First to Buenos Aires, then to Ushuaia at the bottom of the continent where we hiked and visited a penguin colony. Next to El Calafate where we stayed on a sheep ranch, visited a glacier in Glacier National Park, and went for a great horseback ride.
Plaza De Mayo, Buenos Aires (Margie Gendler)I am traveling alone and planned to arrive a few days early because I live in Salt Lake City and could not depend on the weather allowing me to make my scheduled flights. It turned out that all flights went well and I arrived in Buenos Aires in the early this morning. I took a taxi to the hotel. They did not have my room ready, but held my bag and I went out for a walk. By 11 a.m. I went back to the room and it was ready. I was so tired I took a nap before going back out. The hotel is near Plaza de Mayo, and I enjoyed spending time there. The mix architecture, from the colonial Museo del Cabildo to the modern buildings just off the plaza, made great contrasts. I paid the peso to enter the Museo del Cabildo and found there wasn’t too much there and what was there was all Spanish. I rued not having spent more effort to learn Spanish.
I enjoyed walking along Peru and Florida pedestrian streets, also very near the hotel. In addition to all the little shops, shopping galleries, restaurants and street peddlers, there were all types of entertainers. Living statues, native tribal dances, musicians and dancers kept the street alive both during the day and in the evening.
After eating dinner I walked home in what I thought was the right direction, but ended up quite out of my way. By then it was 10 p.m. and too dark to read the map I carried. I approached another woman walking along the street and asked if she could give me directions. She had very little English and I had very little Spanish, but we managed to communicate enough for her to set me off in the right direction.
Cruse ship was great. Fantastic food and service. Cruise itinary got changed so not what we expected, but not an major issue. Japan portion was great. Drivers/guides arranged by 80 Days were great. Hotels were mostly ok. Did not know that most hotels outside of major cities do not allow shoes to be worn in the hotel. again a minor inconvenience. Overall a great trip. Adventure Life communications were timely and much appreciated as far as changes/requests.
Peter Goff
2 days ago
We were a group of three that initiated our research by independently searching for the best agency to help us in the somewhat complex experience of traveling to the Galapagos. We chose adventure life because they were the most responsive in the website provided the most comprehensive overview of the trip. Their reviews were also very good.
Adventure, life splits up its booking process in two parts. First Jeff, the booking agent helped us decide which experience best suited are interests. We chose a small 14 to 16 group sized yacht. Once the booking was made with Jeff, we were handed off to Coleene, who oversaw the complex process of assembling all of the necessary documents and making sure we had everything we needed to make the trip go smoothly. The adventure, life website, then becomes your personal place of reference for all things related to your trip from door to door. It’s a lot of information to assemble, especially for three travelers, but the website makes it easy and Colleen‘s gentle reminders kept us on track. In all, from the beginning, we had four months from the time we started our research till the time we departed. We felt that was, a good amount of preparation time and don’t think it would be wise to do it in less than four months. Mostly because I think you have more options with that amount of time. There were others on our trip that took six months and more from the time they started planning.
The trip itself was outstanding. We ended up on an excellent yacht (Galapagos Angel II) with a great group of guests that we were able to connect with and put together a really nice google photos album to share.
Jed
1 week ago
Mary was very helpful. Quick to reply with helpful information and closure on arrangements.
Nicola Maxwell
1 week ago
Mary Curry and Elma are always so responsive and nice to deal with.
