Client Reviews
Nick Burne and Family (Peru & Ecuador)
We thought we’d drop you a line after returning from our “highlights” tour to South America. Thank you! We found our itinerary absolutely perfect. By that I mean not only were our superb boutique hotels great, the guides in each city friendly, courteous, well-spoken and knowledgeable but the time in each city or location and the balance between site seeing “work” and leisure time “play” was also perfect.
The most difficult question by friends on our return has been “what was the highlight”. An impossible question when considering the merits of, inter alia, Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, Christ the Redeemer, Inti Raymi Festival, Lake Titicaca.
The purpose of our trip to South America, in truth, was to see as much as we could of the continent with a view to probably not returning as we explored other opportunities. I have to now say that the chance of us revisiting South America is extremely high.
Donna Abell (Peru)
Back home safe and sound after an amazing holiday. Cannot say enough about South America Travel Centre – and will definitely recommend to anyone travelling to this continent. The guides were delightful, and drivers were very careful and drove to conditions. All accommodation suited our needs – especially loved Arequipa, Colca Lodge, Ollentaytambo and Inkaterra Amazonica!!!
The care of your staff was above and beyond when situations arose due to not feeling so good. The day we left Colca Canyon Sue was unwell but Beatriz was amazing and after 24 hours all was ok. John requested medical attention on return to Cuzco and within 20 minutes a Dr appeared and then short time after a nurse appeared with medication – just fantastic.
A big thank you to you for all your organisation and for playing a big part in making this holiday such a memorable one for all us.
Dainis Kivlenieks and Wendy Burgess (Peru & Brazil)
Firstly, I can’t come up with enough adjectives to describe the sensation and all the ‘Wow’ factors in this trip. The incredible amount of work you put into the planning and organising really paid off. The South America Travel Centre documentation provided in the pouch before the trip was excellent. The selection and sequence of things worked well. The spiral bound book was used a lot during the trip. And on arrival back home, a pleasant surprise CD from your company.
At each new city, we were met at the airport on time by the guide and usually a separate driver. We then had a review of the itinerary, pick-up times, etc., and discussed any other issues that may pop up. The vehicles were clean and comfortable. The guides all spoke good English and were all passionate about what they do. Most of them had been doing this for a long time, but I never felt that this was just another day on the job for them. They offered suggestions for restaurants and other activities, which we took up in a few occasions.
Tickets and vouchers were always correct and complete. Even on departure from a city, the guides were often able to push us though the airline check-in procedure on the fast-track – we didn’t just get dropped off at the curb – even at 3AM. So, overall, the experience was wonderful. I don’t think I ever want to do a bus tour again!
The chosen hotels were all very good to excellent to grand, and again the guides always made sure that we were properly checked in. Hotel locations are very important as this allows easy walking around the neighbourhood to explore at one’s own pace. In that respect, the Sol Y Luna was out of the way, but this was more of a resort and the only one like this, so OK – and very nice.
In hindsight, we had just enough ‘down’ time at various places. Any less might have been problematic, as touring around is quite exhausting sometimes, especially at altitude. More down time would have been nice, but then the overall duration of the holiday was already quite long.
The altitude slowed us down a bit, but didn’t really stop us doing anything. In fact our first day in Cusco was supposed to be an acclimatisation day. Yet we had to tour a couple of places the same day because of the Easter closing times looming and we managed OK.
Some highlights come to mind:
Estancia: Fabulous, and we even got a chance at horseback riding and mustering some cattle.
Rio: Our guide was able to pick the best times and days for the Corcovado and cable car trips, based on his local knowledge of the weather patterns. We managed enough clear skies.
Aqua Amazon: The overall cruise was magnificent and the ship was a delight – it looked as great as the brochure. Guides on board were very knowledgable.
Train trips: Both the Machu Picchu and then the Andean Explorer. Fabulous train journeys. I love the open bar car on the Explorer.
Machu Picchu: the weather was perfect our first day, and the place looked just like in National Geographic pictures.
Puno & Lake Titicaca: visits to the Uros (got to row one of their boats) and Taquile Island.
So, overall a ‘high five” for you and your team and agents. Thank you very much for your efforts and hope that our paths will cross again at some point in the future.
Cheers
Dainis & Wendy
Tony & Jan Burn (Galapagos Cruise and Peru)
We have now been back from our wonderful holiday to South America for about 2 1/2 weeks, and I wanted to thank you very, very much for arranging such a fantastic trip for us. Everything went so smoothly, from the airport pickups, to the guides and drivers, to the wonderful accommodation – everything! We kept waiting for some little blip to occur, but it didn’t!
You provided us with such a varied itinerary, we kept busy the whole time, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. We both particularly enjoyed the Galapagos cruise, and also Machu Picchu. We all four climbed Huayna Picchu on our second day back at the site, and it was well worth the effort. Our guides and drivers were fantastic; we particularly enjoyed Silvia our guide and driver Marquito for the 5 days Andes experience in Ecuador.
Once again, thank you so much for using your talents to give us such a memorable holiday. We will certainly be recommending you to our friends.
With best wishes,
Tony & Jan Burn
Allistair Macindoe (Peru)
I write to thank you for organising our recent trip to South America. Everything went like clockwork, and the arrangements were very satisfactory. The guides always turned up at the right time, and the people meeting us at the airports were always there.
We had a wonderful trip, and we will have to plan another one now, so that we can see Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay and maybe more. But first it’s back to work to earn some more money!
For me the greatest highlight was Machu Picchu; it far exceeded my expectations.
Once again, thanks so much,
Alistair Macindoe.