Kate S., Ecuador and Galapagos, April 2024

I had a fantastic adventure! So many things to thank you for!

The highlight was the trip to Galapagos.  The combination of the Bonita, the activities (snorkelling and kayaking in particular), the wildlife, the weather, the companions and the crew made it easily the highlight of the trip. I was sorry to leave and could have stayed another week.

The low point was when I suffered from vertigo on day 2 of the Highlands walk. We came across a narrow ledge with a steep drop. Pablo, our guide guided me across the ledge confidently. I also found the final ascent to the Ruminahui volcano too steep to attempt.

Accommodation was very good. All the staff at every accommodation were excellent, very welcoming, friendly and happy to help us with anything. The food at every accommodation on the trek, on the cruise and at the cloud forest was very good – I loved eating new fruits and fruit juices. The food was always freshly made and of good quality. The only ‘satisfactory ‘ food was at the hotel in Quito!

Guides were excellent, a particular shout out for Pablo on our trek. He was very knowledgeable, good company and good fun.

Excellent organization, we were looked after every step of the way.

It would be helpful to say in your information that some sections of the walk are very steep (the Ruminahui volcano) and there are some narrow ledges which may not be suitable for people with any kind of vertigo.

We had a somewhat frustrating day in Quito as two of the churches and a museum we had planned to visit were closed. Perhaps a note in your information to tell travellers to check websites of churches/museums/places of interest before they set out might be useful.

A fantastic adventure! The trip was so well organised and you have been incredibly helpful in sorting out our itinerary. So many experiences and memories, thank you!

>> Galapagos Cruise on Bonita

>> Multi-day Trekking Hut to Hut / Lodge to Lodge Trek, Ecuador

Lars and Susie Smith, Patagonia, Feb 2024

After an initial chat on the phone, Tom received our general brief for a month-long trip to Patagonia, to include a few specific places and activities with an emphasis on trekking. His first comprehensive draft arrived soon after. Subsequently, it was a joy to work with Tom as he swiftly and effectively amended the plan to reflect our evolving appreciation of where we were heading. Nothing seemed too much trouble, repeat questions included. The result was a relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable introduction to South America.

The itinerary was thorough and well briefed, the travel arrangements practical. All the necessary paperwork and ticketing clear and correct. There was never a hitch, doubt or wasted day. The in-country agents were also on the ball and supportive on the occasion we made a minor change at short notice. No drama, no problem.

We recommend Andean Trails, and Tom, without reservation and aim to use their services again. We heard about Andean Trails from family & by reading travel books.

(On spotting a puma on the Paine W trek) The puma was around the Central hotel area on our way up to the Torres, initially seen as two green eyes in the dark at about 30m. We waited at the hotel until half light, tried again only to face it coming around the corner here. We finally continued 15 minutes later passing it lying in the grass about 20m off the path. Seen by others up to an hour later. One of a pair apparently. Kind of (not) cuddly!

>> Patagonia Holidays and Tours

The Brownsort Family, Ecuador and Galapagos, Nov 2023

We had a great time. All arrangements were  smooth and the guides all great – Jorge in Quito, Gabriel in Mindo and Sebastian for our hiking week.

We had walks on the Cotopaxi paramo, and great lunches! And we had another great walk around Quilotoa crater.

Our week cruising on Tip Top II in the Galapagos was everything we could have asked for, a fantastic time.

Thanks again for organising this trip.

> First Class Galapagos Cruise

>Walking holiday in mainland Ecuador

>> Ecuador cloud forest lodges

L. Kirley, Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos, Nov 2023

We had a fabulous time in Peru, we really loved the hotel in Cusco and Cusco itself, plus of course Machu Picchu. The guides and hotel staff were great too!

 We also had a lovely time in Ecuador! We enjoyed Quito more than we thought we would, thanks to our guide and we have absolutely loved the Cloud Forest – not least of all because we saw three bears. All the staff here at Maquipucuna have been amazing! 

 We had an amazing time in the Galápagos. We were so lucky to see so much wildlife all roaming freely. It’s such a special place & not one we will forget. Thank you so much for all the planning you did for us to ensure that all our time away has gone smoothly.

S. Oya, Patagonia, Feb, 2024

I came back home last weekend after wonderful trekking in Patagonia and sightseeing in other places in Argentina. 

 I really enjoyed the trekking tour thanks to Gaston and other trekking guides who encouraged and delighted all participants with kind communication and informative instructions.

The trekking participants came from various countries, and we were proud to be a wonderful international trekking team!

The weather also delighted us in both Fitz Roy and Torres del Paine. The views of the mountains reflected on the lake and pond were miraculous and awesome!   

“Patagonia Trekking Highlights” gave me an impressive trekking experience and memory. 

The Chatfields, Ecuador Lodge-to-Lodge, Aug 2023

We really enjoyed our time in Ecuador and our tour arranged with you. Pablo was a really excellent guide and we felt we were really able to get a good insight into the parts of Ecuador we saw with him.  

  One night we stayed at Chimborazo Lodge- the lodge itself had a real sense of history and spending time outside with the alpacas was great. Other hotels were also good – we especially enjoyed Cotopaxipungo Lodge.   

 On other tours where meals were included (e.g. Peru even on a private tour) these were often set meals of local type food with no choice, which to be honest we got a bit tired of after a while.  

 However, for your tour, even though lunch was included in the price we could usually make choices from the menu allowing us a much wider choice to have what we fancied. Pablo also sometimes paid for the odd drink or snacks e.g. at the mountain refuge which was nice.  

 Many of the lunches when we were walking were “make your own sandwich” first thing in the morning, with a really good choice of snacks. This was really great – exactly what we would have chosen. Overall, the itinerary seemed really good for us. I am so pleased to have got to the top of Rumiñahui and seen Cotopaxi smoking. 

 As a whole we were very happy with the trip and Pablo helped to make it so good. 

 Thank you for making the arrangements. 

A. Barry, Peru, March 2024

I have returned from my Peruvian adventures!

Thank you so very, very much for everything that you did in preparing and organising my itinerary. Everything was absolutely perfect and I had a really wonderful time. I loved every bit of it all! Everything ran perfectly smoothly and to plan, without any problems whatsoever.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the excursions. The places I saw were just amazing. And the guides and organisation of everything were just fantastic.

I absolutely loved the Colca Valley – what a beautiful place. I didn’t want to leave. And I adored lodge!

Lake Titicaca was just wonderful too, and the choice of hotel was total perfection for what I wanted to do.

I enjoyed the tour and stay in Arequipa also.

Kat – thank you for all your time, energy, help and patience in the early days when you were putting up with a lot of chopping and changing from me before we finally pinned things down into the finished plan. I had a really wonderful, happy experience and I would not hesitate in highly recommending the services of Andean Trails to anybody.

A. Schoon, Galapagos, Amazon and Cloud Forest, Jan 2024

I especially was happy that I got to see 3 completely different biotopes that each had their own unique animal and plant species.

Accommodation was good everywhere, food was excellent during the Galapagos trip on the Nemo II, less so at the two lodges but still very good.

I was happy with the guides (two of the three were very helpful in using their binoculars to make close up pictures and films on my smartphone!) and happy with the perfect organisation of transport everywhere.

At Sani lodge I certainly feel I benefited the local people. During the Galapagos trip less so, this felt more luxurious. In the cloud forest I felt less that I benefited the local community but definitely felt I was helping preserve nature there.

Next time I’d check out my hiking boots earlier – I discovered too late mine were worn down at the soles so I did not have good ones to take with me. And not get sunburned during snorkeling in the Galapagos. But those things are on me, not on your organisation!

I wanted to see the Galapagos Islands and that was the main goal, Amazon and cloud forest were add-ons. When I started looking at possibilities I was overwhelmed by all of the companies and the amount of things to choose from and I almost gave up entirely. I think I ended up with Andean travel through Rosy at Responsible Travel, whose approach of ‘responsible’ travel appealed to me. And with Andean, I really appreciated getting three alternatives for each question I had – it is much easier to choose between 3 clearly different alternatives than being sent 25. So thank you!

Thank you for the last minute changes that you made to avoid Quito when the unrest there made it unclear how safe it would be to visit.

Christian Cornett, Maquipucuna and Galapagos, Mar 2024

Thank you for organising the tour to the Galapagos for me—the tour overall was above expectations!

Thanks for suggesting going to the cloud forest! Maquipucuna and Galapagos are both great places to visit. I would recommend both places strongly.

The trips on the Galapagos boat enabled me and the other passengers to see a lot. The boat tours were overall well organised and the service level was good too, the atmosphere was pleasant and the activity level was great.

Overall: I had a great time & thanks again for a great trip!! I will recommend you to friends!

Prof Bob, Galapagos land-based holiday, Feb 2024

The high point was a sea lion swimming with us whilst snorkelling off Cape Rosa amongst the lava ‘tunnels’. We have a video of this taken by the snorkel leader playing on our digital frame at home.

 The day tours were all excellent – sometimes the description was a little vague. Food on some tours was a little basic whilst on others it was superb, e.g. the vegan vegetable rice served on one of the boat tours. The highlights were the snorkelling trip to Cape Rosa tunnels and the visit to the Bartolome Island, plus the small plane trip back from Isabela to Santa Cruz.

 The guides were all very knowledgeable and friendly – William and Martin stood out. 

 We feel we benefited the local people.  We had lots of feedback from locals thanking us for staying on land rather than going on one of the boat cruises

What we would do differently is probably fly between islands rather than taking the speedboat – and perhaps fly to a third island as we had long enough there to spend three days on a third island.

 We chose Andean Trails because it felt like a focused agency that specialised in the area and we liked Kat!

Calinici family, Galapagos cruise, Dec 2023

We had a wonderful time in Galapagos.  

We really appreciated the guide we had: he gave us so much information, he made us feel safe and took us to the most spectacular snorkelling sessions. I can’t describe any low points. 

 Everything went very smoothly: starting from Quito airport, the welcome in Baltra, the boat and the whole crew. The crew did their best to accommodate all our requests and desires. 

 The only thing I would do differently next time is choose a longer holiday :). 

Ecuador lodge to lodge trekking and volcano climbing, January 2024.

We have just spent a wonderful month travelling around Ecuador with the help of Andean Trails and two of their Ecuadorian based partners.

We first became aware of what Quito and the rest of Ecuador had to offer on a trip to the Galapagos, so decided to return 9 months later.

Since the Pandemic we set ourselves the goal of hiking a few volcanoes around the World, before we get too old; having left it a little late at 58 and 62!

“The Avenue of Volcanoes” in Quito caught our attention, though this was to be our first venture into Mountaineering as well as hiking.

Our work schedule allows us to have the occasional long holiday and as such, we felt we would like to see as much of Ecuador as possible, in terms of it’s varied countryside, ecosystems, plant and bird life as well as what it’s Towns and Cities had to offer. Basically an active holiday with some challenges and cultural elements as well.  We also wanted to build in time to acclimatise for the altitude of the higher volcanoes; something my partner Nick successfully achieved, though I did struggle a little with this. Having managed to climb Cayambe, I realised that I would be too slow to reach the Antisana summit in the time allowed. However with some last minute re-arrangements, I stayed in a lovely hotel whilst Nick and our guide Robin achieved it with time to spare. Definitely Nick’s holiday highlight. As for my highlights, there were many, walking in beautiful cloud forest, summiting Cayambe, seeing some superb museums and buildings, both secular and religious as well as meeting and interacting with many local people.

Upon finding Andean Trails and Kathy and her team, we were impressed by the variety of walks and climbs they offered. I initially tried to put together a programme for ourselves, only to realise that Kathy’s was much better and she had understood exactly what I was looking for.

We stayed in a wonderful range of different types of accommodation, all locally run, ranging from Grand Hacienda’s , hotels, lodges to mountain refuges. This variety in itself made it a great trip; all were wonderful with their own quirks and identities, be it a lit fire in the bedroom to an amazing view or garden. All supplied wonderful food.

Because of the length of the trip and the variety of activities in different places, we had three different guides. All of whom were outstanding and very willing to make slight ( and larger ) changes to the programme when asked to. We added a hike to Cotopaxi refuge to our itinerary instead of a rest day (thank you Juan) to aid our acclimatisation and swopped Chimborazo for Iliniza ( thank you Robin and Javier). All of which were done smoothly and logically, which we greatly appreciated. There isn’t anything regarding the whole trip that we would have changed.

Also we have to say that during the political difficulties with the introduction of emergency measures that occurred during our first few days in Ecuador, everything was calmly and well handled. We felt looked after and in safe hands and had no doubts about remaining in the country once we were told that the holiday could proceed.

A most wonderful trip.

Once again many thanks Kathy.

Henri x

Chile and Argentina review, with Andean Trails – Thanks Tom.

Tracy Horton says

“I just wanted to let you know how extremely pleased we were with Andean Trails’ work on helping us plan our recent bike trip to Chile/Argentina. Tom was extremely responsive and informative right from the start and he made the whole experience of planning such a big trip that much easier and smoother. He was always very pleasant and amiable in his communications and even helped keep me from panicking when the down payment I sent for the holiday went half way around the globe before it got in to the right account! Based on our experience with Tom, I would certainly recommend your company to anyone looking to plan a holiday in South America and we would certainly use him again should we venture again to that part of the world.”

Helen Skinner (UK), Galapagos Land Tour: Santa Cruz and Isabela, Jan 2023

We had such an amazing time! What a place! Everything worked like clockwork – every single flight, transfer, pick up , trip etc which is quite something considering how many trips and how travelling we did.  

Guides – we spent the most time with Julio who was fantastic. He just knows everything. I ask a lot of questions and we had some great chats. He didn’t rush us with anything at all. Was really glad he took us on the first snorkel, and it being just the three of us, as I’d never done it before and he just let us take our time and we never felt pressured. We didn’t spend as much time with the other two guides due to the itinerary but they were also great. They really couldn’t do enough for us.  

High points very hard to say – probably snorkelling but we loved the kayaking in Isabela, both the giant tortoise trips, spa on the last day, just chilling on the beach in Isabela watching the iguanas

No low points. The group trips were more rushed and the guides were more under pressure to stick to the itinerary but not a problem, just the nature of it. The kayaking in Santa Cruz was a little rushed because our flight was a bit late. If I would do anything differently I would possibly not have done the kayaking in Santa Cruz and just seen more of the town and enjoyed the lovely hotel as we just had the afternoon and evening  

Accommodation in Quito, Santa Cruz and Isabela –  all fantastic. Would go back to them all. The breakfasts in Quito and Santa Cruz hotels were very special – they just brought you samples of traditional, local fruit, juices and hot dishes. Meals at a farm as part of the volcano walk and at a pizza place in Isabel were excellent.  

Picked the trip as always my ultimate bucket list trip, and Andean Trails after doing some research on Google and due to the initial enquiries being dealt with very well.  

Thanks again for an amazing itinerary and excellent organisation.  

We all had a great holiday and want to thank you and your company very much for making it all possible.  All of the guides were great, very knowledgeable and we never had to wait around for anyone to pick us up – everything ran like clockwork, which considering the number of events/hotels and movements we had in our itinerary, was amazing. 

Our favourite place in Ecuador was Mindo and our lodge accommodation there- what a great place and so nice to have it all to ourselves!  The staff were very welcoming and the food was great and very plentiful!!  I’m surprised I only put on 1/2 a pound throughout the holiday, considering all of the food we ate! 

Our favourite place overall has to be Galapagos but as that was the reason for the whole holiday, it wasn’t surprising – just to be so close to the various different animals was amazing and our favourite activity has to be snorkelling with the sea lions and turtles, I can’t believe how close they came to us, it was truly a wonderful experience. We really enjoyed the time on Angelito and it was definitely right to finish the holiday off that way. 

Thank you so much for all the time you’ve spent making sure that we had the holiday of a lifetime, we really do appreciate it and I’m glad we finally got there after all the Covid issues.

I’ve already recommended you to 2 different people who may be interested in going to Galapagos and certainly if we decide to do another South American holiday as a group, we’ll definitely be back in touch having now had 2 successful and memorable holidays with you!