Pisco harborAfter a grueling set of flights that included four and a half hour from Portland to Atlanta, and a very long six and a half hour flight down the west coast of South America, we arrived at Lima, descended through the fog and landed at J. Chavez airport. It was just after midnight, and the airport was in incredible chaos, with many hundreds of passengers filling the airport and trying to work their way through customs and immigration. We followed the crowds, and eventually worked our way through the maze of checkpoints. We sweated out the usual apprehensive baggage arrivals, but they all arrived safely! As we walked towards the exits of the airport, we encountered hundreds of taxi and transport drivers aggressively yelling at us, and trying to get us to hire them. Fortunately, we quickly spotted our transport driver holding an Adventure Life sign with “Harold and Karen Greig” written on it. It was a very welcome sight! Our transport driver helped us get our bags into his van, and quickly we were driven away from the mad scene of the airport, and into the late Friday evening mad scene that constituted downtown Lima. . We couldn’t believe that we were actually in South America!
The rough streets of Lima were still alive with action at 12:30 AM as we raced through the perilous traffic, dodging cars and busses that seemed to pay no attention to stop signs, lanes or stop lights. Fortunately, our driver understood some English, and was able to carry on polite conversation with us as we nervously rode along. Eventually, the surroundings became decidedly more upscale, and we realized that we were entering Miraflores. Soon we were at the Carmel Hotel, checking in and collapsing in our room. It was almost 1:00AM, and it had been a very tough day of traveling. Before retiring, we tried a couple of bottles of chincha, the popular Peruvian corn beer that was stocked in the hotel minibar.
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
1 month 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
2 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.