Being vegetarian on this trip was extremely easy and I appreciated everyone accommodating us. The Iwokrama River Lodge staff were exceptional, and overall I thought the guides everywhere were fantastic.

Well, we had an AMAZING time. What a brilliant country.  I’d probably say among many highlights, the best surprises were: – Peruvian food. We had no expectations whatsoever really – we went to Cuba a few years back, and whilst the country was fantastic the food there was pretty ordinary, and if anything we assumed Peru would be similar. But the range, quality and distinctiveness of what we found in Peru was amazing. The relative cheapness meant we were able to ‘splurge’ at really nice restaurants a number of times, which was great  – but even the food at buffets on tour/coach trips and on the Inca Trail was excellent. We’re on the hunt for a good Peruvian cookbook now! – Arequipa and (particularly) Cusco. Beautiful cities – and in the latter case, probably one of our favourite ever anywhere we’ve been. – The Tambopata Research Center. Thanks so much for organising a longer stay in the jungle with a trip to TRC as well as Refugio Amazonas. Both were great – but the time we spent at TRC, with fewer other tourists and lots more rare wildlife, was really outstanding, not least thanks to our guide Jhin (much more about him below). Both of us – but particularly Clare, I know – loved the working/research nature of the place and the more in-depth contact with the wildlife. – Colca Lodge. Thanks for the heads up, which as far as I could tell went down very well indeed. With regards to our guides/organisation, everything – pretty much without exception – ran like clockwork: we were picked up in every place, never had to wait or were left wondering what to do (even though having travelled independently a lot before we occasionally fretted needlessly).  That’s about it – if ‘it’ can cover what an amazing trip we had…I hope that’s useful. Needless to say, we’re very happy indeed with Andean Trails and we’ll be recommending you to our friends and family. By the way, you might be interested to know that the things that initially really sold the trip over other agencies were: – the really detailed level of information you provided at the initial enquiry, esp the info about Tambopata and the Inca Trail. – the fact that the trip was planned to slowly acclimatise to altitude from Arequipa to Colca to Lake Titicaca to the Trail, before ending with Tambopata; this confused us originally because so many other tours (bespoke and non-bespoke) seem to have other routings – e.g. going straight to the Inca Trail after a night or two in Cusco – but your itinerary in retrospect made perfect sense, and ending with the jungle was the icing on the cake. Thanks very much again, and who knows? We might be in touch again regarding another South American trip in the future. We reckon Canada next year though..

Good bits – pretty much everything! We would happily recommend Andean Trails to anyone. Particular positives: Quick and straightforward immigration, pleasant, friendly efficient airport hotel, great rooms and lovely helpful staff. Really efficient and attentive guide (Juan Carlos) – really knew his stuff – history, landscape, activities and wildlife. Great days out (4 guides to 4 of us for river activities; driver and guide for others) – we particularly liked the driver (Walter) who was always where he needed to be and had usually got the awning up and picnic ready. Casa Andina PC at Sacred Valley was lovely – a great base and very comfortable. Really enjoyed the day hiking near Ollantaytambo and the guided exploration of the town. Train ride was spectacular and comfortable. Dawn at Machu Picchu was special.

Namibia is a fantastic place to take your family – the wildlife, scenery and empty spaces are amazing.

The holiday went really well, we both enjoyed ourselves so much. It is very difficult to chose a highlight as the whole experience was wonderful. One of the marvellous things was that the wildlife are not scared of humans and didn’t try to hide as soon they saw us. The cabin and food were very good. We had three guides, two of whom were excellent.  I wouldn’t do anything differently next time (what next time? – I wish!). I think staying for two weeks was good as we experienced most of the different terrains and wildlife.

We had an absolutely fantastic time 🙂   The trek was mind blowing, and Holger our guide went far beyond what I’d expected, with detailed discussions on geology and biology etc. It was extraordinary packing so much in, the Sacred Valley tour especially was a high speed dash but we still had enough time to take it all in.   There were no low points. Jesus in Cusco was especially supportive, checking the plane times, giving advice etc.All the accommodation was beyond what we had been expecting. In terms of community, it was good to have stayed in the Chillca lodge and be with the staff, I could see how that was benefitting the community.   Everything went like clockwork, all your representatives sorting out transfers etc without issue – perfect.   Thank you very much for all your help in organising such a superb trip foru s.  We will certainly return to you – I’m especially keen on a Guyana trek next

We felt very privileged to be seeing parts of Peru that so few tourists are able to visit, and we were fortunate to have had such an excellent guide who knew and loved the area all its history. The landscape, of course, is very beautiful, and it came alive as he described the people who had lived there and built the amazing sarcophaguses and mausoleums.  But I found Kuelap to be even more impressive with its huge stone walls and hundreds of houses.  The atmosphere was greater because so little has been excavated, and it was possible to imagine the feelings of the local people or of archaeologists when entering the massive gateway and re-discovering the wonders of the past.  It was also very interesting to see the adobe pyramids near the coast, and to learn of some of the earlier inhabitants of Peru.

The trip was excellent.  Everything went to plan…..Nick is an excellent tour leader and everything was very well  organised!  We were very pleased to have booked the land based tour…good hotels. It gave us more freedom…I think we may have felt too confined on a cruise! We did all the activities…fantastic….and the wildlife….well, just amazing!!

We had a number of highlights: seeing pumas in Torres del Paine- the pumas were a bit of a distance away and had their backs to us for most of the sighting! ; the Perito Moreno glacier; the stunning scenery; the Tango show in Buenos Aires; spending time in Rio.  The whole trip ran like clockwork! Every guide was ready and waiting for us at the airport as arranged and were knowledgeable and friendly. They made every effort to enable us to have vegetarian food wherever possible.  The travel companies in each country were very diligent and called us on arrival to confirm arrangements, including copies of vouchers and any other information we needed, which was very helpful.

Overall, the whole trip was extremely well-organised and delivered from both the UK and South American sides. We thoroughly enjoyed all of the pre-booked activities and were particularly impressed with Carola, our guide in Puerto Natales, who was both knowledgeable and friendly.”

We had a great time in Quito and the Galapagos, thanks. Everything went even better than expected – we really liked the friendly hotel, and couldn’t fault anything on the Mary Anne. We also appreciated the unexpected extras – the free transfers to the airport to and from the Galapagos, and payment of the tax. I have already recommended you to a friend!

Thank you!   We had an absolutely wonderful trip, thank you so much for organizing it!  We really felt like it couldn’t have been much better — and you really did an amazing job of making that happen. The language school:  It was great.  We got to do loads of conversation and really learned a lot in the time.  Yessica is a sweetie.  She took good care of us, and was a lot of fun to talk to.  She made sure to take us to the places we needed to find — like the salsa school and the meeting with Jesus about the Inca Trail trek.  The school is very small and cosy.  The other teacher, Genara was a very good teacher — she explained lots of concepts clearly.  We learnt a huge amount in the time we were there. The home stay: Miguel and his family were really welcoming.  The room was actually a whole apartment on the top floor of their house — bedroom, bath and living room/kitchen with cool views over the city and plenty of space for the two of us.  We spoke Spanish with them almost exclusively.  Miguel is an English language teacher so could switch over to help us out if we were too confused, but also wanted to help us learn.  The food was also great — they made us all kinds of Peruvian specialities (lomo saltado, papas rellonas, chicha morada), and took us out to a couple of their favourite restaurants and on a trip they took out to the neighbouring town of Pisac.  The Inca Trail: It was incredible!  We felt good the whole trip, and were lucky not to struggle with the altitude.  We really enjoyed the hiking, the incredible scenery and the sites.  The guides were friendly, and seemed very knowledgeable about the Inca sites, and we chatted to them in Spanish when possible.  The group was – 12 – and we enjoyed meeting them too. Thanks for the warning to bring an extra thermarest to sleep on – that was great advice.  The equipment and food was otherwise all great.

The trip was fantastic. The train to Puno was a real treat. Being in the lap of luxury after the trek was a nice contrast. Lake Titicaca was majestic and very interesting. Also a great guide. Walter and a great visit to Taquile with a beautiful lunch.

Thank you again Tom. The boys and I will always remember this trip.

The boat, Eric, the crew, and the naturalist were all perfect. Thanks so much for your help. Could not have turned out better if I had planned 6 months in advance instead of 6 days.  Again Thank You!

We were very lucky to have the company of some fantastic guides on the tour. Marco, our main tour guide, was as helpful as ever. The children will also mention Willow (Colca Canyon), Maria and Ruben (Puno and Taquile), Marlene (our host in the barrio [poor neighbourhood] of Cusco), Cristian and his rafting team, ‘George of The Jungle’ at Wasai and Fabiola (our tour guide in Lima). Enthusiastic and caring people – all of them. There were others too which i haven’t mentioned. The trip would not have been such a great success without the superb organisation of Andean Trails and the personal attention of Kathy (the boss). We may have been their paying customers but their organisation, attention to detail and efficiency was fantastic. If you or any members of your family are ever planning a South American trip in the future then I don’t think you need to look any further for a quality organisation to organise your trip. Anyone who is familiar with our previous trip in 2006 will find it hard to believe that we actually crammed in more than we did then. For example, we had a great open-top-bus tour of Arequipa, saw a lot more of Lima including San Francisco and its catacombs and Lima’s Inca gold museum.  The most significant addition to the trip was the visit to the poor barrio (bar-ee-oh) arranged by Andean Trails. We left a great quantity of clothes, football kits, pencils and 80+ ‘Tiny Tots’ watches donated by the Ragdoll TV company. A few members of the St Benedict’s community also donated a bit of money which we left with Marlene. The kids had great fun playing football with them and friendships were made the following day when 16 of them joined us on the rafting trip. On the bus to the river communication was easy and fun – we sang a song in English and then they sang a song in Spanish – again and again. It was great to see the handshakes and hugs between them all as we all said goodbye. We hope to maintain our contact with Andean Trails and Marlene and their work and are planning to raise money for ‘the project’ through our Advent and Lenten charity appeals.

We loved staying on Amantani Island in Lake Titicaca with a local family. We were very lucky as the youngest daughter, a student nurse, was home for the weekend and could speak English which was a real bonus.   We learned so much about the local culture, farming methods and their lives. The floating islands were amazing as well.