The border crossing from Chile to Argentina was one of the strangest I have ever made in my life! Our journey began at Las Torres where we loaded into our van with our driver who spoke very limited English. We picked up another traveler at EcoCamp and then made our way to the border. There are 2 stages to crossing the border: Leaving Chile and Entering Argentina. To leave Chile, we stopped at a tiny little building that had 2 rooms - the first was a Customs/Immigrations office, the second was a convenience store. We used the restroom on the convenience store side, and then went to the Customs side with our driver. He filled out a bunch of paperwork and we left - no one said a word to us and we did not have to do a thing.
Then, we drive for a little less than 10 miles in “no man’s land” - this barren strip of nothingness that is not claimed by Chile OR Argentina.
Next, we pull up to a solid cement building with no windows, just 2 open doors. There is a line about 50 people long on one side, waiting to exit Argentina. We walked in the other side and were greeted by a little black pug! As we pet him, our driver walked up to the table, filled out some more paperwork and we left. Again, no one said a word to us. Our bags were not inspected, we signed nothing, did not have a chance to declare anything, and gave no prospect of when we would be leaving the country.
We were loaded back into our van and driven another mile to an empty gravel lot on the side of the road in Argentina. Argentine drivers are not allowed to work in Chile, and vice versa, so here, in this weird kidnapping sort of exchange, our bags were thrown from one van to another, the drivers shook hands, we were loaded into the new Argentine van and then were off for our adventures in Argentina.
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
2 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
3 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.