Beautiful Maasai mom with her baby helping to milk the cows for the morning.
My husband and I spent two weeks exploring Tanzania by eating good food and fruits, built huts with the local people in a village, exploring the plains, spotting the "Big Five" and other wildlife on safaris in the Serengeti. We also enjoyed the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar. We had a wonderful trip!
We had a forced overnight in Amsterdam on our way to Tanzania, which originally frustrated me. It was unknown, we don’t have experts to tell me where to stay/what to do. But as soon as I embraced it, I knew I wouldn’t regret the extra night. I read up on recommendations, looked at areas to book a hotel, asked friends and coworkers what they suggested and started to get really excited for our 20 hours there. I ended up booking a highly rated AirBnB that was very affordable and close to the airport. It was a tiny house located on a beautiful hydrangea flower farm. This hostess was very much like Joanna Gaines with the decor/overall atmosphere and had this place set up so comfortably. They were my best resource as I told them what we hoped to do that day we were there and gave great local advice. Our hostess, Bruna, recommended the Albert Cuyp Market for a fresh stroopwafel and to take a canal cruise. I wasn’t sure how we’d be feeling when we arrived at 1 PM (feeling like it would be early in the morning for us) and didn’t book anything in advance. The best feature of this AirBnB was that they offered rides to and from the airport. We entered confused and exhausted to Amsterdam but happy to have someone to give us a ride to our “home” for the day.
Our Tiny House in Amsterdam (Franny Friesz)
We ended up booking an Uber ride into town after we settled in which was between $30-40 USD each way. We were dropped off at Albert Cuyp Market which was perfect for strolling and seeing food and gifts to buy. We made a quick stop at an ATM so we had enough cash to get a delightful stroopwafel that was freshly made.
Most amazing stroopwafel of my life - fresh from Albert Cuyp Market. (Franny Friesz)
We wove our way through the rustic streets until we found the main canals and a place where we purchased a cruise for about $20 USD per person. The cruise was about 1.5 hours and gave us a glimpse of beautiful Amsterdam. We had a couple of Heineken on board just to enrich our experience. It definitely tastes a little better where it was made. We caught an Uber to take us back to our tiny home and were grateful for a comfortable place to rest for the night. Sleep didn’t come as easy and we both woke up in the middle of the night. It was then that I was so grateful for the extra night to try and adjust to the time change. We didn’t have to prepare ourselves to go on safari the next day, just for another long flight to Kilimanjaro.
A canal cruise was the perfect way to see the city in the short time we had. (Franny Friesz)
I would recommend an extra night to any of my travelers. I think it was extra special to have time in Amsterdam as it was totally different than Africa. It added to the adventure having a hot second in Europe before heading to Tanzania. Even if it means two extra nights in Tanzania at the beginning of your trip, do it. Make room for it in the budget because you won’t regret it and you’ll be all the more ready to soak up every second of your adventure ahead.
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
6 days 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.
Michael
1 week ago
I enjoyed working with Jess to put together a private N.Z. trip. Jess has been my go-to person at Adventure Life over the past several years. She listens to what my husband and I want in a trip, and is always responsive to questions. Nothing seems to be too much of a bother for Jess.
DIANNE GRAY
1 week ago
Jane was my AE agent for the 2 months of helping me decide that this will be the most amazing trip we will ever experience in our lifetime and a memorable way to celebrate our 40th!
I was also able to work with Mike from Quark who was also very helpful.
Once I had decided to go ahead with my booking Kevin took over to assist Jane while on vacation.
Kevin was able to tweak the quote even more
and truly sealed the deal! He was patient with receiving my full payment as it took time to “round up that much cash” Were booking a delux balcony and there’s no looking back
I feel confident and very satisfied that I have made the best decision choosing Quark Expeditions and look forward to a top notch experience aboard the Ultramarine.
Both Jane and Kevin are sincere, professional and courteous. They met all of our needs
to ensure my process was stress free.
I’m looking forward to all our daily excursions then enjoying a Sauna and my own cold plunge in the tub! My back up plan
to the “Antarctic Plunge”
I look forward to getting to know and dealing with Mary Rose for all the final details that will make our trip complete. Great company!
