Those blue-headed parrots sure love clayLeft at 5:15am. Short boat ride and walk to the macaw and parrot clay lick - amazing numbers (thousands and that is not an exaggeration) of parrots came first to feed on the clay on the bank. When something startled them, they would all fly away. What a ruckus! First the yellow-headed parrots came, then the mealy parrots, then the blue-headed parrots, and 2 orange-cheeked parrots. Got to the blind at about 6am and had breakfast while watching all the action. Incredible luxury, with chairs and tables. Had tasty pancakes and cereal and fruit and coffee. My favorite spot for coffee in my whole life. Then the macaws started coming in - absolutely huge and so gorgeous. When they fly they are totally bright red underneath. The sky was filled with birds. At least 60 macaws! They left at 8, but came back to the trees later. The cold shower at 11 felt so good - it's finally hot and humid here. The cold front is definitely over. Just a few bugs, not bad.
Tried to stay cool and take some pics before 3, then left for the tapir salt lick. A 3k walk through flood plain forest, then terra firma forest. We were literally dripping sweat when we got there. Then ate dinner, and into our mosquito net beds to wait for the tapirs. Rested a bit and it was really fun to hear all the night sounds -owls, frogs, nightjars, but no tapir by 8:30, so walked back the 3k in the dark. Was disappointed we didn't see any frogs or snakes, but we did see the most venomous spider here (the wanderling) and 2 whip scorpions and tons of spiders and a humongous bird-eating tarantula. It must have been 8' long. Fiorella coaxed it out of its burrow with a long skinny stick. On the way to the lick, we saw a huge tortoise - very exciting and more leaf-cutter ants! Got home at 10pm for another cold shower. Then set alarm for 4:45. Am covered with itchy bumps from sand flies, but this experience is beyond incredible!
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.