Some of us arrived in Quito a few days before going to the jungle. Quito is a beautiful city with some of the nicest people on earth. You are made to feel safe and very much at home. My first few days in Quito I spent with a friend. We visited Old Town where we visited the oldest Cathedral in the Americas. The workmanship is unbelievable. It really makes you wonder how they were able to create such beautiful works of art without the technology of today.
We visited the equator museum and walked the equatorial (yellow) line. The belief is if you walk the line you will achieve inter balance. Not far from the monument is another privately owned museum. They say that they are the true equatorial line, but didn't have enough money to build a monument. It is worth going to visit. When my friend had to leave, I had a couple of days to myself to discover the city on my own.
On Saturday and Sunday the native people set up a market at the Parque el ejido. You can choose from a variety of items, from small baskets, jewelry, paintings, wall hanging, clothing and so much more. I found that everything at the market was very inexpensive.
On Monday, I hired a driver for the day so I could leave the city to hike in the Pasochoa Forest. Little did I know that he was also going to be my guide. He would not let me hike alone, and came along with me for my protection. After the hike we stopped at a small restaurant for a late lunch. The meal was excellent and the cost for two people was only $4.80 and there was enough food for four people.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
3 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
4 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
6 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.