Hi Patty,
We have now finished our trip and would like to provide you with some feedback.
Firstly the trip was fabulous and we had a great time. Most things went really well and we had no problems.
Extremely disappointed that the 4WD trip across from San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni in Bolivia was with a guide who only spoke Spanish. We understood that the trip had an English speaking guide. We received no information about anything relating to the area we crossed, except by some bits of translation from some French tourists who were also travelling with us. But as English is not their first language (and it wasn’t their job) we missed all the details relating to the salt flats and the lakes etc. on the way. Also, given the amount of money we spent on our tour, it would have been better for us to have been put on a tour where there was always hot/cold running water and heating. The refuge would have been fine, provided that other accommodation was not available, but having to stay with no heating and in a room of six people, where only four sleeping bags were provided, was not good.
Some of the information given to us was incorrect. Where the information provided for San Pedro that we would be collected from our hotel for the Moon Valley tour was not correct and as a result we missed the tour. We were supposed to go to the office of the tour company, but this information was not provided to us. Luckily they contacted us at the hotel and arranged for us to go on the tour the next day, but it jammed up against the other tour which was organized to the geysers.
The Machu Picchu trek was great, however given that the last day started at 3.30am and our train was not until 5.45pm, with 3.5 hours of train travel and then a .5 hour transfer to Cusco, it would have been much more preferable to have spent a night in Agues Calientes after the trek. This would have allowed us to enjoy A C without carrying around our backpacks. Also, arriving in Cusco at 10pm and having to leave at 5am the next morning was not a good idea.
The locations of most hotels was great and most of the hotels were very comfortable and very friendly. However the hotel in Arequipa was very cramped and it was very difficult because the staff did not have much English and weren’t very helpful.
The return journey from Isabella Island in the Galapagos should have been organized for the afternoon of the third day and then stay the night at Puerto Ayora, instead of having to get a 5am start and spend over 2 hours on a speedboat and then an hour driving across the island to get a flight. It would have given us more time to see Puerto Ayora as well.
In the Amazon we were scheduled to do a canopy tour of the jungle, however when we asked at our Eco Lodge about this they said that they didn’t offer this tour?? We did get to Lake Sandoval and we did do the night river tour to see cayman, however this was to be one of the highlights and we were exceptionally disappointed not to get this tour.
The rest was very good and we thank you for organizing this trip and hope you understand this feedback may help you with making the trip more enjoyable for others.
Kind Regards,
Jennifer and Glenn Revell
22.11.17