this girls birthday.. and her new llama socks!All their bags are packed and they are ready to go! Another early morning wake up call, extreme breakfast feast and this girl and that guy are scooped up and off to village of Chinchero. During the demonstration they learned about the time, effort and skill that goes into the handmade items, particularly the process from making and dyeing the yarn to weaving it into intricate patterns. This girl purchased a table runner that took one of the villagers 8 weeks to create! After their brief shopping trip, it was time to mountain bike the 10 miles to the first campsite. Geared up and ready to go, the bikers begin their four hour ride around Lake Piuray and visit various farm communities along the way. They stop and chat with locals heading on a 25+ hour bus ride to Lima to put on a cultural show at a festival, hand out candy and sweets to local children and visit with farm animals. This girl felt like she was at a petting zoo! After a few grueling hills and steep turns they park their bikes at their campsite in Kuper Bajo. This girl settles down under a tree and takes a deep, calming nap while listening to the sounds of the village around her. Upon waking, this girl and that guy are presented with a lunch fit for royalty! Three courses later, and after many thinks to the best cook ever, Josef, the happy (and full) adventurers set off to explore the farms surrounding their temporary home. It felt like a treasure hunt, finding new and exciting animals, people and even Inca ruins along the way! A few hours later, following tea, biscuits and jam, soup, chicken wrapped in ham, rice, rolls and flan, this girl and that guy close out their day, bundled up in fleece and layers, watching for shooting stars and pointing out constellations in the sky. Life is good.
To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted. Bill Bryson
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.