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Business profile: Bella Treks
Published
12 years agoon
Felicia Ennis found southern Chile during an opportune moment in that
country’s travel industry. It was the mid-‘90s, Pinochet’s dictatorship was
losing power, and Chile was starting to funnel money into tourism.
The Montana native spent two years in Chilean Patagonia, guiding horseback
riding and hiking for the innovative five-star adventure travel hotel,
Explora, in its early days. Ennis became an expert in the region’s plants,
flowers, animals, history, culture and language, and befriended locals and
guides.
“There was a revitalization of energy and tourism,” she says. She met
Chileans who felt the same way about their country as Ennis did about
Montana. “They loved the wilderness.”
Ennis also became one of the first women to climb the South Tower of
Paine, a serious technical rock climb in the Torres del Paine National Park.
Eventually she missed Montana and returned home, by way of a job at
a travel agency and several years teaching school in Boulder, Colo. She
continued visiting South America almost once a year.
When Ennis started Bella Treks in 2005, she reconnected with old Chilean
guide friends, and brought her first guided trip to the Torres del Paine
National Park. Today, her Livingston-based travel company also offers
custom itineraries to Argentina, Peru, Antarctica, Morocco, the Arctic
and Montana.
The trips use local guides and stay at bed and breakfasts, hotels and
chalets. Excursions are designed for small groups and individuals, and
often include vineyards, hikes, fly fishing, and always, immersion in local
culture.
Ennis sets up private transportation and other services, keeping the trips flexible,
but well organized. Most of the company’s referrals are through word of
mouth.
Closer to home, she’s putting together a birding trip to Medicine Hat National
Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Montana this spring, when thousands of
migrating birds will be nesting.
In November, she’s headed to Chile to reconnect with guides and providers,
and to find new hotels. While there, she hopes to visit a Mapuche Indian
school in Argentina that’s part of an exchange program with students on the
Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana.
That visit is part of Ennis’s desire to start giving back to the places she and her
clients visit. On a 2010 Bella Treks trip to Morocco, for example, a group had
the option to donate to a community-based architectural restoration project.
Now, Ennis “is networking in the communities where we travel to see what
needs they have.” E.S.
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
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Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
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Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
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Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour
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Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour of the studio, meet our instructors, and meet other artists of all levels in our community. We’ll be getting creative and you’ll have the chance to make your very own artful button pin.
Stick around for our Volunteer Appreciation and Social beginning at 6:30 p.m.!
Time
(Thursday) 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location
BASE
285 Simkins Dr