This morning we bid farewell to the Grand Odyssey, leaving our new friends on board. We disembarked on Santa Cruz, boarding a small bus for the highlands. We drove up out of the cloud cover, past fincas and small homesteads into dense forest. We finally pulled into the Charles Darwin Research Center, a sanctuary for the famed Galapagos Tortoise! A light rain created mist and fog throughout the grounds, making our surprise even greater when an enormous, lumbering tortoise made it's way out of the foliage. When startled, the tortoises retract their lanky necks into their shells, emitting a loud hissing noise as the air inside their carapaces escapes. After seeing nearly 15 tortoises and taking several rain-soaked photos, we climbed back into the bus for our final ride to the airport. Upon arrival back in Quito, we were met by Adventure Life Ecuador's Coordinator, Betty Jaramillo. It was so great to finally meet her, after two year's of only email correspondence! Betty took us to have traditional 'helados de paila', ice cream made in a copper pot. I immediately chose the Guanabana flavor, my favorite fruit in South America! After enjoying our helado we drove up the Pinchincha volcano to Betty's house, also the home to the Adventure Life Ecuador office. We met the rest of the crew, and John was invited to join a soccer game between Adventure Life and another local tourism competitor. After two hours at 10,000 feet, of course he was ready to play soccer!
Adventure Life has been an extraordinary travel resource for us over the years and today was no exception. Our River Cruise booking was handled by Jess (who has been our personal trip planner for several years) the same day as our inquiry. Suggestions were given for cabin choice and pre-trip options (that were not shown on the cruise line's website) like airport transfers and prepaid gratuities. Trip insurance recommendations followed and we were assigned a travel co-ordinator till the end of the tour. All we have to do is show up! Great service from friendly folks.
APtravelwell
1 day ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
1 day ago
Although there was a lot of paper work, I received help and guidance when I needed it.
Donna Kirby
2 days ago
Our travel was flawless! The rider pickup (airport, hotel, ship) was seamless. Jane's recommendation for Emerald Cruise Sakara was everything I wanted but the experience was soooo much more. Adventure Life took care of each and every detail and this was the easiest of all my travels.
Anne Petty
3 days ago
Follow up was effective any questions were answered in a timely manner