Our last day on the Millennium has arrived. We have seen so much and experienced so much with the company of old friends and new friends that we met on board the ship. We will be sad to leave; yet we know we will cherish these memories for a lifetime.
As I mentioned before, depending upon the length of your tour you may or may not see everything the Galapagos has to offer. Because we took the shorter tour we weren’t going to be able to visit the island with the giant tortoise. Virtually everyone on board the Millennium understood the situation but nonetheless was very disappointed.
But along came Sam to the rescue. By calling ahead he was able to arrange a visit for us on the final day to tour a tortoise-breeding compound. Look at our photos and they say it all. The size of these animals, the age of these animals and the fact that they seem to flourish in this environment is outstanding. The fact that we got to see these animals was because of Sam and more importantly because Adventure Life Tours delivers on their promises.
We boarded the plane and we went on our way back to Quito. We leave for home tomorrow.
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
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.