In the morning, we deliver two dozen roses to the front desk clerk at the Hotel Eugenia, bringing a smile to her face. When Valerie picks us up, we give her the other two dozen. She delivers us to the airport, and gets our forms ready and stands with us as we check in for our flight to the Galápagos. When we saw other people in line that were confused, she helped them out too. We feel so fortunate that our first trip to South America has been so worry free thanks to the help we have received from our guides.
Onboard the plane is a group of about 30 exuberant students who. On takeoff, they all throw their hands up in the air like we are on a roller coaster. Great food and friendly service onboard.
Stepping off the plane, each person needs to place both feet completely on a soapy looking mat that must be to prevent the spread of things that should not be coming into the Galápagos. After a customs check, we meet our host, Galo (“like the wine but with one l”) from the Millenium, and head to the harbor by bus. We take the pangas to the Millenium and get shown to our room. We are upgraded from a twin bed room to the king size bed room, what luck. A daily meeting is at 6:45 and dinner at 7:00, so we have time to go back to town and explore for a few hours. On the way in we see pelicans sitting on a small rowboat, and sea lions inhabiting a fishing boat. We wander through shops and find a lot of goods from the Otovalo area, only at higher prices. I buy postcards to send to my students. The beech is filled with sea lions and it is so pleasant to sit along the water.
Back on the Millenium, we sat on the top deck and looked out over the harbor, watching a sunset. At the meeting before dinner, we met the crew and our fellow passengers from Switzerland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Norway, and the United States. Everyone was served a creamy drink and we toast to what Galo describes as "our new Millenium family." At dinner we learned more about our fellow passengers, many of who are backpacking through South America or even the world. I got out my notebook and recorded more travel ideas. It made me wish we could take off a year from work and travel just like they are doing. I wondered if I could be so brave and adventurous and could work out all the details.
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.