Thomas Lei – Second Trip - Canada - China

Susanna,

Thank you for organizing this terrific 18-day trip to Chile, Argentina, and Brazil for us. We had a wonderful time in our journey, especially on Easter Island, Iguazu Falls, and Buenos Aires.

Our guides were very nice and professional. They spoke very good English. All pick-ups and transfers to the airports were perfect and smooth.

The hotels were lovely and convenient for us to walk to some scenic spots. The rooms at the hotels were spacious and clean. The breakfasts were delicious and healthy.

Excursions in Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, and Santiago were excellent. My wife and my daughter loved the dinner and the Tango show in Buenos Aires very much. We had a wonderful 5-day journey on Easter Island. We saw the stars in the evenings and enjoyed the sunsets and sunrises every day. I liked the 4-day tour in Rio. If I were to do it again, probably I’ll have a private tour to Island of Angra dos Reis because we wasted too much time on transfer and pick up.

Susana, you did a great job! We had a fantastic time. Thank you for everything.

Tao Lei and family

Donald Jehn - USA

Marita,

We enjoyed our trip to Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu very much. The tours gave us so much insight into the fascinating cultures of these Andes areas.  We both enjoyed the proficiency and kindness of the tour guides, especially the help of Carlos, Carina, and Rodrigo. Having individual help from each of them was great in helping us understand the history, traditions, and the hearts of the Peruvian people. The individual attention we received was outstanding and greatly appreciated. Antigua Miraflores in Lima was our favorite hotel—absolutely charming atmosphere and the best staff! We especially were grateful for the supply of fresh drinking water they provided complementarily. Lack of complementary drinking water is one of our biggest complaints wherever we travel.  The Ramada hotel in Cusco was less enjoyable- staff seemed polite but not gracious. Seemed overworked. The hotel in Machu Picchu, El Mapi was beautiful and peaceful. The drivers and especially the pickups and transportation to and from the airports were timely and great despite the traffic!

This was one of our very best vacations and we seriously want to come back to this interesting country. Although we usually use ships or plan our travels on our own, We definitely plan to use Trip Adviser again.  Thanks, Marita,  for setting up this vacation for us and always making us aware of the logistics.

Mary and Don Jehn, November, 2019

Angela Butikofer - USA

Susanna,

I was meaning to send  you a thank you for all the arrangements you made for us.   We had a lovely time.

• All hotels were lovely.   I was surprised to have king size beds in most hotels where Ken and I had double rooms.   This was appreciated.
• Our guides / contacts were very professional and attentive.   It was great to have the same contact thru our multiple stays in Lima.   It was nice to be met at the airports and taken care of when we were changing locations.   All of our contacts in Peru were excellent and spoke very good English.   A little less English in Ecuador but we were well taken care of throughout.  (In the Galapagos, our contact on Santa Cruz island did not speak English well but usually had a second person with him who spoke English).
• In the Amazon, we loved the local guides who were able to show us how river people lived.   They were also able to take us to places where we would see dolphins and beautiful sun rises and sun sets.   And were able to talk about life in the Amazon river region of Peru.
• Our transition to altitude went fairly well.   Cusco was a very nice place and we found our way around quite easily.  Machu Picchu was wonderful.  It was nice to have 2 days to visit.    The Machu Picchu train was a bit unusual in that the employees had to put on costumes and do a fashion show and try to sell clothes.   To me this seemed to be unnecessary and uncomfortable.
• We found the street vendors in Peru (Cusco, Machu Picchu especially) to be annoying.   Even is we said no, a few minutes later the same vendor was back asking again if we wanted to buy things that multiple other vendors are also selling.   We had shoe shine men offering to clean shoes cloth shoes that do not get polished.   It was annoying and we tried to not to encourage them.   We did not have similar experience in Eduador/Galapagos or in Lima.
• We found Ecuador very reasonably priced – especially after Lima – which was also reasonable for the most part but could be expensive.    The volcano hike on Isabella lsland was a bit too far to be comfortable.   I got badly sunburned (noticed where I missed with sunscreen) and the last hour of the return hike was just a slog.   (the total hike was 16 kilometers – a bit far for average tourists).
• Excursions on Santa Cruz Island were excellent.   Janice and I were pleased to have been able to snorkel with tortoises, sharks, Sea Lions and all kinds of tropical fish.   It was wonderful.
• My only negative feedback has to do with our return from the Galapagos to Toronto – which took 2 days.   Perhaps we should have considered returning thru Quito but I guess we had booked our flights in and out of Lima before we finalized our details.   The last days of our trip was a lot of time in airports and waiting – but it all worked out in the end.   Our Air Canada flight at 2:40 am seemed ridiculous but seeing  how busy the LIma airport was at that time, it seems like that is a popular time for international flights to leave – so not unusual – but odd for us.   We were very glad to have our triple room at the Hotel Libre.   It allowed us to rest and relax in the afternoon.   Thanks for suggesting and booking that for us!

In any case, we had a lovely time.   We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hotels.   And the food was wonderful!

Thank you for all the time you invested in making our trip memorable.

Angela

Susan Johnson - USA

Hi Marita,

Just wanted to drop a line and tell you we had a WONDERFUL time on our trip to your country. We would like to give you a big THANK YOU so much for all you did in planning and organizing the trip. EVERYTHING was beyond our expectations. Omar and Alex did a great job at being on time and getting us to where we needed to go, they went above and beyond their job.  The guides, Carlos and Margo were excellent as well and the whole crew, porters and chef took very good care of us, there never was a time that we had to worry.  I can’t say enough good things about your team, I would definitely recommend them. Your whole team made our dream possible and a true joyous adventure. THANK YOU and please pass on our praise to the rest of your team.

Susan Johnson

Sundance, Wyoming

James Glass - USA

Hi Marita,

We have all made it home safely from our trip to Peru, thanks to you and your assistance.  Our children had a lovely time in Puno and Lake Titicaca and Debbie is feeling fine now.  Debora and I wanted to pack Mercedes in our suitcase and bring her home with us!

 Thanks again for making our trip to Peru memorable for ourselves and our family.  We hope to return to Peru sometime and will most definitely use the services of Peru Trip Advisors.

Regards,

Jim Glass

Catherine Huisman - Canada

Hi Marita!

We really enjoyed our adventures in Peru!  Thank you for all of your help especially with the immigration problem.  All of the tours were wonderful, but some guides were amazing- Mercedes and Angela in Cuzco. Pascal in Machu Picchu, and Angelica in Puno!  Also our guide in Lima was great but my memory is failing me and I can’t remember his name🤔.

Thanks for everything!  We will definitely recommend Peru Trip Advisors to any of our friends who may want to experience an amazing adventure!

Sincerely

Cathy  & Dirk Huisman