expedition team was made up of our expedition leaders, program designers, zodiac drivers and the specialists: botanist, marine biologist, archeologist, geologist, photographers, Arctic polar specialists, naturalists and many more. The expedition team was not just there to provide onboard programming. They were around the ship, having a coffee or drink with us or sitting with us at dinner. It was great to have these interactions with the team and get to know them beyond their specialty. However, they were always around and willing and ready to share their knowledge and answer any questions we had. Truly an exceptional team. I LOVED having the local Greenlandic ladies onboard with us as the Inuit Cultural Educators. They were so passionate and full of knowledge. Wanting to share their country and culture with us.
Can you tell us about the ship? What was the onboard experience like?
We were on their ship, the Ocean Endeavour, which has a maximum capacity of 198 passengers. When we were on board, it wasn’t full, 179 passengers. This ship will be retired after the 2025 season, so the ships themselves will be different, but the experience will be the same. They will have two new ships for 2026: the Ocean Nova with 79 passengers and the Exploris One with 144 passengers.
All meals are included: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast and lunch are buffet with a fresh made station. For breakfast, they do omelettes, and for lunch, the dish changes daily. The fresh made stations were definitely a passenger favourite. The lines were typically long but worth the wait! Dinner was a mix of a la carte dinners and buffets. The buffets were for evenings when we had off-ship activities. They also had an afternoon tea each day. In the lounge, they had a refreshment station that had coffee, specialty coffees, teas and cookies 24/7.
They offer daily onboard programming with the various specialists in their expedition team. Our Inuit Cultural Educators did a variety of sessions on the differences between East & West Greenland, what life as a Greenlander is like. An Inuit beading session and much more. We also had information sessions on climate change and how it’s affecting Greenland. Birds of the Arctic. Whales of the Arctic. Botany and so much more. These were offered daily in the lounge; however, also available on your TV in your cabin, so if you wanted to relax in your room, you could still catch the sessions.
They also offered a hot tub & sauna, which was a daily visit for me. They have a gym and spa with a massage therapist. A small library area in the lounge where guests were often found using the reference material to look up various plants and animals we were seeing on the journey.
How did Adventure Canada handle logistics and shore landings in such a remote region?
Seamlessly! Each landing, our expedition guides and polar bear guards would head out above us to check the location for weather conditions and safety. The polar bear guards would check the area and set up a safety perimeter. Once this was done then passenger disembarkation would begin. We were split into colour groups, and zodiacs were all loaded in a rotating order of our colours.
We had a variety of wet and dry landings. A wet landing would be when we were getting out of the zodiac with feet in the water, using our provided “mud” boots. Dry landings would be when we were getting out of the zodiac onto a pier. For all landings, we were assisted in and out of zodiacs by the zodiac drivers on the boat and the expedition team on land.
They do monitor weather and sea patterns and adjust as required, but always keeping in mind the best experience for the passengers. We ended up spending an extra day in East Greenland to avoid bad weather. Our expedition guide didn’t want us to miss one of the highlights, sailing through Prince Christian Sund (Sound), so he worked with our captain to make sure that, with the weather delay, we could still sail through the sund. It was an early morning, arriving at the sund at 3:30 am. It was a 6-hour sailing, so we were able to enjoy regardless of whether we got up at 3:30 or not. I was happy I did. It was beautiful and so peaceful as I was one of the few on the top deck.
They also adjusted based on customer feedback and requests. One day in Paamat, we were supposed to be on a zodiac cruise. Since they had requests for more hiking options, they changed plans and did a landing with hiking options of various levels; easier options were led by our specialist so people could learn about the botany, birds or culture. There were also moderate and extreme guided hikes.
What were some of the most memorable excursions or landings you did on the trip?
I loved them all: the zodiac cruises, scenic sailings of the sund and Fjords, the hiking options, the community visits, and historic sites.
I would say one of the most memorable was Evigshead Fjord/Kangerlussuatsiaq. The weather was beautiful, the best we had the entire trip, sunny and warm. We started out with a scenic zodiac cruise of the glacier. It was interesting to hear from the expedition team how much it had changed in just one season. Our zodiac guides turned the engines off and just let us float and enjoy the sights: the glacier, the mountains and the bird colonies.
After the zodiac sailing was the highly anticipated polar plunge. Definitely recommend and definitely a highlight. Don’t let people scare you, it wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be. So much so, I asked to go again.
After the polar plunge, we had a delicious BBQ lunch and then some sun time on the top deck before departing the Fjord.
Did you have any wildlife sightings? If so, what were the highlights?
My wildlife highlight in Iceland was seeing the family of Arctic fox and watching them play, as well as seeing puffins.
Wildlife sightings on expedition cruising are a lot about chance and being in the right place at the right time. Thanks to the announcement of our captain, we were able to watch a pod of orca whales as we sailed towards Greenland. The other highlight was our last day before heading to the airport, we did a tundra tour where we were able to spotm and some of us were lucky enough to see a reindeer!
What was your favourite cultural experience during the trip?
My favourite cultural experience was having the local Inuit cultural educators, Greenlandic people, on board the ship with us. We not only learned so much through their various workshops and presentations onboard the ship and onshore, but also just the opportunities to interact with them on a daily basis and the information conversations we were able to have with them, learning about their country, culture and lifestyle. We also had a Greenlandic word of the day, so we could learn a few important words, like “thank you”.
Adventure Canada has a great relationship with the communities they visit, so another great experience was the local who came to tour us around in Qaqortoq, as well as challenge the ship to a game of soccer. The local kids beat us.
The other thing I love is trying local foods. On this trip, I had two opportunities for this. In Nuuk, we ordered a taapas plate which included local specialties; muscox sausage, smoked reindeer, roast lamb, salmon tartare, to name a few. I also had a reindeer sausage andm burger at the airport (recommended by the locals) before we flew home.
Did you have the chance to meet local Greenlandic communities? What was that like?
In Qaqortoq, we were greeted by locals and the pier, and they took us on a tour around town. Our guide shared how the second largest industry is tourism, so they are very grateful for the ships that stop there. Here, one of our onboard Inuit Cultural Educators organized a soccer game between the ship and the local kids. Lots of kids showed up to play, and a few showed up to watch. When we got back on the ship, we were told how much they appreciated the interactions with the travellers, so it works both ways in these communities.
In Nuuk, we were walking down the street enjoying the artwork when a lady came up and gave me a hug and said, “We love you”. It really left an impact on how much they appreciate travellers.
What should travellers know about packing for Greenland?
For an expedition cruise, you will need to bring waterproof pants. These are a must as they are required to get on the zodiacs. Make sure they are waterproof and not just water-resistant.
Expedition cruises do provide a waterproof jacket (yours to keep after the cruise) and “mud” boots (for use during the cruise). The Adventure Canada jacket is a waterproof windbreaker style, so you will want warm layers for underneath.
Adventure Canada provides a suggested packing list in the pre-cruise information. I would say the items are not just a suggestion; they know best! When they say bring a bug net, you should. There were some items we definitely wished we had, and the ship’s gift shop sold out after the first landing. And when they say bring your thermals, bring them. I thought I was a hearty Canadian and that at 5-15°C I wouldn’t need them. When out on the zodiacs, 5°C feels colder when you have the breeze off the icebergs and glaciers, and I definitely wished I had them. If you pack them, I’m sure you will be glad that you did!
What kind of traveller would you recommend this trip to?
This trip would be ideal for:
- Those travellers seeking educational travel, with all the specialists a part of the Expedition team, and great onboard sessions.
- For those wanting to dive deep into a destination and culture, with the cultural specialist onboard and the community visits.
- For those that are wanting to see destinations less explored; most places we visited were only accessible by boat or air.
- For the outdoor enthusiast who likes to explore a destination on foot. We had a couple of really beautiful hikes as well as some communities we could experience on foot.
- For the wildlife lover. Though there is never a guarantee of what you will see, we were constantly on the watch and were thrilled with the whales, muskox, reindeer and birds we did get to see, and the unending flora. So many more plants and flowers than I expected.
- For the photographer who loves to capture nature, wildlife and local communities. The options for photos are unending, and there are photographers and videographers onboard to help you with your photography if you wish.
Is this itinerary physically demanding?
How accessible is it for different fitness levels? The biggest thing for mobility is that you would need to be able to get in and out of a zodiac and walk up a flight of stairs. Other than that, how physically demanding it is up to you.
On the various landings, you could walk as much or as little as you want. Days where hikes were offered, they offered options for an easy walk (sometimes this was just exploring on your own), moderate and difficult/extreme hikes.
What would you say to someone considering their first Arctic or expedition cruise?
I would say if you think it’s the right fit for you, do it! It was an absolutely amazing experience and I loved every second of it.
Saying that, though, I would say that an expedition cruise isn’t for everyone. There were a couple of agents that I was travelling with who were not as thrilled by the experience as I was. So I would say if you are thinking of doing an expedition cruise, work with an agent, like me, who has been on an expedition cruise, that would be able to walk you through the experience and help you determine if an expedition cruise is right for you and which cruise line is best for you. And once you have decided to go, help prepare you for the experience.
From breathtaking fjords and remote Greenlandic communities to unforgettable moments on board, Tara’s journey with Adventure Canada was filled with experiences she’ll never forget. If her story has inspired you to start planning your own Arctic or expedition cruise, Tara can help you every step of the way. Contact her today to start designing your own unforgettable adventure with Adventure Canada.
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