Squabbling scarlet macawsLeft at 9:30am for another 3 hours in the van - even more muddy and more trucks today. Stopped at a coca farm. Then got to the port to start our dug-out canoe ride at 12:30. It was raining and cold, but luckily the boat had a top. Was cozy in my new raincoat. Saw lots of great water birds and had lunch on the shore, near a capybera path. Saw capyberas after lunch right on the edge of the river. Arrived at Pantiaciolla Lodge at 3pm. Strange set-up with a walkway to your own bathroom and all rooms connected and open to the outside. As the dutch couple said, 'You can hear every time someone in another room sneezes or farts'.
Took an amazing walk through the forest before dinner. Leaf-cutter ants were absolutely everywhere -huge, fat paths of hundreds of them each carrying a leaf to their nest - so cute. There were trails on logs, going up trees, and everywhere. Never have seen anything like this. Was so exciting to see saddle-backed tamarins and dusky titi monkeys and red howler monkeys. Saw very strange cicada chimneys and army ants too. Seems so strange to be eating dinner in the tropical rain forest in a fleece, because the 'frijoles' is here. A joke in our group because I called the cold front 'beans'. Actually the cold front is called 'friajes'. Wonder if it will continue to be cold tomorrow. Can't wait to see more, but 5 h in the boat will be long.
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.