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 agent had great response to questions and coordinated well to create an itinerary that met our expectations.
Bob Sunshine
1 day ago
Very responsive to all questions
Teresa Cardoso
2 days ago
Kelly and Rhenee were excellent to work with on planning our trip. The logistics all worked smoothly and everyone was friendly and on time. Our accommodations were very good, particularly the incredible Patagonia Camp in Torres del Paine! Our guides on every excursion were outstanding and made the hikes memorable! Overall we had a wonderful trip with incredible memories!
Scott Gibson
2 days ago
Adventure Life is definitely a first-class safari tour company, and our representative was Franny Friesz. First of all, she responded immediately after we contacted Adventure Life. We told Franny that we had never been on a safari, and she was more than eager to offer a mountain of information about the trip. She informed us fully about all the ups, downs, and all arounds! She even prepared a number of packages for us to review -- even after we made changes to the areas we wanted to explore. Friendly, helpful, professional, and extremely knowledgeable -- these words describe Franny, and what a wonderful trip she prepared! We couldn't have asked for better service than Franny of Adventure Life. We HIGHLY recommend her and her outstanding company! Bon Voyage!
Prima Burke
3 days ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.