Hear no evil, see no evilI'm laying in bed writing by candlelight listening to the sounds of the cloud forest. What an incredible 10.5 hour drive from Cusco to Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge. A little scary with 5,000' drop offs, landslides, tunnels, deep mud holes, but so very exciting too. The bumpy road had so many places where the road was completely cut away. Sometimes, it felt like the wheel was 1 inch from the edge! Sometimes huge trucks would come right at us, and force us the back up; scary, but our driver was so good at backing up. We started the day at 11,500', went up to almost 13,000', then began the descent to 5,000'. From dry desert to elfin forest to cloud forest, where everything is in mist. Got so excited to see rainforest plants and animals again after so long. This place is so remote already and we're only 1 day in. Saw 2 species of quetzals, a toucanet and when we pulled in to the lodge at 4:30, we saw 4 brown capuchin monkeys up close!! Saw 4 species of hummingbirds while having a drink, followed by a tasty dinner. Enrique (our guide) is fantastic and our driver is even better because he didn't get us killed! So glad we're in such a small group - nice people (two 24-yr olds from San Francisco and a couple from Holland).
Met to go to the Cock-of-the-Rock lek at 5:45 am! Totally amazing --- 3 males were there - so much noise and fluffing feathers, etc. Then saw lots of other birds - oropendolas, woodpeckers, 5 species of tanagers, a jacamar, and so many more cock-of-the-rocks. The bright orange is just gorgeous, especially when they fly. I think I got some great pictures. Then had breakfast watching all the crazy brown capuchin monkeys. Saw one crawl through a screen, grab bread off the table, and zoom out the door. Another came in through the door to steal a package of crackers, and then sat on the roof eating the crackers.
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.