All testimonials

Sandra, I just arrived back and I wish to thank you for the perfect organized trip. It was amazing, a real life experience. The agent in Quito was present waiting on my arrival in airport, hotel, everywhere in conformity with the program schedule. The cabin was better then my expectation (as at looked in the computer) and a guide with good nature knowledge. The islands are of volcanic origin, the vegetation is not to rich mostly cactuses, but the animal fauna is real unusual rich and special, and not afraid from human presents. The whole think is very interesting and special. I made about 1000 pictures (from both trips) and I can make a video show from then with music background and the whole trip can be seen on TV screen.

The problem with Galapagos is the huge distance from civilization, for every one its very far, but for me not less than 35 hours flight, I don't know how I arrived alive. But I don't regret it for a moment, it was unusual interesting. The lady agent in Peru-Lima came to meet me in the hotel it was very nice and I real hope to be able to meet you too. I wish to remain in contact with you and if you have any idea or deal for the future, please let me know. Again, thank you for all and wish you all the best Your -Dr P Rath

Laura, We finally got back from our long trip, of which our Patagonia tour was just the beginning. The self-drive part to Torres del Paine certainly was one of the main highlights and your arrangements served us very well. The Hertz people could not have been nicer; we got a brand new Montero (which we returned totally dirty inside and out after driving through mud for two days) and both checkout and return were easy. The hotels in Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales were fine. OK, that is a summary. Congratulations to you for making this a special part of our trip. Happy Holidays and all the best for the New Year 2008, Ulrich

Laura, many thank for your organization. You have organised eveything on a perfect way. The internet page with all the information was great. The information were clear and good to understand.(Plus a user guide, many thanks).

The front desk in the Hotel Patio Andaluz in Quito expected us. Checking in was so easy then. It was a good idea to recommend us this hotel. The location is perfect, the hotel very nice, very clean and a warm atmosphere. We saw also other hotels in Quito, like the Hilton Colon and Mariott. The Mariott is also very good, we took this hotel on our return from the Galapagos cruise, because of the parking space for the car we rented. But the location of the Patio Andaluz is the best you can have in Quito.

When we left Quito for the Galapagos cruise, checking in at the airport in Quito was so easy, I couldn't beleive it. We walked in the airport and went just to a counter of the Airline TAME. The counter officer checked our name, please us to wait a minute and after 1 minute a nice girl picked us up and handled us all information and boarding cards.We received then a blue chain with the name of the cruise arround the neck.

On the arrival in Baltra, guides recognized us on our chain and took care of us It was so easy, you can believe me. On our return from the Galapagos, to receive our car from Avis, it was the same service. All my compliments. It was so easy the book this with you. Many thanks. I wish you mery merry Christmas, that you have good Christmas event with all that thinks around as family, friends, gift, good food. I wish you also a happy new year , good health and that all you wish come true in 2008. Best regards, Raymond

Laura...The trip was very nice and we had a good time. The hotel in Quito...Patio Andaluz...was charming. The tour company that picked us up and delivered us to the airports was teriffic! Always on time, friendly and very efficient. I highly recommend them...especially Alex. The Finch Bay Hotel was very nice..Thank you for all of your assistance...you really did a great job for us. Carl

Laura. I have been travelling since Ecuador so I am a bit behind on e-mails. I don't have my itinerary at hand so I don't have all the hotel names etc but you can match my comments against the itinerary. We found that the local company was very well organized and attentive. They met us at the airport as planned and recommended that we do the city tour very early before our trip to Otavolo at the end of the week.

They felt we would need time to rest as the altitude impact would hit us harder if we were active in any way. We took their advice. The altitude effects were strong the first day (headaches and dizzy) but started to ease off by the second day. Even after a week though, a high activty level would have been difficult. Travellers should take this into account for sure.

We had Odette Morillo as our first guide as far as Riobamba with Ramero as our driver. Odette had lived in Canada, so her English was excellent. We went through a fair bit of country side to see the real Ecuador, off the main roads. She arranged for us to stop in very interesting Haciendas for coffee and lunch and bought small things for us to see or taste from vendors enroute. We found the Riobamba accommodation at Abraspungo lovely.

Some TripAdvisor comments were not as positive but it looked like a few rooms very extremely small and worn. We had a huge two- room space with a very modern bath. Travellers do need to take warm cloths to sleep in as there is no room heat - we were fine. The food was very good at the Inn. At Odette's suggestion we had the Inn arrange a taxi tour of Riobamba just before the sun went down. The next morning we had Javier Cufrrerol met us at the Inn. He came up from Cuenca to get us. Again two interesting days of exploring off the main roads into villages and farms in his 4 wheel drive. The Cuenca hotel was traditional style - almost European, but lovely. Again we had a huge room overlooking the river, good service and good food in their dining room.

Cuenca is a gorgeous and surprisingly safe city to walk around. We had a full day visiting the city and some nearby towns. The guide took us to see several small artisan studios off the beaten track where there was no pressure to buy, just to see the traditional techniques of weaving, pottery ect, we ate interesting (safe) foods in the markets at his suggestion and he went out of his way to locate a wool shop for me to buy Alpaca knitting wool.

We enjoyed a visit to the Cuenca Panama hat factory. We ate lunch in a lovely terraced restaurant in Cuenca. The following weekend, we were back with Odette to visit Otavalo. We had a early morning city tour of Quito then off to visit many market towns to the north. The itinerary was easily adjusted to suit our interests and pace. Again wonderful lunch spots on both days (hacienda's) and our hotel was magnificent. They gave us a huge double bedroom/sitting room with a fireplace. The staff set the fire for us during dinner.

We enjoyed their tradition of a welcome warm cocktail, snacks and local music before dinner. We had difficulties flying from Cuenca to Quito - they closed the Quito airport just 5 minutes before landing so we diverted to Guayaquil. Odette had given us her cell so we called her and they did their best to try and follow what was happening to our flight. Odette's driver Ramero stayed at the airport until very late just in case, but we did not get back to Quito that night. In the morning, the tour driver was back at the airport waiting to collect us. This was very good service. This was one of our best South America trips to date (there have been many).

Your local representatives ensured that in each hotel/inn we had excellent accomodations, bottled water, good food etc. The guides were both very knowledgable and spoke English well. All in all, we were well looked after. Thank you. Kelly

Mauricio, Thank you for your email. From what I understand, Mr. Rossi enjoyed his trip to Costa Rica very much. Thank you for all of your efforts to make sure that things went smoothly. Sincerely, Val LaCour Concierge

Thank you! We had the most amazing time ever! Jen and I could not have been happier with our choices and your planning of it all.

Thank you for all the bottles of champagne that were delivered to our rooms, we loved every bit of them. Here are some of the highlights that we felt made the trip so special. Buenos Aires, Home Hotel is very cool and chic. The setting was ideal, and it did not matter that we didn't have a room with a tub. The spa there is not very large, so it was good to book ahead. They were very helpful with restaurant suggestions and directions. They had free internet in the lobby and a great bar and pool area.

The rooms were very well done, it might be cool in the winter as they have concert floors. We ate at this restaurant called The Standard, which had some of the best chicken I have ever eaten. Mendoza and Uco Valley, the vineyard Salentine where we stayed for two days was probably the best of the trip.

The setting was at the base of the Andes with vineyards in all directions. Here we had all of our meals and the food was out of this world, top class like you could find in NYC for $$$$. We were set up with a suite here, which meant we had two bedrooms, a kitchen, balcony and dinning room. The place is small only about 8 rooms and very romantic. They have a small dining room building with an amazing terrace looking out over the valley. We were able to go horseback riding through the grape trees, fruit trees and over streams. There were two other couples staying there while we were there and we all had dinner together on the last night and it was so much fun.

Jen and I both agreed that our guide and driver for the 4 days in Mendoza and surrounding areas were the best. We are going to send our guide a recommendation email, but if you could also make sure the people who contracted him know that he is amazing that would be wonderful.

His 1st name is Fabien, I have his full name at home. He is our age and knew so much about the area and the wines. We spent two days having lunch with him, both for about 2 hours each and it was like we were old friends. He was open and told us about the culture, life today and past. We just can't say enough about how great he was. I would make sure you set up anyone who is going there with him, because it makes the trip that much more enjoyable. In Mendoza we stayed at the Hyatt and it was very swanky.

There was a fashion show going on, so that made it even move swanky. We ate at Francis Mailman's 1884 restaurant, and this could have been the best meal of the trip. It is set in an old colonial house with a courtyard where we had cocktails and then had dinner on the terrace. everything about this meal was 5 star.

Southern Chile was amazing, the flight down is easy, that stop in Puerto Montt was like 20 mins at most and you don't even get off the plane. The hotels in Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales were really nice. They were recently done and offer a very modern feel. There was one other hotel in Puerto Natales that looked a bit more chic, called Indigo or something like that, I think that could be another option for the area. The drive was no problem at all. It took 5 hours from Punta Arenas to get to Hotel Rio Serrano in Torres del Pine.

Rio Serrano is actually just outside the park, by like 1 KM. It is very nice and clean and new. They are adding a spa there and I think as far as accommodations go it is one of the nicest places there. We had a guide on our second day there, who took us horseback riding for 2 hours then a hike for 4 hours and then back on horses for another 2. It was a really long day, but one we both loved. We hiked to the base of the towers in rain and snow, how Vermont can you get right?

Our guide Leo, works for Rio Serrano and is another one we'd like you to let know that they really made our trip even better. He is originally from Vina del Mar, our next stop and he took the time after the long day to write down a number of places to visit and eat around Vina del Mar. We thought that was really nice of him to make the extra effort when he didn't have to. Being able to drive around the park on our own was I think a very good idea.

There were tour buses of older people and I know we would have gone crazy if we had to do that. Plus the drive is amazing and you want to stop every 10 mins to take a photo. It was nice to break up the 5 hour ride on the way back, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary. Puerto Natales is very small and can be covered in about an hour or so, if you are driving yourself.

The road from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natalis is like Route 100, paved and tight. There is a new road into Torres Del Pine national park from Puerto Natales that cuts the drive time down from like 3 to 4 hours to 2.5 hours, and it is a lot of fun to drive on. The hotel Del Mar in Vina Del Mar is really high end. We had an amazing room with a balcony facing the ocean. There are several great restaurants in the hotel and a casino. The spa on the top floor is very cool and the massages were very good and not very expensive.

We wished we had a few extra days here, as it was so beautiful and high end! So all in all we had the most amazing time in the world and loved the trip. We want to go back right now! The food and people in Argentina could not be beat. The views and scenery in Chile were amazing. Thank you! McKee

Hello Mauricio! Thank you for all your efforts in securing for us a terrific vacation package with the short timeline that we gave you. We both agreed that the Peruvian vacation was the best that we have ever been on and we have done a lot of traveling! Latin Discover, Lima tours and the various subcontractors were all wonderful. From start to finish we were nothing but impressed with the friendliness and efficiency of the operation. It facilitated an expedition that was packed with fun and adventure. From the airport guides to the tour guides and hotel staff, we found the people there to be extremely helpful and hospitable. The tour guides were all very interesting and informative.

We will be recommending Peru and your agency to everyone we know. After coming back from Machu Picchu, we stayed at the Eco Inn, in an interior room, which was very quiet and restful. Our recommendation is that future reservations be made for rooms away from the main street. As you are probably already aware, however, that the Sol y Luna hotel is superb! If anyone we know asks us about a trip to the area, we will definitely recommend that they stay there. The Hatuchay Tower hotel was new, clean, and adequate. With such a busy schedule, we mostly cared about staying in a clean and quiet room, which is exactly what we had there. The rushing Ullubamba River across the street made staying there even more restful. Kind regards and thank you again for all your help, Simone & Jeff D.