I am a firm believer in the power of tour guides. I may be a millennial and one who is fine staying in a hostel, wandering down random streets and alleys, even taking the bus to random little towns, but when it comes to cultural ruins, I love to have a guide. Ruins are not as fascinating to all people like they are to me, but there is one thing that is undeniable about them: their story. What makes them great or unique or interesting can’t always be heard in an audio guide, or read and remembered from a book before your trip.
Machu Picchu is a huge complex. It spans between two mountains, has about a million pathways, and building after building that has no more than perhaps a small sign and Spanish name to tell you about its history. Our guide Kol helped bring magic and life to our visit that I will be forever grateful for. Of course, the sight of the ruins at the first terrace we came across quite literally gave me goosebumps (and made Rachel cry), and I loved learning the smaller and more unique intricacies of the story behind it.
Kol led us through the complex, first traveling up to get our postcard photo, and helped us meet some llamas (and even had the forethought to hold on to his banana peels which he shared that they loved – and they did). His stories and timeline never felt jumbled or forced and more importantly never lost my attention. I knew nothing about Peruvian history or Inca culture, but here I was taking in every ounce of explanation as to how these stones were used, where you can tell the precision and time were taken on certain buildings, and following Kol's directions to see the different access points through the mountains and valleys that can reach this fascinating place.
As a former archaeological student of ancient Greek and Roman history, the ruins themselves did not always wow me due to their (in my opinion) recent history. But the nature of the place and history and detail provided by Kol helped make the site one of my favorite travel moments.
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week
Linda Cummings
1 day ago
The info on the website was laid out very well. I did some comparisons with other tours and found Adventure Life met a lot of what I wanted in an Antarctica trip at the cheapest price. Requested a quote on Claudia contacted me right away. She answered a lot of questions the I had via email even though she offered to discuss via phone call. I’m more of an email person so appreciated how she accommodated that and answered all my questions. And when I was ready to book, she quickly got the ball rolling with getting our spots reserved on the trip my friend and I wanted. Thanks again, Claudia!
Hazel Araza
1 day ago
(1) great information on the website and throughout all the "materials." (2) Jane Packer is great: knowledgeable, responsive, takes a personal interest and tone, seems to care about the customer as a person not a sale.
Larry Bethune
1 day ago
great people doing a wonderful job to make our voyages happen.
trudy
2 days ago
For our first trip to Costa Rica, Adventure Life designed a tour that meets the interests, ecological and adventure, of our party; but also takes into account our physical limitations sine we are all septuagenarian. We are looking forward to the trip.