It is amazing to me how much we packed into a 3 day tour of the Otavalo Valley area a couple of hours north of Quito. I loved that we had Luis, our guide, and Carlitos, our driver, completely to ourselves in the Adventure Life van. The flexibility we had to be spontaneous was amazing. ''Please stop, I want a picture!'' And with a visit to the Otavalo market and the Monument on the Equator our only ''must dos'' it was fun to put ourselves in their hands to enjoy the myriad sights they lined up.
The Piramides de Cochasqui is not normally on the list of sites for tourists to see. I am SO GLAD we stopped here. The 2 hour tour (because we asked so many questions!) of this site provided a foundation for the Ecuadorian history we added to over our entire trip. Cochasqui is a power place, and it was the perfect start for us.
The archeological site guide, Fatima, spoke in Spanish and Luis translated. We walked all over the hillsides petting llamas, viewing the covered mounds of still buried pyramids, marveling at the huge unearthed linear sun dials, and getting a real understanding for the pre-Inca history of Ecuador-stuff I sure did not get in my pre-trip reading! -And a real bonus--it turns out that our driver Carlitos grew up just down the road. The history of this place is his personal history. WOW
We drove by his family house and we stopped so he could say hello. (Our idea, not his - but how could he not stop?) On our way back we stopped again and got a tour of his cousin's rose greenhouse that was across the road. They were about to start harvesting beautiful long stemmed red roses in another week to ship the roses to the US for Valentines Day. Kathleen and I each bought a bouquet of two dozen roses. $1.00 for each bouquet. The hacienda staff gave us huge beautiful vases for our flowers.
We had a casita in the Hacienda Pinsaqui--our own little house! It had 3 bedrooms, a sala (living room) and a bathroom. We spread out into our own rooms for some solo down time and then headed to the bar for the welcome at 7 p.m. Hector, the manager, was delightful. He started us off with tea and ended with a shot of something stronger-we didn't know what it was, but when in Ecuador, ''Salud''! We both bought CD's from the band, the ''Waukis''. We listened to their music in the van the next day and I was dancing in the back seat!
I got up early the next day and walked the grounds and sketched. This hacienda was a favorite of Simon Bolivar's, a key leader in Latin America's struggle for independence. The hacienda architecture is wonderful and very familiar for a Californian. Fine weaving was produced here in the past, but there are no signs of that activity now. Some of the sprawling buildings are maintained beautifully and others are in a bit of disrepair, and it all seems ''right''. The view over the valley toward the Volcano with the contour farm fields marching up the slopes into the fog hovering on the mountain is mesmerizing. WOW.
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
2 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
3 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.