Overall, we loved the trip and found your organisation to be excellent. We definitely appreciated your prompt help while we were travelling, and attention to details (like arranging the bottle of fizz for Steve’s birthday).

We would highly recommend you specifically, and your company more generally, to anyone thinking of a similar trip in the future. It was great that you recommended we get setup with WhatsApp to communicate with you and the local people – the few times we wanted on-the-ground advice, that was very effective and your quick replies greatly appreciated! Thanks so much Tom.

Iguazu: All excellent, including the guide. Having seen both sides, definitely recommend people doing that (seeing both sides over 1.5-2 days). The basic boat trip is expensive, but worth it – a distinct view of the falls.

Patagonia self-guided: Overall the whole Paine W thing was excellent, including the hikes, dorms, camping, food (packed lunches very good and dinners spectacularly good food; breakfasts bland :-).

Both days’ hikes wonderful and tough and worth coming to Chalten for (and we got lucky with weather). Very happy we went self-guided.

Martial glacier hike: The hike is *tough* – overall tougher than anything else in the trip as a whole (except perhaps one part of Fitz Roy in Chalten). But, as we survived it, we were very happy in the end!

Trekking tip: For all of the trekking, we’d strongly recommend that if people ever walk with poles, it is worth bringing them, and for some of it (particularly Ushuaia and Fitz Roy) it is a good idea even for people who don’t regularly use them.

Many people might not think it worth the hassle to bring their own (or rent once here), but we were very grateful to have ours (and saw a lot of people making do with sticks they found).

The highlight was natural beauty, animals, boat trips, snorkelling etc. Really great organisation. 100% smooth.

Tom very responsive to initial enquiry and Andean Trails great online reviews.

Not sure if there’s anywhere posher to go after Galapagos? Black Sheep definitely an experience!

I had to write to say, thank you for organising a terrific holiday for us! The scenery and the people were wonderful!

The scenery in Peru was just as stunning. However….the people surpassed the scenery!!! Manuel was our guide….he was fantastic and his enthusiasm for his country/people/culture was palpable! The porters was SO impressive and did everything they could to ensure we had a great trip!

The Huchuy Qosqo trek….was amazing and the homestay with Wilma and Demicio touched all our hearts!!! They welcomed us into their home and we had such a lovely night with them…it was a privilege! I’d recommend this to anyone going!

Thank you again Tom! We’ll certainly be recommending ye!!! Already have!

High points: the trekking, stunning landscapes, the immersion of the jungle. Lovely people. No low point.!!

Accommodation/ food/ guides/ overall organisation – all excellent. Guide and porters especially worth a mention.

Tom gave us very good advice on the Inca Trail, i.e. to run it out of sync with the bigger groups. So no big crowds.

I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the organising you did for our trip. We had a great time and it’s a trip we will never forget! I wanted to mention that everybody out there did a very good job and all hosts and drivers were really lovely and helpful people.

So many highlights….wildlife in the Galapagos was incredible! To see tortoises, sharks, iguanas, sea lions, penguins etc so close up was amazing!

We just got home last night from a WONDERFUL, AMAZING trip!!! Thank you so much for your careful planning – everything was excellent, starting from Jorge, our driver in Quito to all the wonderful people that helped us in the Galapagos. Thanks so much, Kat – really, truly! Ecuador is a beautiful country! You really made our trip great!!

Truly everything was great-excursions, food, accommodations, hospitality, organization…etc.  Our trip was well planned out, but still allowed for a lot of flexibility.

It was just the right amount of physical challenge for my 14 year old son and me. We’re both fairly active people, but also wanted some exposure to culture and variety. This trip struck a great balance of all we were looking for-adventure, culture, relaxation.

Our guides were knowledgeable, patient and easy going. We felt very well cared for.

I think the high point for both of us was when we climbed up the final steps on the Inca trail at the Sun Gate and took in the view of the amazing Machu Picchu. It was truly awe-inspiring.

I also felt that our accommodations were well curated to have minimal environmental impact and our excursions allowed us to patronize locally owned establishments.

Thanks for helping us plan our unforgettable adventure.

The whole Peru Trip was an amazing experience! The trip was perfectly organised and we we had two weeks we will never forget!! The combined Salkantay and Inca Trail is an experience I can recommend to everybody.

It was an amazing experience to walk through the remote Peruvian landscape. The first days on the Salkantaytrail we didn’t see more than 20 people a day!

There was no low point.

The organization of the trek was perfect, our guide Manuel and his team made us feel comfortable, gave us plenty of food. The guide was very skilful. By choosing the right camping sites on the Inca Trail we experienced not many other people (in high season!).

Thanks a lot! Next time we go to South-America, we will surely contact Andean Trails again!

Thank you for arranging a brilliant holiday for us. We had the most wonderful time. It was my personal holiday of a lifetime and lived up to all expectations and more.

Everything was really well organised and we felt completely looked after all the time.

Tom’s suggestions and help beforehand were much appreciated, including your time in re-assuring us about all sorts of things.

We have to say that your choice of company on Galapagos was just brilliant.

We also greatly enjoyed your choice of hotels in Ecuador – particularly El Monte – to be highly recommended.

We’ll be sending you a video of the hammerheads sharks we saw when snorkelling. Thank you once again.

Tom always got back to us really quickly, answered our questions clearly and gave us lost of really useful information and details. We were very impressed.

It gave us so much confidence in Andean Trails, unlike other replies we got from other agents, which were also much slower.

We decided to travel with you because of Tom’s efficiency and friendliness.

The Anahi was very special because of the guide and crew.

The landings on the volcanic desert islands and the fearless wildlife were highlights.  The two small towns were very forgettable.

We wanted to see it all and we really did!

– 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.

Thanks for helping us plan such an amazing trip! We had a wonderful time with very few hiccups during the week!

Highlights: the Galapagos and the boat crew, the cloud forest hikes, the hacienda in Cotopaxi, the lovely guides and tour leaders throughout.

Food was fantastic.  Guides were fantastic. Organization and transportation were always spot on.  Hacienda Porvenir was spectacular!  The boat was great and very comfortable.

And the cloud forest lodge was a very cool experience.

I felt like we stayed in places that were locally-owned and helped to employ people in the community. The guides were all local and knew a great deal of their areas of expertise, so it felt awesome to tip them at the end and know that the money was going to help people that will turn around and teach more foreigners about Ecuador.  Not once did I feel like we were in a situation that encouraged water waste or consumption of plastic bottles. The conservation efforts were apparent throughout.

Next time, I will stay longer in Ecuador and add on Otovalo!

Thank you, Tom, for everything!

– What was the highlight of your holiday? Was there a low point?

The absolute highlight was the private Salkantay trek. We loved the trekking through the beautiful mountain landscape far away from the crowds, with absolutely amazing crew of the local agency: our great guide Elvis who strived to provide us with the real Andean hiking experience, and our fabulous cook Cezar who spoiled us with fantastic 3-course vegetarian meals!

– How would you rate accommodation/ food/ guides/ overall organisation?

Everything was very well organized, fully in line with the agreed program of our trip – all pick ups & guides were super professional and always on time. A special notion to all organizers in Cusco who were very attentive and taking great care of us, and to our guide in La Paz who offered us very interesting & refreshing city tour.

Food was great, our absolute highlights were ceviche and everything cooked by Cesar during our trek; as a special notion – we requested vegetarian meals and this request was fully observed in all places.

– Did you feel you benefitted the local communities?

Yes – in each place we had guides from local agencies who often took us to places where we could meet and support local artisans & people from local communities. We especially liked the visit at organic coffee farm run by the female cooperative in Peruvian cloud forest.

– What would you like to do differently next time?

Most of our trip was the private tour, with however few exceptions like the group visit at Lake Titicaca and semi-private drive in Uyuni; next time we would go 100% private tour that allows to fully tailor the trip to our interests and pace.

–   Out of interest why did you choose the places you visited and why Andean Trails to organise your trip?

Peru & Bolivia were always on our bucket list and we’re very happy to finally make this dream come true. Landscapes with mountains & deserts, great history, as well as contemporary local culture & food are absolutely fantastic!

Andean Trails was recommended by Responsible Travel – we were looking for an agency that is expert in organizing trips to South America and also can offer a tailor-made private experience – our expectations were fully met, and our agent Kat helped with many recommendations that made our trip even better.

Thank you once more for organizing such great holidays!

I must mention that dealing with Andean is / has been a superb experience. Things have gone so smoothly both on this trip & previous one. One needs to deal with others to put a value on your service , arrangements, & your suppliers !