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 !

We wanted to give some quick feedback on our holiday (Self guided Patagonia 17 March – 01 April 2018).  We had an amazing time – thanks for everything.  We found the whole thing well organised, and very efficient. If we’d tried to set something similar up ourselves we would have had to spend many hours researching, booking, etc, and likely would have spent more time waiting around whilst there or say doing the W in an non-optimal way.

We’ve been asked by friends about which company we used, and we have been recommending you.

The highlight was the Ice Cap definitely, it is a unique experience. There wasn’t really any low point. The Martial Montes trek was very nice landscape wise (and for a bit of a rest too …) but did not really have any objective – I am more used to go for a trek with a target – it would be nicer if it was possible to reach the Martial glacier for example.

The guys were really nice though so please don’t feed this back as any complaint.

The accommodation was perfect. We did not quite realize how posh our W trek was – we are not used to stay in 200 USD a night facilities  but it was a nice luxury for once on a holiday ….

What would I do differently next time?

We wanted to do too much in too little time. It would be nicer to have a bit of time off in El Chalten for example before moving onto the next trek. Retirement is quite close though so if/when we do something similar in the future it would be more interleaved with days off.

We wanted to visit the highlights of Patagonia plus the Ice Cap and the three places we visited are those (or we went to Puento Moreno too). I knew about Andean Trails from the past when looking to do the Inca Trail and it provided us with the flexibility we needed this time – we use Exodus otherwise most of the times and they have just a fixed and too expensive for the length of it itinerary. Also the Ice Cap trek was the main driver here – when I saw the email about it, I just thought this is the thing to do in Patagonia – that’s the way I usually decide .

Tom Shearman from “Andean Trails” organised a large portion of our 6 month holiday in South America.

First up was a  hotel/boat for a few weeks in the Galapagos, which included more sea life, animals and birds than one could imagine.

Peru was such a cultural experience which saw us transported from one Incan site to another. We trekked the Lares Trail and stayed in the most comfortable lodges each night, which was just what was needed after breath taking walks each day. Trek ended in Machu Picchu which is just a must if heading to Peru.

Andean Trails then had us booked in the Tambopata Research centre in the Amazon and along with non- stop animal sightings – the food and staff were terrific.

Bolivia was next on the list of countries to explore and still we had airport pickups and hotels organised each destination, without any problems. Tom had given us a list of “on the ground” support, but we never had the need to contact them.

The guides/drivers organised for us through the salt flats and a trek in the Bolivian altiplanico were very informative and helpful (especially with our 10 year old) as we found climbing at altitude a little challenging.

Tom recommended some amazing hotels/accomodation throughout our trip, from Atacama, “W Trek” Torres del Paine in Patagonia and Cristina Estancia in Argentina (this was exceptional).

We enjoyed all the activities that were included, and staff/food were once again amazing.

We travelled 5 countries and not once did we encounter any problems with our bookings.

Tom was so thorough with all the details and his knowledge on this part of the world is a fantastic asset to “Andean Trails”

We had the pleasure to meet him in Cusco, Peru whilst he was “boots on the ground” meeting with guides/drivers and reps to ensure they are up to the standards he offers clients. Great to know your agent has first-hand knowledge of the areas you plan to travel to.

We recommended anyone interested in travelling to South America to contact “Andean Trails” for the best holiday.

Thank you Tom and “Andean Trails” for making our 6 month holiday such a magical time.

Nadia, Jon and Stella – Perth, AUSTRALIA

I just wanted to say thanks for the fine organisation on this trip.

We learned a lot on how to make future trips out of this experience.

The bare-foot dune crossing was tough but something to be remembered for a lifetime 😉

Everything else was just tip top organised from accommodations to timing of events, guides etc…

Thanks again!

Geoffrey

The hotel is spectacular. The setting, the views, the comfort , the activities and above all the staff – brilliant. An off the beaten track destination, an out of this world experience, and unforgettable memories. I felt privileged to be there and didn’t want to leave.

We had the trip of a lifetime.  I hear that expression all the time but never really thought it real to say until now. It was fantastic!

Highlight of the holiday was the view of the Three peaks and the lake in perfect weather conditions. It was also the ice hiking which was totally thrilling and lots of fun.

Our guide, Danny, was simply awesome. Great sense of humor, very knowledgeable, good company, calm.  We felt lucky to have him with us.

The Refugios and the one night in the tent were very clean and the beds comfortable. The tents were great and sleeping bags and mats were provided –  despite no-one being able to sleep due to the noise of the wind (crazy!) Some Refugios were better than others but all were very comfortable with enough amenities

Food was adequate/fine. Don’t think I’ll be having mashed potatoes any time soon but absolutely nothing to complain about. The first Refugio we stayed in was the best (sorry, name eludes me)

The route was good and everything went to plan (bar the boat which no-one could have foreseen) Only emergency internet at that specific Refugio though so possibly a good idea not to try and leave from here as plans difficult to change.

Not sure about the local community benefitting but certainly in P Natales I felt we helped by shopping, eating and drinking there!  Surely just having visitors in the area helps the economy and educates people how to behave in a Natural Park?

We chose this place as we wanted to see if it was as beautiful as we had been told. And YES it was!

We chose Andean Trails as the itinerary could be flexible to our time schedule and the amount of time we wanted to spend walking. (Which was great)

Overall an absolutely fantastic trip which will be very difficult to top so if you have any other ideas for next year, please let us know!

The trip was truly brilliant.  We were unbelievably lucky with the weather – when we needed good weather (e.g. when hiking up to three towers, andean crossing) we had it!

The EcoCamp exceeded all our expectations (I am assuming you have been there so I don’t need to tell you about it!).  Our guide was just great – very experienced, knowledgeable and fun.  We had a full group of 12 and enjoyed everyone’s company.  We would both say that the trekking portion was truly awesome and very special – the highlight of our trip – not that the rest of it wasn’t great.

Everything was as it was supposed to be – we were met/picked up according to the schedule.

The hotels were also great – we loved all the locations and the hotels themselves.   At the last hotel in Buenos Aires (Legado Mitico) they were unbelievably fun and helpful.  They let us stay in our room until 4pm among other things.

Thanks for everything, it was an amazing trip and the place is only part of heaven if it’s not heaven itself, I hope humanity will keep it safe.

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

Certain steps were very hard . I wish we had more details about the expected difficulties. But to be honest, every step was worth it.

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

Between 1 poor-10 excellent I will rate it 7.

Did you feel you benefitted the local communities?

The local community, in general is very nice. And yes, I think we did. They are very welcoming. Need a lot to built the area for tourism with careful environment protection as they are persistently emphasising  on in the national park

What would you like to do differently next time?

I would give it another day for the last 2 days. The people who might not be as fit as the guide, like Nasser.

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

Personally, I am interested in seeing every beautiful part of the planet blue. Nasser searched  google for mountain trips and found your company highly rated .

But Alan, thank you for everything. Again, it was an amazing trip. We might be in touch in the future for another trip, may be somewhere else.

The crew was terrific – treated us all with respect, good humor, and interest and answered our questions patiently. The chef aboard (Victor) was fun, an excellent cook, and kept us well fed, including with hearty snacks after walks or snorkel trips.

We believe we got significant value for the cost of the trip and saw every bit as much as the expensive trips that were anchored at the same locations.

In all, we were very well pleased with the trip and will highly recommend it and Andean Trails.

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.