Calson
Well-known member
Workshops and tours are business operations meant to provide income for the operator. When you get $200 in services like the boat rides that leaves $1390 for having 20% of the leader's time over a two day period in the field. You save auto rental costs with a workshop and so that saves you about $150 to $200. Usually you need to stay at the hotel where the group leader will be staying to avoid needing a car.
For a trip to Florida to photograph ospreys my cost for a half day of a guided boat was $400 in total for my wife and a friend. We had control of where the boat went and time of day and how long at a particular spot.
Where I will consider hiring a guide is in a country where I need a translator as much as a guide/driver with a car. That was the case in Brazil and in Cambodia.
There is also the safety factor for a woman traveling alone in a tourist places where they can become a target.
For a trip to Florida to photograph ospreys my cost for a half day of a guided boat was $400 in total for my wife and a friend. We had control of where the boat went and time of day and how long at a particular spot.
Where I will consider hiring a guide is in a country where I need a translator as much as a guide/driver with a car. That was the case in Brazil and in Cambodia.
There is also the safety factor for a woman traveling alone in a tourist places where they can become a target.