Tiered landscapeI traveled out to the Sacred Valley with our Cusco operator, Pepe. He has been working with a local community near Urubamba, bringing supplies and volunteers to revamp their school, build playground equipment, and add flush toilets. He has started building a camping site in cooperation with the local community, to bring added revenue to the families there. Once they have been trained to manage the site effectively, his goal is to relinquish control of the camping area to the community itself so that they will have a steady source of income.
We returned to Cusco for an afternoon tour of the city with Vidal, another Adventure Life guide. He led us through the Cusco market, pointing out unusual foods and describing the medicinal uses of various herbs we saw in the Witches' Market. Then he took us through the winding streets of his home neighborhood, San Blas. Set atop a hill overlooking the city, San Blas has become a favorite haven for local artisans.
That evening we met some of the remaining Cusco guides for dinner and drinks. All were charming and knowledgeable and I was sorry to be leaving Cusco so soon. However, we were due in the Amazon the next day and Steve was excited to be finally enroute to the jungle.
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.