Argentina

- What was the highlight of your holiday? Was there a low point? The trek was the highlight.  The highlight was the fact that we were the only people not from the local community on the trail.  The night spent under canvass in the river valley was amazing.  It was magical.   I did struggle a bit with the altitude (not actually altitude sickness).  I was a bit breathless which affected my walking.  I found it difficult to eat on the first two days but that did pass.  I had an upset stomach and suffered from nausea - had to take tablets to keep it all under control...   The two guides for the trek, Lucia & Uli, were amazing.  They produced excellent meals at lunch and in the evening.  They were both very easy to be with.  They were knowledgeable and I trusted both of them completely.  The organisation of the trek was excellent.   We stayed one night with Paula (the wife/mother of the two mule men).  We were made to feel very welcome.  The guides appeared to have a comfortable relationship with Paula and her family.  We felt well looked after by all of them.  (Think the two men found us rather amusing).   When we stayed in Nazareno we ate in the local cafe.  We met two teachers from the local school who were delighted to find three foreigners in the village.  They would have liked us to come to the school and meet the children.  The teachers did not speak English but that did not seem to matter…  Pancho said that the people of Nazareno were very resistant to the idea of tourism - the government had apparently proposed building a hotel there.  They are certainly resistant to ‘mass' tourism but I suspect that they would have fewer reservations about people travelling on foot like us.  He was very conscious of the need to find a comfortable balance between bringing people (and money) into the area without changing things too much.

M Glentworth, UK , 2018
» Salt Flats of the Altiplano trekking tour

Nick - Kathy at Andean Trails did a brilliant job of helping us to plan our itinerary in Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. During 5 weeks of travelling every single thing which we had booked through her worked perfectly. Ali - The extended Condoriri Trek was absolutely wonderful - untrodden trails, stunning mountains and glacial lakes, and super friendly guide and arrieros. Katie - The one day version of the Inca Trail allowed us spend more time exploring away from the crowds, and still visit the Macchu Picchu site with (almost) no one else there. Clara - My highlight? Cocktails on a roof terrace in Sucre after several days of dusty overland travel in Bolivia. Oh yes! Freddy - We met so many fantastic people in Bolivia, so friendly and keen to show us their beautiful country.

N Wilkinson, UK, 2017
» Condoriri Trek & Hike, Bolivia