We woke up at 5, ate our continental breakfast, and were picked up for the airport by Carlos and Humberto. At the airport there were porters standing in front of each parking spot. As a car pulled in, the designated porter would run and grab your bags. Humberto showed us where to go after we had checked in. We paid our airport tax and then had a lot of time to kill in the airport. Our flight departed at 8. For a one hour flight, they gave us a chicken salad sandwich, a pastry, a drink and a newspaper. Better than a three hour domestic flight in the U.S.! When we arrived in Lima, we collected our baggage. Boris was there waiting for us. He was on the cell phone wth Milagros, who had been tryng to contact us the day before, but we had been out all day. Craig spoke to her and she asked if we'd mind having lunch instead of dinner with her. It was fine with us. Boris drove us to the hotel, and we showered and watched some TV. Milagros arrived at 1 and drove us to the Cafe de la Paz in Milaflores. In Miraflores we got to see a little more security in action. In her car, Milagros locked her purse in the trunk while driving, and at the outdoor restaurant she asked for a chair that had a leather strap to secure her purse. We talked for several hours with Milagros about the trip and Peru in general. We didn't have one complaint about the trip. It was so much more than we ever had expected, and we feel changed because of it. Craig and I both had lasagna and garlic bread, with one last lucma ice cream for dessert.
Milagros dropped us off at the Indian Market in Miraflores, where we spent a couple hours just roaming through the booths looking at all of the amazing stuff: carved boxes, tapestries, alpaca rugs, furniture, pottery. We ended up buying a chess board (Incas vs. Spaniards) for 30 soles At 5 we walked back to the hotel. We got a little lost because of the way the streets are laid out surrounding Arequipa Avenue, but we asked a security guard and eventually saw some landmarks that directed us to Teruel St., where the Villa Molina was located. The clerk at the desk of showed us a map of the nearby restaurants. The only really close things were American franchises. We had avoided them until now, but we just needed a functional meal. We got to a roundabout that contained Friday's, Chili's and a splace called the "Backcow Steakhouse", which had the same logo and font as the Outback. We settled on Friday's. The Celtics playoff game was on, and we ended up watching it. The Celtics came back for a very improbable win. I got a chicken finger dinner and a huge margarita. Craig got a grilled chicken sandwich and a Pilsen beer. We had seen signs for Pilsen everywhere, but were never able to try one until now, on our last night. We got back to the hotel at 8 to watch some TV.
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
4 weeks ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
1 month ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
2 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.