Sacred RiverThis was a super fun day and we're all glad that it was a part of our trip. Our rafting guide - Alexander - met up with us the night before to do a little prep and go over what we needed to bring for the day which started at 8am. It took about a two hour drive south to get to the point of the river that we would be starting on. The drive was beautiful and along the way we saw Inca ruins, small towns, kids herding cows, and dogs, mules, bulls, and sheep all running wild. The ladies wear some interesting hats that don't seem very practical but Teddy told us later that long ago the hats were a sign of wealth. The rafting guides supplied us with all equipment needed including wetsuits, windbreakers, and helmets. We were only on the water (the sacred river) for less than two hours and the rapids weren't too crazy so we all really enjoyed ourselves. Alexander and our second safety guide, Orlando (aka Loco) were a blast. There was one spot where we had to walk over some shore rocks for maybe 100 yards and I couldn't believe how winded we got from such a short distance! This was the first point where I felt a bit unsure about how I was going to be able to handle the Inca Trail! After the rafting the guides had a dining tent set up for us with a nice picnic lunch. Then it was back to Cusco where Teddy provided us with our trail duffle bags of which I was able to (barely) squeeze in my allowed fifteen pounds of necessities for our trek. We used Trip Advisor again to find a spot for dinner and ended up at Mercelo Batata where each of us had Alpaca but all four of us had it prepared a different way. Another delicious meal and Tim's comments were: (1) the food in Lima was good, but the food in Cusco was terrific!; and (2) if you go hungry in Peru, it's your own fault.
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
1 month 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
2 months 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
3 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.