• The panoramic view from the top of the Sugar Loaf Mountain, at 1,296 ft (395m) above sea-level, is breathtaking. Two sets of cable cars elevated us to the top of Sugar Loaf. The first brings passengers to the top of Urca Mountain. From Urca Mountain a second set of cable cars brings passengers to the summit with its 360º spectrum of golden beaches, green forests and a thriving city. It was very interesting to see the city slums situated at the foothills and hills surrounding Rio, having the best views; in the Western society the rich usually are the ones that populate this type of topography.
• A walk along Ipanema beach was very disappointing, definitely not what we expected. The demographics was similar to Copacabana, but no cafés or restaurants along the beach. We walked on the beach that was packed (weekend) with hot and not so hot women in the tiniest bathing suit we have ever seen; thin , medium and heavy body type all wearing these tiny bikinis with their breast and bottoms hanging out, a major cultural difference.
• Due to Carnival, we had early dinner at an Arab restaurant next to the hotel. The food was great.
• Carnival – The winner’s parade. This was the last parade for 2009 carnival, where the 6 top winning samba schools parade, each for about an hour with 15 min break in between. We took a taxi (80 real round trip) vs. the hotel arranged transportation (100 real per person round trip). Our seats were great with a good view of the parade. It was a great show, however, not as sexy as expected based on marketing materials. Masses of parade participants in fabulous colorful costumes marched and danced in front of us to very loud samba music. There were only few ladies with limited closing or topless, however, those who were had gorgeous bodies and nice buns, the guys were not bad either. We left at 2:30 am after the 4th school. What a night!!!
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
1 day ago
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week
Linda Cummings
2 days ago
The info on the website was laid out very well. I did some comparisons with other tours and found Adventure Life met a lot of what I wanted in an Antarctica trip at the cheapest price. Requested a quote on Claudia contacted me right away. She answered a lot of questions the I had via email even though she offered to discuss via phone call. I’m more of an email person so appreciated how she accommodated that and answered all my questions. And when I was ready to book, she quickly got the ball rolling with getting our spots reserved on the trip my friend and I wanted. Thanks again, Claudia!
Hazel Araza
2 days ago
(1) great information on the website and throughout all the "materials." (2) Jane Packer is great: knowledgeable, responsive, takes a personal interest and tone, seems to care about the customer as a person not a sale.
Larry Bethune
2 days ago
great people doing a wonderful job to make our voyages happen.