We did see a moose, 2 in fact. That earns Elwin's tour one star. But, in the age of COVID19, if you want a safe, professional experience, this is not the one for you. If you are concerned about getting onto a packed bus of tourists from all over the country (or world) for 4 hours, with no one wearing a mask, where folks act like it's a party bus, this is not the activity for you.
First, when we booked this 2 weeks prior, we were told that the bus was not going to be full for social distancing and masks were required. We get on and the owner himself is not wearing a mask. People getting on the bus had masks then took them off. I asked him are we wearing masks..his response was to not make eye contact and abruptly say, "Masks are optional", then turn his head to the next customer. We were seated in the last row and, at first, passengers were spaced apart. Elwin then said we were going to pick up more people at other stops. WHAT? I again asked about this and he said that every seat was filled, went to the front of the bus and we drove off. At that point, we were on the bus stopping at two other resorts, filling up this bus. People passed each other to get off for the bathroom, there was a container of drinks/snacks to grab something from (um, lots of hands in that area touching)...issue after issue of concern. Tourists from all over were packed into this bus, closed windows (oh, the open windows to take pics are 5x7 inch slider at the top of the real window which doesn't open.
When I got back to my hotel that night, I did look up the NH rules and, indeed, they had changed 3 days prior to say tours could fill and masks were to be highly encouraged. There is nothing on the website that talks about the precautions taken then nor are there now. This was a conversation we had with him when we booked and we were given assurances. I would have liked to have been alerted to the changes. I would expect that the tour would comply, at a minimum, with the "highly encouraged" masks; not even the owner/driver wore one. I get that the rules change, I get that it's a full bus that makes money. What I don't get is the rudeness, the total lack of planning to minimize risk.
I did have an email conversation with Elwin afterwards and, while saying he didnt intend to be rude, he said he complied with rules and it was good we saw moose, so all good. So, I'll say it again...if you are concerned about getting onto a packed bus of tourists from all over the country (or world) for 4 hours, with no one wearing a mask, where folks act like it's a party bus, this is not the activity for you. read more