Maria had an AMAZING time. Thank you so much for all of your help. I will keep you in mind for other clients. Thank you again, you made us look like a star!!

Joanna (Travel Agent)

I had an amazing time. It was really an eye-opening experience, and I met some very interesting folks too.

Overall comments: – Very well organized. Every meet & greet was spot on time and the folks were helpful and friendly. Extra shout out to the team at Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu who were extra friendly and helpful not only to myself but to other members of the group. – The travel itinerary was very well planned, enough of a rest between sites and travel for an average tourist. (I on the other hand insisted on doing excessive walking and climbing everywhere which wore me out more than normal). – Hotels were better than expected based on a 3-star classification – Tours were generally ok to average. Tour at Macchu Picchu was exceptional though, and you could really tell our guide was very passionate about the subject. – Overall a great time!

Josh

I had a GREAT time. All the guides were great; the whole itinerary went off without a major issue. The Mamasara hotel in Cuzco was not a great hotel and I would have loved to have a day in Lima and one less day in Cuzco.

Elizabeth

We had a great trip, enjoyed all the way including Machu Picchu. Thanks for organizing it for us.

Overall the experience was great, the guides, punctuality, accommodation, tours etc. One thing if I were to mention was Casa Andina hotel rooms were small at Cuzco and at Lima too.

Gomathy

The trip was amazing. Hiking the Inca trail was very hard work the first few peaks but beautiful each time we made it and then all throughout the trail. It was both spiritually and physically fulfilling for both of us. Our tour guide from Enigma, Erick was super nice, very knowledgeable as well as very passionate about the Incas. It was really nice too that he was born in Cusco and his mother in the Andean Mountains. The crew was very professional and hard workers! The Chef outdid himself on the meals he made for us.

There are a few complaints…...one is about is the condition of the campsite restrooms. We could smell them from our campsite / tents. They were pretty filthy. We were told that they are cleaned once a day but by the smell of it and conditions, I truly don’t believe that is the case. In additon, the 4 star train back from AC was annoying. We were really exhausted at this point and looked forward to a quiet 3 hour ride and nap but were unable to do so as they play music loudly in each cart the whole entire ride, the staff perfoms a play with loud narration and music, and then do a fashion show of alpaca sweaters. There was not one moment of silence on that train ride. I’m not sure if anyone else has complained about this and there maybe should be a comment or recommendation about this train ride and also the option to chose the 3 star train instead if it is a quieter option.

The hotel staff at Casa Andina were good. But by far, SUMAQ was our most favorite hotel. Their staff was great – very friendly and helpful. The upgraded rooms were beautiful and had the most comfy beds. All flights and check in’s went very smooth thanks to you guys setting that up for us.

Aside from our 2 complaints, overall, it was a wonderful experience that we will never forget. We would love to return to the Andes on more adventures in the future. Thanks again for your help!

Connie and Henrik

I want to let you know that we had a fantastic trip! We cannot say enough about how well everything went – thank you so much. Our guides did an amazing job; everyone we dealt with was completely committed to making sure our visit was the best it could be. Patrizia in Lima and Julio in Cusco were outstanding in managing our transfers – they were unfailingly punctual and had all documents and tickets organized for us. Our guides were remarkably knowledgeable – Darwin Camancho at Machu Picchu; Aner in Cusco; Juan on our city tour of Lima; and Adrian at the Museo Larco Herrera – each one contributed immensely to our understanding of Peru. Both La Casona Inkaterra and the Miraflores Park were gorgeous hotels that were a delight to stay in. Knowing that we were in such good hands allowed us to relax and immerse ourselves in the beautiful culture. We are so impressed with our experience – I am urging everyone I know to visit Peru and to do it with Yampu! Many thanks for a memorable adventure.

Craig

Not sure how much of the trip we can cover with you (3,000 pictures) but I can tell you that you and your group did an absolutely fantastic job of organizing it for us and custom-made to suit us. We kept expecting something to go wrong somewhere but it never did! We were always picked up and dropped off as per the agenda, regardless of which country, city, airport or bus station it was supposed to be at. The hotels we stayed at were also well chosen and the included meals were so much more than expected.

We will certainly recommend Yampu to anyone and everyone contemplating a South American tour. We just cannot say enough about the company or the services provided!

We also take this opportunity to thank you and all the Yampu staff involved in our travel arrangements and also to wish all at Yampu, a very Merry Christmas and the best of everything in the New Year!

Thanks again, Yampu!

Gil and Ray

The trip was awesome. Yampu could not have been better.

Danny

We had a fantastic time. I will definitely use, and recommend to others, to use Yampu. Everything was like clockwork with Yampu. A Yampu Rep was at every destination waiting to help us and made it so much easier. I will definitely be working with Yampu again. The hotels were awesome and the Hiram Bingham Train was incredible. Dan and I felt safe everywhere we traveled and felt we got the max out of a short trip. Thanks for all the help.

Al

Thank you for the welcome back email. Yes, we had a great time in Peru, your company YAMPU did an excellent job arranging all the flights, hotels and tour guides for our trip. It was very easy getting around in Peru due to all the help you provided.

Peru is a beautiful country; it has a lot to offer to international tourist as
well to local tourist. The food such as Alpaca steak and pisco sours were
enjoyable and tasty. We also tried the local fruit tuna, it was sweet.

It has always been my dream to visit Machu Picchu and the Nazca lines; I feel that I have accomplished this dream with YAMPU’s help. I would like to thank you all for helping with this trip to Peru.

Daniel

Our holiday was very good, thank you. We think just about all went according to plan and we were well supported by the local offices, especially in Peru. As you would be aware, along the way we completed Yampu feedback questionnaires…I guess they will be passed onto Yampu.

In brief:
Local Guides – We experienced some excellent guides and a few whose English was basic. Some tours were presented in more than one language by the guides, as would be expected this was a bit challenging for guide and tourists. Overall good to excellent!!
Transportation – Great drivers other than one instance, which didn’t matter as we had plenty of time, drivers were very punctual. No instances of dangerous driving. Overall excellent!!
Hotels – a few gems and others basic. I think next time we would go up in grade equivalent of a star. Overall good!!
Restaurants (meals/service) – language difficulties and lack of advance notice in several instances about Dympna’s ‘no-salt’ food requirements created difficulties. Overall the food options were very satisfactory and we tried local foods often. We especially enjoyed (or over indulged) in Pisco sours. Overall good!!
Rating of the whole trip – simply wonderful. We had a great time and almost all per the itinerary went according to plan. We would (and we already have) recommend/recommended Yampu as a service provider.

Yampu’s professional and prompt service has been excellent and we thank you all. Special thanks to you.

Colin & Peter

We returned home safe and sound yesterday afternoon…...a bit tired.

Our itinerary work as planned. The weather was great, we got to see and do all the things we wanted, and more…....we climbed Wayna Picchu!!!!! We did get altitude sickness for 1 day, the day of our arrival in Cusco.

All the drivers were friendly, polite, and respectful. All the guides were knowledgeable, friendly, polite, respectful and accommodating. We were met and warmly greeted on all of our arrivals, and assisted with all of our hotel check-ins. Also, we were escorted and assisted with all our flight check-ins, without their help it would have been stressful.

Before our trip I had some apprehensions about the quality of service, at the conclusion of our trip these apprehensions disappeared: the quality of service we received during all phases of our trip was equaled or better than Abercrombie and Kent (we have travelled with A & K) and at a lesser cost. All of our hotels were 5 stars, and all had great locations.

We will strongly recommend Yampu to all of our families and friends. If you would like a personal endorsement about the quality of service, reliability and trust of Yampu, please tell us what you want us to do.

Again Irene and I would like to thank you for all your help and concern for the quality of service and our comfort. It was a pleasure working with you, it was like working with a trusted and knowledgeable friend.

Melvin and Irene

The trip was great – the restaurants and hotels were amazing, and the staff was really polite and friendly. Thank you very much for your help and assistance, I hope to use Yampu again soon.

Jacopo

We had a great time in Peru. The hotels were excellent, and the climb up Huayna Picchu was fun. Even the day in Miami turned out fine, we got to spend the day in south beach and little Havana.

Korhan

Let me start by thanking all of you for your endless efforts in making this trip a reality for us. In 2005 we used Kon-Tiki for our trip to Peru. All our dealings at that time were with Jose. That trip was flawless and we were impressed as can be – that stayed with us for 6 years and we did not hesitate to use the newly named Yampu for this trip. Once I saw Jose’s name was still associated with it we never looked anywhere else. Yampu has not let us down.

The Galaxy is an awesome boat and the itinerary was amazing. Both Karen and I said our only regret was that we didn’t do the 8 day trip. This is a fairly rough time of year in the water, but once we got snorkeling and exploring it was incredible. There really is no place like the Galapagos on earth. I found myself saying that a few more times once we left.

Lake Titicaca was a great experience. We were in the hotel in Lima when we first arrived and the phone rang. The desk clerk handed it to me and said, “It’s for you.” It was about midnight at this time so nothing good was going through my mind. It was your local office just checking that we got in okay and confirming that we would be meet in Juliaca tomorrow. And that is what Yampu is all about. You should all be very proud.

Our time on the Lake and the islands was like a dream. We were immersed a little more into the local culture by staying with people on the island – an opportunity not everyone gets.

Santiago is a beautiful, modern, very North American city. We were there for a total of 4 nights so I have to include it as being part of the adventure, not just a stopover. Patagonia was another “out of this world” destination. I think we were fortunate to have been there in the winter. The scenery was breath taking, especially with the snow. We were the only ones at the Hotel Remota and the staff treated us like royalty. There was nothing they couldn’t do for us. The food was incredible and the waiters became our friends very quickly. It is an incredibly interesting venue on its own.

We finished our journey on Easter Island and it was nothing short of fascinating. The history, the culture, the people of Rapa Nui are wonderful. In all the places I have been in the world this is one place that has the most amazing sunsets.

Yampu made certain that this whole trip came off without a hitch. All the people you contract with did a fabulous job. All the flights were scheduled well – some with a bit of a painful wait at times but that cannot be avoided. LAN is a terrific airline. Stephanie, the hotels you selected were wonderful. All these things made our trip truly the trip of a lifetime. We also got to see our son and daughter-in-law so that was the icing on the cake. We love South America and would like to return. We will certainly go with Yampu again. Who knows, maybe Africa beckons…

Eric and Karen

Yes, fabulous trip. Hats off to your local offices and team. An excellent experience.

PW

Thank you! It was a really great trip! No problems and everyone was VERY
helpful! I will be sure to recommend Yampu to friends and family.

Bryan

Didn’t have any problems-actually, all the tickets to climb Machu Picchu or Huayna Picchu (they call it Wayna Picchu) were sold out, but the Sanctuary Lodge was able to get me and my son Forrest special guest tickets in Aguas Calientas to climb Machu Picchu (the old mountain, 10,000 feet) for August 2nd, and the tickets were good for the 1st, 2nd, or the 3rd. We climbed it on the 1st, and actually didn’t have to present the tickets to anyone at all. There was no one at the entrance to the trail, although when we came down, someone was there and had us sign in and out of their register, but never asked to see any tickets—they cost 140 Soles each-about 55 US dollars each.

It’s probably the most fascination trail I ever been on. Straight up essentially for 2,000 feet on ancient Inca built stairs, some going straight across 75 to 80 degrees rock faces with 500 foot drops below, no rails, no protection, narrow, with fantastic views.

V. Roberson

I often felt that you were looking out for me during the various activities.
Everything went well. The guides were excellent and the drivers were super:
I have to say, you made me feel important.

Charles

Marie & I had an excellent time. Thank you, for all of your efforts. Yampu did an amazing job. We had our dream trip go flawlessly, thanks to you all.

Louis

The trip was fantastic! Thank you for such a great job putting everything together.

Brandon

Just a quick email to say thank you very much for organizing the most amazing holiday we have ever been on. It was fantastic, Mark and I both had a really great time. We are now thinking the next adventure may be a safari, but this time with the kids, as we enjoyed the action packed holiday so much more than any sun holidays we have been on.

Geraldine and Mark

We have now returned to Toronto after a fabulous journey to Peru. All the arrangements you made worked out perfectly well. If I may I would like to share with you some comments.

1. The trip as planned, though hurried, was perfect.

2. The tours were simply the best there can be. The services, the guides, the drivers, the cars, the constant caring were all outstanding.

3. The dinner at Huaca Pucllana restaurant was fine, but they could not find our reservation and the service staff did not know we had pre-paid the dinner. After everything was sorted out, they gave us only a limited menu. We felt a bit like “second-class citizens”, but the food was fine and we were seated on the terrace.

4. Colca Lodge, although basic, met my expectations of a lodge in such an isolated location.

5. Sumaq was great with accommodations, food, and service. Everything was perfect.

6. The trains were perfect both ways and LAN was also an excellent airline.

7. The only real disappointment was with Casa Andina Private Collection; I found these hotels to be at best three star properties. Although we had booked a superior room, the room was on the small side, and the bathroom was not ideal. Casa Andina has one restaurant in all their hotels called “Alma”. They serve the same menu at all the locations, which does not work for people using more than one Casa Andina. The service was fine but not particularly friendly or special. The exchange rate was also very low (2.63 soles for a dollar as compared to for 2.74 in shops for instance). In Cusco, I asked for a 1:00 PM check-out but was told that check-out time was 12 noon. I spoke to the manager upon check-in; I was told the same thing which I thought was most disappointing especially after explaining that I was staying in a number of Casa Andina. In the end they granted us a 1:00 PM check-out.

As I said earlier we had a fabulous journey and I will not hesitate to recommend you and Yampu to anyone.

Thank you very much again for a great trip, and I hope that you will not mind my candid feedback.

Bernard and Laurent

Joan

We had a wonderful time and barring the hiccup in flight delay at Lima; Yampu so promptly rectified the situation and in turn render such superb services to start off our holiday towards Machu Picchu. Yampu was so accommodating in changing our train schedule from afternoon to morning, so we could return to Cuzco to pick up what we had missed when we first arrived.
Our guide Darwin is very experienced and we had an informative and enjoyable day at Machu Picchu. The weather was sunny and a great day to be there. El Mapi is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! The dinner is commendable as well and the hotel staff are so friendly and helpful.

Yampu provided us with special transportation from the train station instead of traveling on the bus; that was much appreciated and we felt very special. The afternoon tour visiting the Cathedral, its art museum, and San Blas was equally detailed.

For us – Mike and myself, we enjoyed Argentina best and Rio least. Perhaps it was because we were at the end of our holidays.
Hotel Babel is a good choice and we would hope that you will continue to recommend them to your clients. It is my personal recommendation to anyone who wants to experience the old town of San Thelmo.

Again many thanks for the thoughts, care and concern, and planning you have put in to make this trip so beautiful.

Mike and Lisa

We had a fabulous time, and it was in no small part down to the service we received. The guides were so helpful at every step – Saul, Patricia, and Adrian in Lima, Julio Cesar and Freddy in Cusco (Julio in particular was very efficient and helpful), and Marco at Macchu Picchu. All were clearly expert at smoothing the way for tourists. Everything was on time, the information was detailed enough so that we got a real sense of the culture and history, and recommendations for eating were accurate. We loved the hotels as well, especially the Casa Andina Private Collection in Cusco. Bill and I both fell totally in love with Peru and its people, and we will definitely be back (and book through you!).

Thank you for planning everything so carefully for us. It made all the difference to our first visit.

Susan and Bill

We thank you for a great trip!

I am attaching our summary of our Ecuador and Peru tours. Edison (Ecuador) gave us a form but I hadn’t completed it. Carlos had us fill out a form when he dropped us at the airport in Cusco but LAN had changed us to an earlier flight (our motto is take the plane that’s there rather than wait for another one which isn’t) and so we only had a minute to fill it our form for him and so had no time to write detailed comments. Here they are now.

My only other comment is that we would have preferred to have another night at the Inkaterra. This would have allowed us to be more relaxed about touring Machu Picchu itself as well as insurance against delays in the trains (our “to” train was delayed about 4 hours taking a big cut out of our first day at the site).

In all we had a great trip! Thanks again. I would certainly recommend Yampu!

Donna and Jim

The arrangements as worked out by Meike were really good, allowing as they did for acclimatisation and time at leisure. Initially I was apprehensive because I had always used tours accompanied by a manager. Well now I know that your system works better. We were looked after at every stage by the hotel’s knowledgeable friendly local people. All pick-ups and meetings were spot on. Guides were superb as were drivers. Nothing was too much trouble, even to the extent of Carlos getting us an upgrade at the Casa Andina Private Collection in Cusco because it was my birthday! Attention to detail was amazing. The only negative was the Hatuchy Towers Hotel which was a bit “tired” compared with our other hotels.

We even had wonderful weather, until we got back to Europe and were stranded in Amsterdam for a night!

In summary I have nothing but praise. I think you need to somehow explain to people in advance the excellence of your system.

Colin

Just completed our third vacation with Yampu in South America (November 2010 in Peru, Argentina and Uruguay) and once again it was excellent. The arrangements, attention to detail and responsiveness to questions are all first class. We thoroughly recommend Yampu to anyone planning a South American vacation.

Steve and Gail, England

Hi,
By chance we found your website last year when we were going to South America and wanted to finish our trip with a guided tour of Macchu Piccu..Luckily for us we made the right choice and enjoyed the trip immensely. Our experience proves the magic of the internet.Something about your site impressed us and we chose Yampu Tours above all others. Congratulations!

Nina and Allan

Everything was great!!! Wow, what a great job you did. Eveything went off without a hitch. We were very impressed with the logistics of co-ordinating all the people that met us and took us around. Nice job! Peru itself was spectacular! You guys nailed it.

John

A part from an unfortunate delay in our trip back, our trip has been a complete success. We enjoyed every minute. We visited amazing places, we did not have any problems whatsoever with people we met, communications, food, hotels, and above all with our health considering that for many days we lived at a very high altitudes.

Services provided by your local partners in Peru and Chile were up to our expectations. Both Metropolitan and Turavion provided us with a detailed itinerary, excellent drivers, and knowledgeable guides. We liked Metropolitan a notch better than Turavion because they prepaid all hotels instead of giving us vouchers, as Turavion did, to carry with us with the concern of losing them.

As I told you the only negative remark was about the flight schedule. Every flight we took in Peru and Chile was early in the morning so we had to get up at 4 or 5AM and beside the fatigue of that we missed the breakfasts at the hotels. Considering that we had to leave the hotels early in the morning for our excursions to Colca Canyon in Peru and to the Geysers in Atacama, basically we missed most of our breakfasts included in the hotel prices.

Here are some of my comments:
LAN : excellent services on board, always on time, new and comfortable planes. Lima airport is a kind of a zoo and LAN check in is just one line. You really risk to miss the plane even if you are two hours early. Thanks to our local guide, we were able somewhat to jump the line and make it. A part for that again excellent services from LAN. We highly recommend them.

Hotels: Alto Atacama in San Pedro de Atacama and Inkaterra in Aguas Calientes were outstanding. Amazing locations, excellent rooms, relaxing and fantastic atmosphere, and out of this world landscaping. Very glad of the choice made. The other hotels, Libertadores in Cusco and Casa Andina in Lima, Arequipa and Puno were also excellent but more traditional than the firts two. If I had to give marks, I would give a 10 to Alta Atacama and Inkaterra, 9 to Libertadores in Cusco and Casa Andina in Arequipa, a 8 to Casa Andina in Lima and a 7+ to Casa Andina in Puno.
Food: most of the time we ate at the restaurants in the hotels. Everywere we had excellent meals. Again Alto Atacama was our firts choice followed by Libertadores. One consideration about Alto Atacama. They do not offer a menu a la carte, they give you only two options for each course. On the other hand they offer you the possibility to have half day board included in the room price. We would not have minded that possibility being offered at the time of booking.

The welcome dinner at La Rosa Nautica in Lima was good but not as we were anticipating based on previous reviews we read about the restaurant. Maybe because our dinner was not a la carte. Next time, no more prepaid dinners.

Trains: we liked the Vistadome and the Andean Explorer. Both comfortable and very clean. Services on board were excellent. We just wished they were a little faster in traveling.

Communications: no problems whatsoever, almost everybody we dealt spoke English, and if not our broken Spanish mixed with Italian did it.

Excursions: Machu Pichu was of course intended to be the highlight of our trip and it really deserved it, despite the thousand of visitors the day we were there and the pouring rain at times. We also enjoyed Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca in Peru, and the Atacama desert in Chile. We were just a little bit disappointed with the Colca Canyon excursion ( the condor showed up late and for very little time) and the geysers in the Chile (Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park in USA is better!) but still loved both trips in the rugged countrysides at a very high altitude.

In conclusions, thanks to Yampu Tours and its local partners for the excellent vacation arranged and provided. We loved Peru and Chile, we loved their people, their culture, their museums, their handcrafts (we bought lots of clothing made of wool in Peru). We will certainly go back!!
Many thanks to Karolina for her help in suggesting and preparing our itinerary and for her assistance before and after our departure.

Next is going to be Argentina, sometimes in 2012. Be in touch then.

Massimo

It doesn’t get much better than this! Thanks for all your help and
expertise in making this trip a perfect one!

Lynne

I wanted to write and thank you once again for all of your hardwork in putting together such a fantastic vacation for us in Peru! We thoroughy enjoyed ourselves and all of the people from the tour companies were extremely helpful, making the experience even more easy-going. Just the way a vacation should be! I also wanted to thank you for the persistence in getting our itinerary set so that we could hike Huayna Picchu. This was a big activity for us as I proposed to Emily at the very top (picture attached). Everything was perfect and I couldn’t have done it with you! :)

Thanks again and I’ll be in touch in the near future to work on a honeymoon vacation. (we’re thinking an international tropical location). :)

anonymous

We had the most wonderful trip and it went so well, all thanks to Yampu Tour’s excellent organization and close attention to details.

At our arrival in Lima we were met by the very warm, enthusiastic, and lovely Patricia. She walked us the very short distance to our beautiful hotel across the street, ran through the details of the next day, and packed us off to bed agreeing to pick us up in the morning for our next flight.
Our arrival in Puerto Maldonado went smoothly and we were meet by an amazing open-air bus that took us to the butterfly house. At this destination we were given cool towels and drinks while the company organized our passports and paperwork while we looked at the butterflies. This was very smoothly organized and helpful information was provided.

Off to the port and the amazing frontier-like town of Puerto Maldonado. My first big surprise was the real canoe, th a motor, hich we boarded by walking a plank. The days at the Inkaterra Amazonia were really wonderful with great food, sensational activities, and friendly people. Our tour guide was Jesus, a highly intelligent young man who knew the jungle like the back of his hand. He was so helpful and made each activity both fun and an amazing learning experience. The canoeing trip around the lake, the night canoe looking for caimans, and the awesome canopy walk, about 30 metres above ground, were all fantastic! I highly recommend this wonderful 3-day experience. We saw many monkeys, birds, tarantulas, anteaters, squirrels, caimans, and agouti. We learned a lot about the surrounding region, its wildlife, and the local way of life. Thank you for suggesting this awesome experience.

Off to Cusco where once again all went smoothly. The guide was most helpful, knowledgeable, and accommodating. The trip manager, Julio was excellent. He appreciated our difficulties with the altitude, the early 5:00 am start, and the long travel to Machu Picchu. The hotel was really excellent, delicious breakfast choices, great beds, and a lovely view into a court-yard. Machu Picchu was awesome and everything I hoped it would be. We had perfect, sunny, clear, and hot (about 29 Celcius) weather. The mountains were fantastic, thank you so much for seating us right at the front of the train where the views of the river, mountains, and Inca ruins were amazing. We spent 2 days in Machu Picchu in the hotel Aguas Celiantes which was very good. The hotel was well located, very comfortable, and served authentic Peruvian food. Julio was very understanding and helpful on our return to Cusco. He organised the airport taxes and assisted us through the queues. I was quite pleased to return to Lima and sea-level. We didn’t use the oxygen, however we did feel the affects of the changes in altitude.

Lima was lovely and we enjoyed a quiet couple of hours exploring the markets before the city tour, which went very well. Thank you for suggesting private tours, they were excellent and more efficent loading us back into the bus/car. A great benefit was that the tour was in English and gave us a much better chance of learning. The personal tour was definitely worth the little extra cost.

The hotel in Rio (Porto Bay Rio International) was really excellent in all aspects including location, facilities, and sensational views. We had the most delightful tour guide in Rio named Cinthia. She was great personable, knowledgeable, caring, thoughtful, friendly and warm. The day tour was so well explained and interesting. We had a fantastic lunch and dinner at two different BBQ houses and thoroughly enjoyed a local samba club. During our day to ourselves we had a wonderful time at the beach, swimming in the Atlantic, and exploraing the area of St. Teresa and Ipenema beach. Cinthia, like Julio, was so helpful at the airport and helped us though to the point where we were ready to board. Once again the weather was exceptional, we were well blessed.

Iguazu Falls were really mind-blowing. Roberto was an excellent guide here. His local knowledge and manner enabled us to learn so much. The Falls view room at the hotel was really excellent at the hotel. It was wonderful to sit on the balcony and watch and hear the falls, which could also be enjoyed from the bedroom! Our wild adventure day was truly wild due to pouring rain and a long thunder storm! How amazing! We were really blown away by the never-ending falls and the deafening sound and enormous height of the lightening. A sensational day, one to be always remembered.

Buenos Aires was stylish, elegant, and full of locals enjoying the wonderful sunny weather in the parks. We had fun shopping on Florida Street and at the Recoleta area weekend markets. We enjoyed the hotel and the local area. The young man at reception, Andres, suggested a local restaurand, Don Julio, that was fantastic. The food was extraordinary and it was great to see what the locals enjoy. The following night, the tango show and dinner was very special, it was a great night out enjoyed by everyone.

It was the most amazing trip. We really can’t thank you enough for all your help and guidance and hard work. We will highly recommend you, Yampu and South America to our friends.

Penny

I would like to thank you for all of your hardwork and help. We had a fantastic time and were very pleased with the itenerary and lay out of the trip. We felt that we had an appropriate amount of time in each city, except perhaps Aguas Calientas; a day and a half was too long there. We were very glad that we were well acclimated for the Inka trail and were able to complete the hike safely. You really made our vacation wonderful and we really do appreciate all of your planning.

Joanne

We are back home in San Diego and wanted to let you know the trip was amazing. I’m glad I choose the right agency for our vacation away, stayed in wonderful hotels, and had fabulous tour guides. I will post up my blog about it soon and share the link when it’s ready.

Desiree

It was a great trip, everything went smoothly and Julio, our guide, was great. It was nice to have a day of leisure in the Sacred Valley, and personally I would have prefered more time in Cusco rather than in Lima.
I would definately recommend Yampu, Thanks to everyone who helped make this such a great experience.

Joanne

We had a great trip and truly enjoyed every day. We wer very pleased with the hotels, restaurants, guides, and drivers. Everyone was prompt, friendly, and helpful so we had no concerns. If I were to make one recommendation I would say taht the final itinerary could hold more information specific information day to day like where you will be picked up and by whom. I would recommend Yampu in a flash to anyone.

Joan

We have had a great time, it has gone far too fast! There have been many highlights along the way – Machu Picchu was spectacular as you can imagine and we have fallen in love with Brazil. It’s a really great part of the world.

For feedback – overall the itinerary was excellent, pickups/transfers were seamless, and the tour operators were fantastic. In hindsight, the only change we would have made is to spend an extra day or so in Cusco and less time at Iguazu Falls. As you say, it’s sad to be at the end of our trip. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can visit again!

Thanks again for all of your help with making our honeymoon so enjoyable and memorable.

Jamie and Seth from Hong Kong

Sorry for just getting back to you, the trip was incredible. The trek was amazing and you guys were really helpful with the airport and hotel transfers. I appreciate the help!

Rich

Thanks for the follow-up. My sister and I had a great time and didn’t want to come home! We have many great photos and great memories as well as a few extra pounds to remember our vacations by. Our favorite places to visit were Machu Picchu, Cuzco and Iguazu Falls. The beaches in Rio were also amazing. The guides were all excellent but our favorites were Edwin in Cusco and Christopher at Iguazu Falls. I would definitely recommend your travel agency and the tour companies used for future travel.

As a whole, things went pretty well and any problems/misunderstandings that arose were handled very promptly and satisfactorily by the local guides. Thanks again for your excellent work! I have many wonderful memories of the trip.

Rhoda

We had a fabulous trip—our best accommodations were at Poso del Cielo in Chivay—your recommendation—fabulous!!! We will be back. Thank you for the great itinerary!

Christina

Thanks for the email. Overall our trip was great, specifically

All connections on time—-unbelievable considering the number of flights etc!
By location;

Quito—
Accommodations—great
Guide—great
Driver—great

Galapagos—
Boat—great
Guide and excursions—great
Food—-very good to great

Lima—
Guide—great, maybe the best, but all were great
Accommodations Airport Ramada—ok, very convenient, they would not supply bottled water, instead said that the unrequested Pisco sour they gave us on arrival was in lieu of water Miraflores—Park—great

Cusco—
Guide—great, was Quechan so was very good from that standpoint, the Spanish heritage did suffer a bit as a result, but then…..
Accommodation—very good, to some extent too noisy
Food—-very good

Macchu Pichu—
Guide—same as Cusco—was great here—no maybe better!
Accommodation—great—non-mountain view rooms were very, very noisy waking up at 3 as people gathered in line to get up strongly recommend mountain view
Food—-very good

Reserva Amazonica—this was definitely the low light of our trip. Accommodations were very close to each other and open air so you could hear your neighbor whisper. This seems to be a place for people with smaller children to come—with the corresponding noises of smaller whining, crying children which makes the close quarters very noisy.
Guides were good.

Overall the trip was wonderful though—guides were wonderful much more than I expected!

Now for next year—any suggestions for a Safari in Africa?

Steve

The trip was wonderful. It was really beautiful. Our only change would have been not to stay at Hotel y Luna for 2 days. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere. Maybe an extra day at Macchu Picchu Inkaterra. But no worries everything went well and the guides were very nice.

Nadine

Everything went wonderfully. Yampu organized everything very well. The guides and drivers were always there and punctual. We worried too much about that and did not need to do so. When they said they’d have the tickets they did. All in all we wove Peru, Happy with Yampu and you and would recommend our itinerary to anyone.

Thanks for a great job

Andy, Yampu repeat client

We had a great trip – such a beautiful, interesting country. And your services were great – I appreciated the quick response to our various email questions your office provided throughout our travel planning, and to the couple of questions we had while on the trip. Your responsiveness was excellent. All our guides/tours were really enjoyable and knowledgeable. The rafting trip was fun: due to the time of year the river levels were low so there wasn’t much going on rapids wise, but the guide had lots of interesting commentary on the sites along the river etc., so it was a really pleasant morning. I hadn’t realized we would be the only two in the boat, which was nice. Next we need to see the Amazon!

L Smith

You were a delight to work with. Everything was arranged “last minute” but with complete perfection and the professionalism of a 5 Star concierge”. I am delighted with Stephanie Rudolph and team at Yampu tours and will surely use again in the near future. Many hidden gems that I would never have found were awaiting us. The Inka Terra Hotel” I would rate as 6 Stars! It was simply an architectural
masterpiece filled with the warmest & best service possible. Used to be an old coffee plantation, now a bungalow filled compound, wrapped around the train station and nestled into the cliff in the cloud forest that was simply spectacular. We stay in all the best hotels and this is “best of the best” particularly if you love nature, mind blowing views, world class design/architecture, want great food, service and R & R’!

Rich

I did the South America combined country trip in June-July 2010 through Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. It was a really good way of seeing the highlights of each country in a very short period of time (nearly 1 month) to give you a taste of what there is to visit. This tour is well worth doing if you have energy and are happy to only see the most important parts of the country and fly off again to another. If you prefer to travel slowly and enjoy every aspect of a specific country, you will not like this trip.

In my case, I wanted to see the highlights so I could return to a specific country in the future that drew my attention as I am returning to live in Europe and I wanted to ensure future trips to this side of the world were correctly chosen.

Here is a very detailed explanation of my experiences the last month while travelling.

Yampu was really good at helping me chose and organize the trip as it was last minute (it was all done less than a week prior to travelling!!), they were the only ones who could book a last minute boat at the Galapagos which was the main reason for my trip. I was quite amazed at how confident they were they could help me out when other companies did not even try.

My first stop was Quito… The hotel was nice and very well located. Next was Galapagos, the boat I was on (Athala) was fantastic and I was upgraded!!!! I had my own room right next to the captain on the top deck. The staff was fabulous and the islands incredibly beautiful. it was a short trip but very enjoyable and saw the basics of the Galapagos islands. The number of sea lions that surround you is incrdible and I was really happy with the number of times we were allowed to snorkel during the trip. All in all, great. Oh, and the food was AMAZINGGGGGGGGGG

Next stop Peru. I had a very short time spam between arriving in Lima and leaving for Cuzco. I arrived at the hotel at nearly midnight (thankfully it was only by the airport) and left really early in the morning again to catch the flight to Cuzco. The hotel was basic but for the few hours, ok.

Cuzco was outstanding. To be there during the Inti Raymi was incredibly exciting (thank you Jose for extending my stay in Cuzco!). The atmosphere in town and the celebrations were spectacular. I coincided with other travelers in various tours as stayed in town for a few days which was great as I was travelling alone and during the whole trip I had many lunches and dinners on my own. Machu Picchu was great, the town was really nice. The hotels in Cuzco and Machu Picchu were great and the guides as well as ground help were the best of the whole trip. A very organized process all the way through and the only time I ever really had a package with detailed timetables which I really appreciated, particularly after the terrible organization in Ecuador.

Next country, Chile. I fell in love with this country. Santiago was incredibly beautiful and the people polite and nice. It was cheap through the all country and the sights spectacular. My favorite country in this trip, the people’s attitude, the guides knowledge and care as well as the hotels made it all the more enjoyable. All hotels in Chile were spectacular! The food very enjoyable with sea food being their primary meals. All in all, 10 out of 10. Loved it!!!!

First Santiago, then Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas (best hotel I have been in years) and finally Peulla were I had a wonderful time zip-lining and horse riding (again the hotel was great). I will be returning to Chile at some stage in the next couple of years so I will be in touch. I really liked your organization there and the trip could have not been better.

Next, Andean crossing through the lakes from Peulla (Chile) to Bariloche (Argentina). The sightseeing was fabulous and unforgettable. The staff’s attitude and boat cleanliness was very different in Argentina to Chile but still all good. The hotel in neither Bariloche nor Buenos Aires were very good but it improved once in Iguazu.

The guide through Iguazu was fantastic and the transfer over to Brazil very easy.

Finally Rio de Janeiro. I could have easily have returned home without this stop. The hotel was basic and the guided tours crowded and basic again. I asked the ground transportation if I could cut my trip short but they didn’t sound too happy about it. I am glad they convinced me to stay at the end as I had time to relax but I would have preferred to have spent those 3 extra days in Chile so I would have done more and enjoyed it better. On the other hand, the ground transportation guide was really nice and his English was impeccable.

Thank you so much for organizing the trip so quickly. It was great and unforgettable, all timetables were followed to the point and information was given in a timely manner (Argentina could have been slightly better too). Accommodation was amazing except the hotels I have mentioned and the guided tours were mostly on my own so really absorbed information except in Rio de Janeiro were I missed most for what they were saying as it was confusing in 3 different languages and really quick.

Thanks again for all your help

Melody

The trip was so amazing. Peru is beautiful and everything was so well planned out. At every stop, people were waiting to pick me up and it was really nice. Cusco, the day to the Sacred Valley and of course Machu Picchu were my favorite. I didn’t want to leave! I have some amazing pictures. I also thought Peru was a great trip to do alone because the country caters to tourists and I met so many interesting people along the way.

Thanks for coordinating it all!

Lori

Inti Raymi was a fantastic display. The site was great! It was our first look at Sacsahuaman. It was also our first day at higher altitude and the walk up the hill to go back down to our excellent seating was a little tough. Luciano tried to get us in a more direct route, but the rude yelling by others (an Italian) stiffened the guard and resulted in the long walk around.

The display was long, but intriguing. The costumes and varied dances from different regions were spectacularly colorful. On the next day we saw how natural materials were used to create such bright and durable colors. Some of the dance moves were spectacular particularly the deer and the Amazon group jumping over the fires.

We wanted to let you know that we consulted the Better Business Bureau and that your excellent rating gave us confidence in choosing Yampu. While it is good to maintain that rating, we are convinced that it is your determination to provide excellent service that motivates your staff.

Karen is interested in organizing a school trip to Peru in the future. It would be a college age group is this kind of program one you would organize or can you suggest a company that specializes in groups?

Thanks again for a wonderful experience.

Paul

My entire PERU trip was worth every penny and some more!

Ms. Rosa Morales, who received me at the Lima Airport around 11:00 at night was charming and took me to Ramada across the Airport, and saw me to my Room.
Upon arrival in Cusco my guide Carlos Holguin was most helpful Gave me a quick orientation for the next three days.
My Cusco city personal Guide, Mr. Marsellas , who became my best Peruvian friend, took me around town. And the next day, he accompanied me all day in a Van with the driver through Sacred Valley: A llama Ranch just outside of Cusco: all the way to Pisac – the Ruins and the Market.

We had a wonderful time at Sonesta Posada del Inka in Yucay. While passing through a charming Peruvian village before reaching Urubamba, we stumbled on a festival dancing by the village folks. It was just wonderful

In the late afternoon, we arrived at this enchantingly tranquil ARANWA SPA & Wellness Center. Here my friend Masellas took my leave and left for return trip to Cusco. ARANWA was almost as good as the “Shangri La” of the movie ‘“Lost Horizon.” My Room was in the back past two Courtyards, next to a Chapel surrounded by a Mote. An outdoor Swimming pool cascaded in the Mote. I was the only one Dining that huge Dining Hall.

A night at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge felt like a dream come true. A small balcony, just outside of my Room, overlooked “Huayna Picchu” the Hallmark Conical Backdrop of the Lost City of the Incas. Machu Picchu is still haunting me! The Spiritual vibrations surround you all the time.

All in all, as I said before, I THANK YOU most sincerely for making my Machu Picchu adventure most enchanting and memorable. Mr. Darwin Parades, and Ms. Christina at the Customer Relations Desk became very close friend of mine. Rose Morales . . . Carlos . . . Marsellas . . . Darwin . . . Christina . . . and the Street Artists outside of Hotel Monasterio; Leonardo. . . Trevolta . . . George and his companion Marta (Silver Jewelry Artist) have left an everlasting impression on me. I miss them very much.

Thanks again for making my trip exceptional.

Sincerely,

Sheelwant

Our trip to Peru was great. It was quite a trip to Machu Picchu but certainly well worth it. It is truly a stunning site, we enjoyed it very much. All our connections and pickups were timely. We were delayed getting to Lima due to flight problems, got one hour of sleep before getting up and catching our flight to Cuszo. We enjoyed our private tours and the hotels were great, especially Inkaterra Machu Picchu hotel. The jungle was also quite an adventure. The lake was beautiful and it was amazing to see scarlet macaws and parrots in their natural environment. You were right about the noise at the lodge but we adjusted to that ok but the bathroom was not so hot. Thanks to Yampu for all the arrangements.

Gayle

Just want you to know we are having a FABULOUS time in Peru. Thank you for all your planning and hard work. Everything is working out beautifully and we LOVE PERU! You can use me any time as a reference and I will gladly tell anyone how well you planned our trip. The hotels are excellent and the guides outstanding. Of course you know we were in awe of Machu Picchu.
I hope you have a good week and lots of people make plans to visit this lovely country. We are already talking about doing another trip to SA. We will tell everyone we know about YAMPU!
Thank you again.

Kathy

Thanks for your e-mail. It is always nice to be back home, at the same time one misses the good times one has while visiting new places. Machu Picchu, of course, is an experience of a life time. I enjoyed it beyond my wildest dreams. Thanks for helping me with my “Dream Come True,” experience.

Sheelwant

Just some pics of the trip…. I’ll organize and post on Facebook later this week. You’re more than welcome to refer folks to us for reference, at any time and to use our comments in any way to promote the Peru tours. We certainly feel our expectations were exceeded in every possible way!

You can find me on Facebook and there are many more photos there. I’ll stay in touch…. we do want to do more travel in S. America, so we’d love your ideas on that.

Take care and keep in touch,

Raymond from Japan

We have just arrived back from Peru and I just wanted to thank you so very much for organizing such a wonderful trip for us. We had a great time and have definitely fallen in love with Peru. The scenery was breathtaking and the people a delight!

The trip was really expertly planned and all was seamless. We were met at every juncture by your extremely helpful and pleasant ground team and guides. We will certainly recommend Yampu to any friends that are thinking of taking a holiday in South America and will be contacting you again to help us plan another holiday in the not too distant future – I hope!

Please thank your team from us.

Isobel

Thanks for your note. We had an excellent trip. I would love to share some feedback and will get that to you in the next couple of days. The kids were disappointed this morning that there was no “trek or guide” on the agenda (other than school)!

Best regards,

Yvette (family of 4)

I am home again after the most fantastic trip. Of course my feet have not touched the ground yet, so much to do & mail a meter high. My heartfelt thanks to you especially, but also all the crew both on the ground & manning the desks.

We were never let down once. Always a smiling face in the foyer or standing at the airport gate. I don’t know how you pulled it all off especially with our last manic changes. It was hard work at times I will not deny it. The last 2 weeks were tight & we were both very tired, but getting to Machu Picchu was a highlight & completed the lifetime package. We stood there in awe. I will get Jenny to send you a photo to prove it, she is better at photos than me.

I am so glad I booked those 5 nights in BA at the end & enjoyed the Tango show, shopping & galleries, high tea at a posh hotel. I will not hesitate to recommend both you & Yampu. I hope we cross paths one day or certainly when I return to that magical part of the world I will contact you.

Jenny and Penny from Australia

As Norm said, we had a great time. Overall, everything ran smoothly and we were impressed with the level of attention we received. So, thanks very much for your planning and organization and we will certainly recommend you to our friends.

Diane from Australia

Overall we had a really good time. Peru was probably the highlight for us. The guides and the people were very friendly and attentive. The sites we visited were very interesting. Having only travelled in relatively wealthy regions before it was a little confronting to see the poverty of some of the people and it made us realize that we are very fortunate to live in Australia. We were lucky not to have been caught up in the problems at Machu Picchu. Given the very difficult terrain that the train and roads pass through it is understandable that flooding in the valley could cause the problems that occurred. We had some minor landslides as we went out via the Andean Explorer to return to Cusco. That trip was more than 13 hours. The trip to Inkaterra was great and the eco lodge was very well set up and managed. The tree top walk was a highlight as was the actual boat ride to get there.

Argentina and Calafate were great. Seeing the glaciers and going on the boat trip was very good. Damain was a great guide and made us feel very welcome in Buenos Aires. It is interesting to compare the size of the cities and the general standard of the public infrastructure to Perth. The waterfalls were well worth seeing and the boat trip up to the base of some of these was fun. I took a lot of pictures and will be able to use some of these in future geography textbooks.

We were impressed by the organization and the way the system worked with someone to meet us at each point. I would not like to travel first up into South America without this support. As you mentioned the planes are not that reliable. It is probably not a good idea to schedule connecting flights. We were lucky on the connect to Lima from Calafate. Our luck ran out when we went from Lima to Sao Paulo with TAM. That made the connect to Rio a problem. It was also the same when we came back to Australia. Interesting to compare the responses. We spent about 5 hours in the airport in Sao Paulo while they sorted out our luggage and accommodation and new flights. In Sydney we were met by a Qantas rep with details of new flights and accommodation as we stepped of the plane from Buenos Aires.

All in all we had a great time and the organization was excellent from your end. Your suggestions of locations was very good. I will CC this to Diane so that she can make her own comments. I am still trying to get back into local time and am writing this at midnight in Perth.

Norm (Group of 4 from Australia)

We had a wonderful time in Peru: Cuzco, Valle Sagrado de Los Incas, Machu Picchu and Lima are just beautiful. We greatly appreciated your professional advice and planning that you gave us. Everything was prepared and organized well. We can recommend Stephanie as an excellent travel agent and Ympu as a honest travel agency!

Thanks again

Miyuki

I could not remember if I replied to you after our trip to Peru. I wanted to let you know that it was a marvelous trip, filled with adventure, education and a chance to observe another culture. The hotels were so comfortable and the tour guides were right where they were supposed to be….We enjoyed the entire experience. In fact, I just sent your information to a friend of mine who is looking to tour in June.

Her name is Kathy Tobin.. Thanks again for your help in creating a wonderful holiday for Bruce and I.

Marcia

Thanks, I had a wonderful trip. I will definitely recommend Yampu to my friends who are thinking of going next year. Only wish I could have stayed longer.

Valerie

Thank you for your recommendation, time and patience. Cheers.

Janet

TRIP WAS GREAT AND TROUBLE FREE.

Thank you for all of your help. I was expecting a group of ten other people in the hiking group but it was just Le and I. This was a very pleasant surprise. The people in Peru were all first class as were the hotels that you picked for us. Everything was great. Thank you for all of your help.

Danny
Daly City, CA

The trip went well — but I am really happy to be home. It was an arduous, but rewarding experience (I lost 10 pounds!). The tour reps that met us were all very nice, especially the lady in Aguas Calientes. The Pakiratampu Hotel was lovely – the flowers and llamas on the grounds were really special. Cusco’s Casa Andina Korikancha was fine; The Cusco tour guide, William, was wonderful! As was Hector at Machu Picchu.

Joanne

Yesterday we were picked up at the hotel, taken to Cusco airport, flew to Lima, were picked up at the airport and taken to the Casa Andina Hotel in Lima, took an afternoon tour of sights in the city, returned to the hotel, were taken back to the airport, and finally headed for home.

We filled out two different survey forms and rated all items EXCELLENT.

It was really nice to be picked up at the airport, taken downtown and then returned to the airport with the feeling that we were being completely taken care of. As I put on the last survey form: I am sure glad Carlos was driving instead of me. We have never experienced traffic like we saw in Lima.

Our guide in Lima once we got off the bus was superb. The bus ride was bilingual and tended to be a little confusing but was still interesting. As you well know we started this trip with a lot of questions and concerns but now that we are back home we are thrilled with how the trip turned out. We encountered no problems and met some wonderful people. We also learned a great deal about Peru, the culture and the people. All of our guides did a great job explaining these items.

We would be happy to respond to any questionnaires in more detail. Overall it was a wonderful trip for us!

Bob

We had a fantastic time in Peru everything was so well organized. You may put my comments on the site for others to read.

Kate
Traveled to Lima, Cusco, the Amazon and Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

We had the most wonderful time! Everything went exactly as planned and on time. The guides were awesome and of course, Peru is incomparable! Thanks for following up. You may use my comments. Everything went very smoothly and I will be recommending you to my brother and his wife when they go.

Mark and Annie
Repeat clients from Carrollton, TX

The trip was FANTASTIC! Our hotel location in Lima was well planned. The tour around Cuzco was also excellent. Our guide, Jose was very passionate about the Inca history. I enjoyed it thoroughly. We had just the right amount of time to acclimate to the altitude. Then finally our hike was beyond EXCELLENT! Our guide, Edgar was very informative, professional and helpful. We couldn’t have asked for a better leader. He wasn’t just a tour guide; he was passionate about the Inca Trail. Our porters were hardworking, honest and kind. The food was 5 star restaurant style. The equipment was first rate and even the first night that we were informed that we would be cold- it wasn’t very cold. I had an EXCELLENT time and overall everything flowed smoothly. Everything worked out well. If you haven’t done this trip I recommend it. You’ll leave a piece of you in Peru. Thanks for a well planned trip! I’ve been to many places, and this one is the tops.

Yes you may use my comments. I will keep you in mind in my next endeavors. I am very pleased with your company. Once again thank you for coordinating a fantastic trip!

Carol
San Diego, CA

We had a wonderful time in Peru, far exceeding our expectation. The hotels, guides and all the arrangements were perfect. You have certainly set the gold standard as far as tour operator go. We really loved Peru and are thinking of exploring more of S America and of course we would certainly arrange it with you agency. Thank you for arranging things so perfectly we will certainly recommend you to any friends or relatives who are thinking of visiting S America.

I would be delighted for you to use my name as a reference, also you can certainly give any prospective clients my e-mail and enter my conments on your website. I will certainly only have good things to say about Yampu.

Joan
New York, NY

We appreciate your follow-up very much just as the service you provided. We could not be more satisfied, everything went so well. We have submitted very good evaluations in every country (Peru, Bolivia and Chile) respectively. Everything was well organized, the hotels were good and everyone showed up everywhere on-time providing valuable service. If we go again, we definitely would contact you and recommend your service to our friends as well. Feel free to post our comments and we will contact you again when we start planning our next trip to this region.

Katalin and Denton
Reston, VA

We had a great trip to Peru and we would like to thank you and the team at Yampu for putting together the itinerary on such short notice. We would be happy to recommend your services to others and plan on doing so. We plan on returning to Peru and visiting other destinations in Latin America and will plan on using you again.

Ryan
Carefree, AZ

The trip was an overwhelming success. Everything went off without a hitch…. And we were continuously surprised and delighted by the high quality of the staff, the tours, the meals and the hotels. Thank you for planning this trip for us.

Marci
Linwood, NJ

We are all home safe and tired. You did a fantastic job. The hotels were fantastic as well as the food and service. My kids were over whelmed with all the service and the guides. We had the trip of a lifetime, so glad we got upgraded to the Legend as we met so many nice people on our tour group. All the guides were so nice and very professional. I had some struggles with all the steps in Machu Picchu and they were very helpful and considerate. We could have stayed on the boat for a week. Thanks for all your help!!!

Patricia
Prescott, AZ

Scott and I got back on Tuesday. I have to tell you that we had the best time ever! The Amazon was amazing, Machu Picchu was great and our guide there was awesome. The Andean explorer to Lake Titicaca was great too. Thank you for arranging a once in a lifetime trip for us. Everything was really smooth and stress free because there was always someone to meet us at the airport and take us to our hotel. Gabrielle at Quito was the best. She got us in and out of Quito airport to the Galapagos without us having to stand in line for anything! She was incredible. Diving in the Galapagos was the best ever! I don’t think we are ever going to beat those dives. We saw eleven whale sharks, hundreds of hammerhead sharks and Galapagos sharks, not to mention the dolphins , turtles , sea lions and eagle rays. it was the best trip we ever had!.
Of course you can use my comments. I felt you were always on top of everything and when we had questions or a problem with the scheduling, you always got back to us promptly. We would recommend Yampu to any of our friends.

Ann
Las Vegas, NV

Thank you very much for helping me to organize trip to South America.
Trip was very good, we like it a lot and service was excellent. I will recommend friends this trip without any hesitations.

Alla
Tenafly, NJ

The Briggs and we have just returned from our 4 week trip to South America. In general we are extremely happy and pleased with how well it all went. Your agency is to be commended for doing such an excellent job. Initially we thought the price was a bit high. However with everything that we experienced along with all the services you provided, we now feel that you earned the money. The service you provided was excellent. We were met at every stop, there were no delays from the tour people, the one problem we did have was resolved quickly and more importantly, in a timely manner. People were kind, pleasant and in the mood to please. We were treated very well. I would rate your agency very highly and would recommend you to anyone. That may happen as we do have a lot of friends who travel. I thank you personally for the service that you provided. We have traveled a lot, both on our own and with agencies. This was one of the best trips that we have ever had.

We can’t thank you enough. In today’s world, with complexity of this trip, it was nice to see such efficiency and competence. If we were to grade your service (after all we are all teachers here), we would give you an A. The trip itself for us was A+ because everything else worked out so well for us including weather, food, people we met, etc. We appreciate the quality of the service you provided and immensely enjoyed the entire trip.

Yampu rocks!

Candy and Keith
Carlsbad, CA

What an amazing holiday. I really enjoyed it. I felt that things ran very smoothly. We were met and picked up on time and I felt that everyone did everything possible to ensure the holiday ran smoothly and we had a good time.

Thank you again for helping to plan this truly amazing trip.

Pam
Warlingham, Surrey, UK

Thanks for your email. My mom and I had a wonderful trip. We can’t thank you enough. The accommodations were great, especially the Casa Andina properties in Peru.

We were also very impressed by the knowledge, professionalism and kindness of our tour guides. Damian (BA); Gracie (Bariloche) and Flora (MP) really stood out. They made sure that we knew all the details of our upcoming activities and answered all of our questions. Also the restaurants that were included on our trip were great-Lima, BA & MP.

Thanks again for all your help in making this trip possible.

Karin & Coral
Pflugerville, TX

I just wanted to thank you for our wonderful vacation. We both had a fabulous time! Machu Picchu was awesome, and we really appreciated the whole “ecolodge” experience in Nicaragua. Thanks again, and we will certainly use you for our next South American vacation.

Tefel
San Francisco, CA

The Tahuago Rain Forest Jungle was so beautiful with all the rivers being full of water. I’m glad I went there during the wet season. Since it’s free from the civilization the entire place was so quiet except the noise of power boats which they used as transportation. The jungle was filled with beautiful and many kinds of trees and exotic birds, frogs, monkeys, etc. What I liked most was the excursions; my guide took me in a canoe through the forest. It was a different world there. All the guides have amazing keen eye sights and hearing abilities, they don’t miss any creatures passing by us. They found them so quickly and pointed them out for us. They are also very knowledgeable about the area and willing to share it with us.

At city of Cusco, a very knowledgeable guide took us several churches and the Sacsahuaman Fortress. Machu Picchu is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. The scenery of the Inca ruins of huge stone structures which resides among godly looking mountains is beyond words. Since there’s no sign boards which explain to you about each stone structure in Machu Picchu I felt so lucky to have had a very good guide. I thoroughly enjoyed climbing Huayna Picchu and I recommend this to anyone who is physically fit.

As a whole, it was a memorable trip for me.

Shizumi
Tomball, TX

We are back safe and sound and the trip was a rousing success. Thank you. we really have only good things to say but I will give you my comments as a traveler to over 50 countries generally traveling first class.

The Delfin 2 was a fantastic experience in all regards. Great service at the airport on arrival, nice transfer, all meals were incredible – we travel on so called 6 star Ocean cruises a lot and they could learn from the Delfin. We had local fish cooked in palm leaves, they cooked up the piranhas we caught, they made juices and smoothies and breakfast jams and sauces from local fruits and plants. They tried really really hard on the food and succeeded tremendously. the cabins were really really large, huge picture windows. Beds were great, comfortable, good shower and private bathroom. Service was excellent, they washed our shoes if they got muddy, washed our clothes that got dirty (without our asking, just part of the service), the crew and guides were tremendous and spoke perfect English. It was really a pleasure.

Your tour guides and the vans were generally good, some better than others, Edwin in Cusco was very knowledgeable, all the tours were appropriate length, plenty of restroom stops, not too superficial nor too detailed. Thanks again for a great trip.

Andy
Newport Beach, CA

My mom and I had a wonderful trip. We can’t thank you enough. The accommodations were great, especially the Casa Andina properties in Peru. We were also very impressed by the knowledge, professionalism and kindness of our tour guides. Damian (BA); Gracie (Bariloche) and Flora (MP) really stood out. They made sure that we knew all the details of our upcoming activities and answered all of our questions
Also the restaurants that were included on our trip were great-Lima, BA & MP. Suggestion for future guests would be to have cash available, as several nice places did not accept credit cards Thanks again for all your help in making this trip possible.

Karin & Coral
Pflugerville, TX

Overall the trip was great, we had a wonderful time, loved all the places we visited, the hotel selections, the guides were informative, knowledgeable and concerned about our time, experiences and safety; I will recommend YAMPU to family and friends.

Elena (Group of 8)
Atlanta, GA

Our trip was fabulous and we thank you and Yampu for such a special time. As I had limited time to do any research for our trip – we appreciated very much how you organized the trip. Everything worked out well – all of the tours were excellent; the service was amazing, and the food, hotels etc were also just amazing. All was grand and the hotels you picked were super. We of course loved Inkaterra!

Thank you and we will definitely use your services again.

Laura
Philadelphia, PA

We are back from our trip and I wanted to say a special thank-you for everything that you have helped us with. The trip was unbelievable; we had the best time of our lives. If I had it over I would not change a thing!

We are definitely interested in a Central American tour, maybe in a few years time and I would not dream of going anywhere but straight back to you to help me plan it!!!! I’m also more than happy for you to use me as a reference; I would love to encourage people to enjoy the same amazing experience as I had!

Thanks again for everything :-)

Cheers

Jodi
Australian Client

Overall the trip was great, we had a wonderful time, loved all the places we visited, the hotel selections, the guides were informative, knowledgeable and concerned about our time, experiences and safety; I will recommend YAMPU to family and friends.

Elena Group of 10
Atlanta, GA

We are back and settled in….It was an amazing trip! This was probably one of the best vacations we have taken thus far! It was very well organized! Cusco is a beautiful city and Machu Picchu was just breathtaking :) I’m glad we stayed in Cusco and took day excursions because we really enjoyed our evenings in the square. The Amazon was beautiful and we loved the Sandoval Lake lodge…made some friends! The food there was excellent! Also, everyone of our guides were so friendly… We felt very comfortable with them. I’m sending you an attached pic of us so you can have a visual image of how happy we were…at least put a pic to the face. I also want to thank you for organizing this trip for us..it was everything plus more than what we had expected! Thanks again and I will definitely refer you if I know of anyone who’s interested!

Elleni

My friend Maryanne and I just returned this week from our adventure in Peru. I just wanted to write to say Thank You!!! Everything was perfect!!!!! The hotels in Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu were amazing. The Mountain Lodges of Peru program was absolutely spectacular! I highly recommend anything they are part of. The Lodges were beautiful, the food was delicious, and the guides were above and beyond!!!! Again, thank you all for making this trip a once and a life time experience. I would definitely do more trips with you guys in the future!

I am more than happy to be used as a reference for further clients, and you may definitely post my comments on the website. Casa Cartagena was magnificent!!!! I would definitely send more of your clients to this hotel, and I am hoping to convince my friends and family to visit and spend time there as well. They treated us really well, the massages were perfect, and the “free” dinner turned into a 7 course tasting menu! We were both very pleased and satisfied with Casa Cartagena! I think all the people on our tour with Mountain Lodges were a little jealous!

Mary
New York, NY

Thank you for your welcome home email. Sushama and I had the best time. The guides, hotels and all the excursions were excellent and we were impressed by the superb organisation. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful. The hotels were of a high standard and the breakfasts amazing. The train journey on the Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu and Machu Picchu itself were definitely the high points although the trip to the islands on Lake Titicaca was a close second. Lima and Cuzco were very memorable too.

All in all we had a brilliant time and would certainly not hesitate to go with Yampu again and recommend them very highly to anyone wishing to travel to Latin America – first class service. Thank you again for organising so well this trip of a lifetime.

Lynne
Cardiff, UK

We would love to give you some feedback from our trip to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. We can only congratulate you and Yampu for having organized a superb holiday. We had one small problem on the return trip from Machu Picchu that the train only went until Ollyantaytambo and not Cuzco, which was very quickly resolved by one of your local staff members arranging a private transfer for us within 30 minutes. We especially loved the Galapagos Islands and wished to have a few more days there, but also loved the beautiful Amazon Lodge in Peru with excellent guides, the Atacama Desert, Machu Picchu and the beautiful Andean Explorer train journey from Cuzco to Lake Titicaca.

Many thanks for the fantastic organization of such a long trip. We are happy to recommend Yampu Latin America Tours to anybody.

Stephan and Marianne
Aargau, Switzerland

We’re back from our very enjoyable trip across South America. Here’s an update on how things went.

What would we do different ? Nothing; it was a great trip. Thanks much for organizing it for us. It’s ok to post this for others, if someone has questions on any part of the trip, they can call us at 651-731-2263.or e-mail us.

Evelyn & Gary
Gold Canyon, AR

The trip was fantastic, thanks! Everything went very smoothly. Thanks for all your help! We would definitely recommend Yampu to our friends!

Kerryn

Our trip to Peru was amazingly wonderful!!!! All to the arrangements went as planned; the people there were so friendly and helpful; the scenery so beautiful and Machu Picchu defies description! We had some wonderful adventures and experiences that will stay with us forever! All of the guides and drivers were so helpful as was the hotel staff.

Thank you for making the arrangements for our trip. You may of course use my comments on the web site. That trip was so amazing and I learned so much—I am reliving it thru the pictures and wonderful memories daily!

Charlene

The Peru/Chile trip was great, from the minute we arrived in Lima and being met, to our hotel, to organizing the trip to the Nazca Lines and from then on. We think we saw all we possibly could have, utilized our time by being organized as to what we wanted to do and what we wanted to skip. We feel your organization has a great group of hosts, including the outside guides that were organized for us. As for the accommodation, we felt we were provided as good as or better than we expected.

Thank you

Joe and Wendy of West Vancouver, Canada

We had a wonderful trip and it was everything we had hoped it would be.

Our experience with Yampu was flawless and every transition from hotels, airports, tours, etc. was without complications and very smooth. No complaints and I would certainly recommend Yampu to anyone interested in traveling to Latin America. Everyone was very welcoming and accommodating. Peru in particular was a very enjoyable and we would definitely go back again.

Our guides were very good and a few, Marcia in Rio de Janeiro, Lisset (sp?) in Machu Picchu, Cusi (sp?) in Lima and her driver Jose, and Jesus in Inkaterra Amazonica Lodge were excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and are very thankful for the service you have provided us.

Robert

All of us at Mirau: Edwards, Cannon, Lewin & Tooke returned, yesterday, form the trip to Peru booked through and planned by Yampu (whoops, Yampu). It would be difficult to overstate how happy we were with the trip, and the arrangements made. The entire trip was fantastic. All of our travels and transfers were seamless, the hotels were beyond our expectations, and the guides were fantastic. Special mention should me made regarding:

Kuzi in Lima. She was fantastically friendly, went out of her way to make sure things were taken care of for us, and made both ends of the trip a joy. She is a real asset to your company.

Rene in Cuzco and Macchu Pichu also went the extra mile. His passion for Inca and the native Peruvian culture was abundant, and he was VERY knowledgeable.

Jesus, our guide at Inkaterra Amazon was also fantastic. Friendly, and knowledgeable beyond his years and schooling, made our treks in the Amazon jungle absolutely unforgettable.

The entire trip exceeded our expectations in almost every regard. We all fell in love with Peru, and its people (especially those mentioned above). Thank you for arranging this trip. We would not hesitate to recommend Yampu to anybody considering a trip to South America. Celebrating out Firm’s 15th year was a special occasion to us, and your help made it all the more so. You may use my e-mail, and please thank all involved. It was a wonderful trip, and we all cannot stop talking about it.

Mark (group of 10)

Thank you for the follow up! We did not witness any UFO’s; however the Plateau is a very special place that continues to grow in complexity and mystery the more we reflect on our journey there.

The trip was wonderful, and the Yampu and Yampu services were outstanding (truly)! Your operation was through from picking us up, to dropping us off the last day. The people you chose to take us on the Inca trail were superb, and appeared to not only treat their employees with respect, but the environment as well.

I would like to commend you for your follow through and service, it has been exceptional. Furthermore, I would like to comment on the extraordinary service of our tour guide in Markawasi, Bruno. He went beyond his duties to make sure that we were taken care of in all aspects and was a true gentleman. Lastly, I would like to thank Kusy, our translator at Markawasi, she was very professional and helpful to my Wife and I.

Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year, and we will not hesitate to recommend Yampu in the future.

Alex

Trip was incredible…..see the attachment…This says it all! I also have an Equator shot and a super cool picture of a giant Tortoise and baby sea Lion in the Galapagos too. Everything was great, everyone on time- hotels good..Especially Machu Picchu!

Diana

Our trip was wonderful. Thank you so much for all your help. From start to finish the people you had working with us were terrific. They were always on time and very able to help us adjust to their country and make sure we had the best time possible. Our guide in Cuzco was extraordinary and the person who picked us up at 4am in Lima was right on time and got us to the airport with ease.

Thanks again and I will make sure I use your service again for future travel.

Michael

Seth and I arrived back from Argentina yesterday and we wanted to thank all of you for organizing the trip for us. We had a great time in Buenos Aires, Iguazu, and Mendoza. All of the transfers, hotels, and tours worked out.

Thank you again and have a great holiday.

Warm Regards,

Allison and Seth

Just wanted to drop a note and let you know that we returned from our South American journey, and it was great. The arrangements that were made by Yampu/Yampu were perfect! The airlines were on time, the hotels great, especially the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel! That place was amazing, sorry we were only there one night. We stayed at the Diego de Almagro Hotel in Santiago, Chile. It was a very good accommodation and great location too.

The local authorities in Peru: Carlos in Cuzco, is to be commended, he and his crew did an excellent job. Thanks so much for making part of our dream vacation come to life.

Clients from Hollywood, FL

The Inca Trail and Amazon were awesome! The Inca trail was definitely the highlight. In terms of feedback, overall, the way the schedule worked out, a little too much time in Lima (the shopping tour with Kuzi was great-felt like I was hanging out with one of my girlfriends). I was also done with the hike, Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu by lunch, so I had plenty of time to explore Agua Calientes that same day. I had a great time and would definitely recommend this trip. Thx!

Debra

We were planning to contact you but you beat us to it. We had a fantastic holiday and everything was well planned. All our contacts were great and well informed. Edison (our guide in Quito ) was very helpful as Peter needed a pharmacy and he took us to one and translated to the pharmacist. The catamaran was great as it was rough most nights so glad you recommended it.
We were so delighted with the holiday and all the hard work that went in to planning it. We would like to thank everyone and if you want any testimonials we would be happy to give them.
Regards,
Two happy holidaymakers.

Pat and Peter
UK Clients

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond, I picked up a stomach bug while on our trip and am having a bit of trouble getting rid of it. Other than that, the trip was wonderful, fabulous, and more than any of us could have ever dreamed of.

The guides were so fabulous; we were especially fond of Kuzi, Vanessa and Fernando. They all took excellent care of us. We were very happy with all the hotels. No one had problems with the altitude. Several of us did get sick on the Nazca flight and our only suggestion for that would be to recommend motion sickness medicine before the flight. We actually wished for more time at Machu Picchu and less at the down day in the Sacred Valley.

I know that we were all very pleased with the trip and will highly recommend not only Peru, but Yampu to all our friends. Personally, my mom and I had a bad experience in Italy two years ago and I was afraid she would not travel again, but after this trip, she is already asking me where I want to go next time. We will definitely be calling you when we start to make arrangements.

Thanks again for everything,

Dana, Group of 10

Our 25th Anniversary Trip with Yampu Tours to Peru was MAGNIFICENT!
Every location from Lima and its beautiful landmarks and Cathedrals to Puerto Maldonado to board our adventure into the Amazon to Cusco and its Temple and Cathedrals with our wonderful hotel Monasterio del Cuzco to Machu Picchu via the Hiram Bingham train with a night at the Sanctuary was an experience to remember. The tour company left no stone unturned!
Our transfers, accommodations, and the people that work for your company need to be applauded. Every location, experience, and adventure was truly memorable.

A few people for honorable mention would be in Reserva Amazonica – “Wilson”.
He led us through our Amazon experience with a very educational approach, and made sure we did everything we came to do and more! A great employee! Also, in Lima, Kuzi made great efforts to achieve the search for souvenirs for our children on our shopping spree, and stayed with us until our seating for our last night anniversary dinner at La Rosa Nautica.

A big THANK YOU for making our special anniversary so SPECIAL! We will recommend you to all our family and friends.

Brent and Penny

Glad you asked as I was definitely going to write. Mike and I had a FABULOUS time. There is definitely a level of anxiety when booking a trip of this nature with a tour company you have never used. Plus, neither of us speaks fluent Spanish. We felt like Yampu Tours thought of every detail and far exceeded our expectations. Specifically, the guided tours were excellent. The guides were so passionate and knowledgeable which was especially important to Mike, a history major. We LOVED Esmeralda and Hector.
We also really enjoyed the dinner that was set up for us in Cusco. We had no idea that it would be so nice and upscale. We took pictures of our food!! Even though the restaurant was just a few blocks away Fernando met us in the hotel lobby and escorted us personally. Shortly after we arrived at the hotel in Cusco, Carlos called to see how we enjoyed Machu Picchu and that he was only a phone call away should we need anything. These are only a few examples of why our trip was so awesome. We will definitely recommend Yampu Tours to all of our friends and family.

THANKS A MILLION!!!!!

Mike and Beth

Hi, we are back from a phenomenal trip. Thank you for a great organization, super guides and terrific schedule of all the tours and even local flights !

Next year we want to go to Patagonia—- talk to you soon.

Inga

Thank you for the welcome home. You beat me to the punch in regard to asking for feedback from our spectacular trip to Peru. I intended to write to compliment you on the fantastic arrangements and support personnel that you and Yampu arranged. Kuzie and Jose met us on arrival and were enthusiastic ambassadors of their city. Our accommodations at the Country Club were incredible. I am so glad we wound up in the residential area of San Isidro, instead of Miraflores. Originally I had reservations about the “second choice” hotel. My mistake. The decor, welcome champagne, warm staff and beautiful, large rooms were the best! Our city guide (Veronica) was absolutely wonderful. She gave us suggestions for dinner and saw to it that we had a fine table. Her pride in Lima was evident and contagious. We grew to love and appreciate the city, too. She let us dictate the timing of the tours and took us to a wonderful place for a coffee and bite to eat. We hated to leave.
The air transport to Cuzco was seamless. Our guide (Fernando) taught us a lot and again timed our tour extremely well. The Monasterio was a beautiful hotel. The Orient Express train was lovely. Carlos, our guide, learned our names and knew so much history. The Sanctuary was amazing. I loved the afternoon tea and again the staff knew us by name from the first introduction. (Maybe because we were traveling with our three beautiful daughters!) Every staff member was helpful and cheerful. Our private guide, Lucretia, was also great. It was a pleasure to tip them, but in no way were we made to feel that a tip was necessary or expected during any part of our stay. The transfers were smooth and timed well. All in all, we had a fantastic time. Thank you so much for your wonderful itinerary and carefully planned activities. The Peruvian contacts you have are first rate, speak English well and provide clean cars. I know I haven’t mentioned everyone by name, but each and everyone we came in contact with deserves a great deal of credit and demonstrated the highest degree of professionalism.
Thank you, Jake, and Yampu, for a trip we will always regard as top notch. You made it so easy for us to enjoy!

Catherine

We had a truly fantastic time in the truly amazing continent and of course it was nowhere near long enough to really appreciate everything. We want to thank you for a holiday which in the most part went off without major problems. All of the hotels were friendly and helpful (as were all of the people we met in South America).

My leg problem had got particularly bad by Puno and the hotel staff went out of there way to make us comfortable, they sent extra pillows, found a restaurant who would deliver food to our room, and sent staff to the pharmacy with my husband to ensure the correct translation to get the drugs I needed for my leg. Please please thank them on our behalf we felt they went way beyond just doing their job and really accommodated my health problems how very very kind of them.

All of the guides throughout the holiday were understanding and supportive and changed the trips to allow us to enjoy the best of the countries without putting more stress than necessary on my leg. This ranged from booking us onto different trips, down to finding wheelchairs or asking for me to go ahead in queues to save the standing, these were kind and appreciated gestures. In fact no one ever made me feel my inability to walk far was a problem for them, even at Machu Picchu. In fact the personal guide we had paid for here was perfect, taking me on a very quick route straight to a seat in Machu Picchu from which I could venture further if I wished and Ian to the long walk, It would be worth letting other frailer traveller know this is a possibility at Machu Picchu it may mean some people who could be put off by a walk will be able to go.

The (Iguazu) Waterfall was out of this world, and although sadly I couldn’t reach the boat the rest of it was still truly incredible. In Brazil we were met by such a lovely guide called Carlos. He was kind, friendly and supportive and a true proud ambassador for his country. What a delight to be ferried around by such a lovely man. Again he took every care to ensure that my leg was catered for and he really made our short but sweet stay in Brazil special. Again securing a wheel chair and aisle seat at the airport, to enable me to travel back in as much comfort as I could. We really recommend you continue to use him in your trips.

Reading the literature you sent we were shocked and concerned for our safety in Peru but while we always took sensible precautions our experience of the people of Peru was of friendly kind and hardworking people, their sales techniques were highly visible but not too pushy if you said no and we were left with a wonderful experience of these lovely people.

All in all the holiday was wonderful, we would recommend to others to go, and we felt you arranged a good and wide ranging experience for us.

Thank You

Jacqui and Ian
UK Clients

Our trip to Peru and Ecuador was just completed. We so appreciated all the things your staff did to make it an exceptional experience. We want more – and the first place we will call will be Yampu.

The team in Lima was outstanding. Kuzi met us at the airport at some awful hour and made sure we got to our hotel and were briefed on next steps. She even was there when we did not show the night before due to weather delays. The staff jumped in to rearrange things when our plans changed (due to the weather delays in DC and Atlanta) and the Cusco staff was outstanding. We loved the hotel accommodations we had and the friendship we found everywhere.

Your staff throughout was eager, helpful, fun and very knowledgeable. We have already mentioned the Yampu name to many on the Galapagos leg so we hope that will turn into new business for you. We want to explore SA some more. Whether it is next year or the next, we will be back (the upper Amazon in Brazil or Ecuador, Argentina and Chile to ski and explore and Patagonia are all high on our list. Plus we did not get to Lake Titicaca due to the weather situation so of course we have to get there too!).

So you are not done with us yet! Thanks for all you did to make this one of our favorite family adventures ever!!

Valerie and John

I had three major concerns about going to South America –

1. Travelling with my children, would it be safe in Ecuador, Chile and Peru? – Well, of course you have to take sensible precautions anywhere in the world, but in just over three weeks there we always felt perfectly safe, and found all the locals very friendly and helpful. In Lima and Santiago our hotels were in nice neighbourhoods, such that it was fine to walk back to our hotel after dinner in the evening. In most of the tourist areas there was always a reassuring presence of lots of local police, who were always happy to help with advice and directions.

2. We were cramming in lots of sights (Galapagos, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Nasca Lines, and Easter Island). With such a busy schedule involving lots of transfers and flights, would delays and / or cancellations cause problems? – In fact everything worked perfectly. We were met by Yampu representatives at every change and all tickets and hotel bookings etc were managed excellently at every stage. The only problem came when our flight over the Nasca Lines was cancelled a few days before. However the local representatives talked it through with us and promptly arranged an alternative drive to a different airport and made sure we did not miss out (special thanks are due to Kusy in Lima, who was fantastic)

3. As none of the party could speak any Spanish would language be a problem? – Firstly, all the Yampu representatives and guides spoke excellent English and for much of the time they accompanied us and sorted out all the arrangements. They were all knowledgeable and genuinely made us feel welcome. We soon picked up enough simple words to manage in shops and restaurants, and even if the locals could not speak any English they were all happy to converse in sign language!

All in all, the holiday exceeded even our most optimistic expectations. We saw so many fantastic things that it is simply impossible to select a highlight. I would have no hesitation in recommending the services of Yampu.

Paul, UK family of 5

Our trip to Peru couldn’t have gone smoother! We loved every minute of it! Before our trip, we chatted with Chris online and gave him our budget along with all the sites we wanted to see. Within a day we had a packed itinerary that was totally reasonable.

All of our tour guides were exceptional and spoke great English. The local Yampu people were fabulous! It was so nice not to have to worry about anything like transfers to our hotels, airport and tour destinations. Everyone was so nice. Carlos in Cusco was so attentive to us and even checked in on us. My favorite part of the whole trip was staying at the Wasai Lodge on the Tambopata River. It was an absolutely amazing experience to be in such a beautiful, quiet place. Our guide, Jorge, was so knowledgeable and laid back.

We weren’t sure what to expect from our trip never having done anything like this before. It is safe to say it exceeded our expectations and we’re so glad we went with Yampu!

Thanks for everything!!

Lacey

We did have a great time! The tour services and accommodations were excellent, your people were courteous, timely and proactive. Peru exceeded our expectations.
We are very glad to have chosen Yampu.

Best regards,

Mario

I just returned from work, Monday and Tuesday were very busy. I got ready to send you and E-mail, when I opened my mail box I found your message.

The trip was great. Your professionalism and personal attention to detail showed all along the trip. All the things on the itinerary happened and no connection was missed. Your offices in Lima and in Cusco were very professional, friendly, courteous and helpful. I had some little complications and when I called Mr. Cubas or Mr. Terrazoas they answered promptly and were very helpful.

I enjoyed the trip very much and I am happy that I chose Yampu for my travel arrangements to PERU. No other company could have made better arrangements at the price that I paid for the trip. I will be happy to recommend your company, without hesitation, for travel to PERU.

I will call you on the phone to thank you personally. I am sure that I will use your company for my future travel plans to South America. Please feel free to use my name as a reference. If a potential traveler needs to talk to me I will be happy to take their call or E-mail.

Amir, M.D.

Our trip was fantastic and we all had our own favorites. The girls loved Galapagos, Filip’s most memorable experience was fishing piranhas in the jungle as was Kaj’s, and I enjoyed meeting the local people and tribes especially in Lake Titicaca and Amazon.

Finding the most suitable hotels during the journey is always a challenge and I think we were lucky. The Hotel Fasano in Rio was perfect with a great location and a beautiful, contemporary style. In Iguazu Falls we were really happy to stay inside the park and on Argentinean side. The Hotel Sheraton isn’t maybe the fanciest one, but the location was perfect for the tours. The boat tour under the falls is just awesome, a must do! Hotel in Lima was a bit disappointing. Miraflores as an area was nice and safe, but next time I would upgrade the hotel to 4-5 stars. We had an extremely delicious lunch at The Rosa Nautica restaurant. It was above all expectations. Cebiches and pisco sour are our new favourites!

The hotel chain “Casa Andina Private Collection” was a good choice in Cuzco and Machu Picchu, especially the big suite in Cusco. The Andean Explorer train to Lake Titicaca was a great experience. The Casa Andina hotel in Puno was perfect, as we stayed there only one short night. If we had stayed there longer, we would maybe upgrade it. The tour to Taquile and Uros islands was one of the highlights on our trip. The cruise on MV Galapagos Legend was also a great experience. Our guide Joffrey, as a native from Galapagos, was fun and very knowledgeable. He managed to keep the children entertained and interested in the beautiful flora and fauna during the several excursions. The bigger balcony suites onboard made the journey even more enjoyable, highly recommended. Swiss hotel Quito, with several good restaurants, pool and sport facilities, was a safe choice for the days at leisure and relaxing between the Galapagos and Amazon excursions.

And last but not least we enjoyed some of the most memorable days in the jungle at the La Selva lodge. It’s a bit rustic, but that made the whole experience even more exiting. Our local guides were fabulous. Having grown up in the jungle they know the area, its plants and animals so well and were able to give us an experience of a lifetime.

Before the trip we were a bit concerned if traveling with the children would be safe in these countries. Thanks to your great and experienced guides we always felt perfectly safe, and found all the locals very friendly and helpful. Even the accident with a raccoon was dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Our guide Gabriel in Iguazu Falls dealt superbly with the situation doing his best to get Christine professionally treated. The whole complex rabies vaccination program, which Christine had to take during the rest of the journey, was arranged promptly. Although we had a very tight timetable, your guides Bruno and Natalia managed to arrange all the doctor appointments in Peru and Ecuador so that we could continue our journey without any major interruptions. A special thanks to Bruno and Natalia!

The itinerary proved to be well thought out. Everything was organized beforehand. Without a good scheduling and experienced guides we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy this much of the beautiful South-American continent. Although the schedule was partly very intense, wake up calls sometimes even at 5 am !! , we all loved this exciting program, where one highlight followed the other!

Thank you Meike for a very well organized trip and a special thank you to all our tour guides who were exceptional and spoke great English. After we sorted out our 9.000 !!! pictures taken on the trip we’ll start to plan the next one – maybe Patagonia and the Antarctica.

We can highly recommend Yampu for family expeditions in South America.

Hilkka & Kaj, Family of 5

I have already written to Jake about my trip to Peru, however, I also wanted to write to you to let you know again how satisfied with the services of Yampu Tours. Partnering with Amazonas you have the best team that I have ever experienced. The guides and accommodations at the Jungle Lodge once again fulfilled my dream for a super vacation. Never have I been around such attentive folk who seek to satisfy the wants of the guest. Thank You!...and I will be using your services again.

Tommy

Our trip was just FABULOUS! What a great job Yampu did! One of your people was at each place we needed someone…that was such a relief because I am sure we would not have known what to do. The guides were all excellent. While almost all of them spoke excellent English, it was the accent that distorted words, which was certainly not their fault but ours for probably not having the best hearing at our ages.

What a surprise at the end of our trip to find that the presidents of Chile, Argentina and Columbia were staying at the Country Club! We were waiting in the lobby for our driver to take us to the airport when the president of Chile arrived. It was quite an affair!

Peru is just an amazing, beautiful country, with wonderful friendly people. I am glad we had Yampu for our very first trip to South America. I am ready to take another trip to South America…perhaps Costa Rica? Thank you and everyone for all the assistance before and during our trip!

Diana

Just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time in Peru and give most of the credit for that to Yampu! Thank you so much for your help organizing the trip on short notice and for everything along the way.

Sincerely,

Lauren

We had a wonderful time. Everything went like clockwork. The local agents in Lima and Cusco and all the tour guides were great. The hotels were great. We found the Sol y Luna in Urubamba to be especially pretty and peaceful. If there was anything we’d do it different it would be to slow down a little and take more time in the Sacred Valley and at Machu Picchu. It was all so beautiful.

We were completely satisfied with all of your arrangements and will definitely use your agency for our next trip to South America.

Thank you,

Doug

I had a wonderful time (in Peru). Everything worked beautifully. I had people waiting for me at every stop…such wonderful, friendly and knowledgeable folks. Machu Picchu was incredible…truly a sight that should be seen. Even though I knew what it looked like, I was still overwhelmed by the sight in person.

Then Lake Titicaca was delightful. I saw floating islands made of reeds that the Uros Indians have been living for 500 years…then on to the most peaceful island ever…Taquile. What a delightful day. The tour guides were wonderful…so full of good info. It was a great trip that I would recommend to anyone…..but be prepared for the altitude. I took some medicine called Diamox and it made me feel horrible. Then after I go sick, I went with the holistic product that is sold in Peru and did better. I drank lots of coca tea…which is supposed to help…I even ate coca leaves…and coca candy and sniffed a special mint that is supposed to help. And in the end, they did help. I was at 11,500 ft in Cusco and 12,500 ft in Lake Titicaca

If you have any other clients that would like testimonials from me, feel free to contact me. Yampu did a great job…they are great professionals.

Mary

We had a very interesting experience even for us, who are Japanese and have been in the U.S. for 11 years. We love that country.

Lima was perfect. Your team was pretty helpful and always on time. Machu Picchu was gorgeous. In general, super trip!

Hiro

All the guides were excellent and the hotels were also very good. I really enjoyed myself. It was a completely stress free 2 weeks – which is rare for me. Thanks and look forward to working with you again,

Jodi

Our trip to Peru was fantastic! Thank you everso. The jungle was brilliant and would like to go again. We saw a Jaguar which was exciting as Carlo (our Guide) said the last sighting was last November. Our lodges at Tambopata were wonderful even though the lights went out at 10pm and glad of the cold showers as it was so hot. We survived a massive thunderstorm on our last evening.

Although suffering from the altitude we managed to start the Inca Trail but unfortunately, Andy suffered badly with stomach problems and could not go on after the first check point. We waited for the porters to come back and set up camp for our return on horse back to the start in the morning. Elban, our guide, arranged two horses from a lady in the mountains. Elban also kindly organized prices for the 4 taxis and would not leave us until we were safely at the hotel and the arrival of the doctor for Andy.

Eric, our guide at the Inca trail, wanted us to meet the group on the last day and evening but we thought it best to take it easy and just go for the day on the Saturday and stay at the wonderful Inkaterra Hotel with their log fire, their beautiful surroundings and mouthwatering food. We were hoping to have had an earlier night but after meeting a few Americans and ITV1 film crew we decided to meet up with a few more friends in the village for a drink. The next day we decided to try out their Andean Sauna which is a hut with heated stones in the middle, raised wooden beds with towels and romantic candles – very relaxing!

It seems that we were forever eating on the Andean Explorer. The entertainers, visitors to the observation carriage and waiters/waitresses were locked in our carriage because the lock jammed which was funny. With a loud cheer the maintenance chaps safely rescued them by taking the whole lock and handle off.

Cheema, our guide at Lake Titicaca, was lovely and looked after us at the Uros Islands making sure that we have an island for ourselves for the history and formation of the island of reeds, a romantic sail on the reed canoe. We saw a falcon fighting an eagle when visiting Sillustani. The tombs were fascinating. Andy and I were upset to leave Cheema at the airport as she became very close to us in the very short time we knew her.
We were worried about the safety at Lima but we had nothing to fear at Miraflores because of the friendly hotel staff. The concierge booked a very good seat for us at the Le Dama Juana restaurant which gave us a bird’s eye view of the stage to witness exciting, romantic, life threatening scissor dancers and a delicious buffet and good wine.

Overall, we would like to thank all of you at Yampu from the start right to the finish. You have made this holiday, the transfers were precisely on time, the guides were good English speakers and intelligent on their particular subject and of Peru itself. Even though we had to pay for the extra rooms at Cusco, the lost bus tickets (I lost them), the extra Vistadome ticket and the upgrade to the suite at Lima we had a lovely time. The guides were very friendly, courteous, especially Cheema. We will certainly recommend your agency to other people and hopefully use you again.

Thank you everso much for our holiday.

Pat and Andy
UK clients

I have been meaning to write, but have been so busy now that I am back to work.
The trip was great! Thank you. I had no troubles. I loved Bolivia-wished I had stayed there longer. My guide, Marco, was wonderful there. I enjoyed Peru very much, too. Especially Cusco. The people at there were really excellent. Very helpful and reliable. When my flight from Lima to Cusco was canceled, my guide Elena came back to the airport to look for me and assist me. I was very impressed with that.
Already thinking of my next trip, but of course I will need to save money and time off from work again. Thanks to everyone at Yampu,
Best,

Jennifer

I have attached my feedback from our trip. As I said, overall it was a brilliant experience, although I guess we were probably spoiled with the number of occasions when we had a guide to ourselves!

Dave
UK Client

Carolyn and I had a wonderful trip. It was very well organized and we were well taken care of by everyone. The people there were so friendly, kind and polite and very knowledgeable. We learned a lot and saw wonderful things. All of the hotels we stayed in were great but the best was the one in Aques Callientes. We didn’t want to leave that hotel. The Galapagos trip was terrific and the boat was fine. We were with a good group of people which made it that much more enjoyable. Machu Picchu was amazing. We took several hundred photos which we’ll have to sort through them but I attached 3 that I thought you’d like to see; one from the equator, one from the Galapagos, and one from Machu Picchu.

Thank you so much for organizing this wonderful trip for us!!!!! It was an amazing experience. We will go back to Latin America again ( next time I’ll take my husband) and we’ll be in touch to get your help once again.

Wendy

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and everyone at Yampu a very happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year on behalf of myself and my wife. The time has flown by since we got back from Peru and I think you should know that we enjoyed every minute of our holiday, even when the air was thin, THANK YOU.

Can you also pass our good wishes and thanks on to Bruno, Kuzi & all who helped make our stay enjoyable.

Ray
UK Client

We had an absolutely wonderful time. I have to tell you…I am NOT one for tours and was a little apprehensive about this trip but I could not have asked for more. From the time Cuzi & Jose picked us up from the airport upon arrival to great restaurant/entertainment recommendations in Cuzco and our AMAZING guide, Darwin, in Manchu Picchu, the tour was perfect. The local staff with Yampu was prompt, flexible, friendly and knowledgable. Thank you!

Leah

I had a wonderful time on my trip. Everything worked out and all transfers and tour guides were great. My flight from Cusco to Lima was cancelled, so I missed my connecting flight and had to fly home on Thanksgiving Day, but all of the services arranged by Yampu were perfect. Adriel really made the trip special for me. The rituals we did were unforgettable and Herbert was an excellent driver. They were both informative and entertaining.

I hope to return to Peru and I will have no hesitation in looking to Yampu for my travel arrangements.

Thanks,

Rosemary

Myself and my partner travelled to South America recently with Kon-Tiki; I’ve been meaning to drop you an email since our return but time just seems to have got away from me!

Just to let you know we had a fantastic time and were delighted (again) with the service we received from your company. Everything went like clockwork, our airport transfers were always on time (in Santiago they waited an hour while we had to sort out missing luggage details) and our guides were very friendly and knowledgeable.

Highlights were, of course, Machu Picchu (our guide Darwin’s enthusiasm for the subject was contagious), the day trip around the mountains in Salta and the wine tours with fantastic lunch in Salta.

Thanks for helping us to have a holiday that we won’t forget. Hopefully we will return to South America in the future, and if so, you will be our first contact.

Many Thanks

Iain & Deborah
UK clients

We have returned from our trip to Peru. We wish to thank you and the Yampu Team for the travel arrangements and your suggestions as to where to stay etc ad arrange our itinerary.

We had a marvellous time. The tour guides, and the drivers were efficient, friendly, helpful and did a most outstanding job. The accommodations in the hotels we stayed were excellent. We will recommend your travel agency to our friends and family.

Once again we wish to thank you and your team for your excellence.

Isaac and Marina

Thank you very much for all of your assistance in arranging our recent
trip to Peru and Chile. We had a fantastic time! The guides you
arranged were all fabulous (Roberto and Ruth in Lima, Milena in Cusco,
Darwin at Machu Picchu, and Ricardo in Santiago).

Again, thank you very much for your assistance! We look forward to
traveling to South American with you again!

Robert and Tara

Hi Karolina. The trip was great!. Everything was wonderful and there were no surprises at all. We were met at every step and everyone was very professional and nice. The trek was amazing and we certainly have an appreciation for what we have here after seeing how hard a life some of the folks have that live in the mountains. Machu Pichu was awesome as well. I can’t thank everyone enough. From your office to the folks that met us to our guide, cook and porter. I could not have asked for anything else. Next we want to see Africa or the Amazon!!!!!

Pat

We had a wonderful time! The sights were amazing, the food was outstanding, and the Peruvians we met throughout our travels were all genuinely friendly. We had heard many great things about Peru, and our trip definitely lived up to all expectations.

A major reason why we enjoyed our trip so much was the excellent travel arrangements that Yampu made for us and how flexible the company was in accommodating our requests to customize the trip. In addition, once we arrived in Peru, the professionalism of your local employees made the experience enjoyable and stress- free. They were always on time in meeting us at the airports and hotels, and were very helpful. José in Lima and Melina in Cuzco were especially helpful, and we really enjoyed our private guides Rosario in Lima and Julia for Cuzco/Sacred Valley.

All-in-all, Yampu did an excellent job, and when we decide to visit Argentina at some point in the future the first thing we will do is contact Yampu.

Andrew and Marion

I am just writing to tell you how wonderful our holiday was in Peru. Everything was perfect and your staff there excellent. All the arrangements worked so well. We were met whenever we were supposed to be met, and the organized tours were perfect. We were particularly impressed by Melina (I think that was her name) in Cuzco and José, our driver in Lima. They were so helpful.

The hotels were very good, and Sanctuary Lodge was like a dream. We are so glad we decided to choose Yampu.

Thank you again.

Eileen

We had the most marvelous holiday, really special. All your people were really helpful, particularly Bruno in Lima, when we had to change our flights and transfer from one hotel to another earlier than expected.

Mallku, our shaman, was amazing. Thank you so much for finding him; we became friends, and he told us so much and went way beyond in his teachings, much more than was required of him. I’m sure! She was very good at switching things around to make the itinerary less strenuous! (again you would not know that until you got there!)

I would absolutely book another holiday with Yampu. I found everyone to be very professional and charming.

Clare
British Client

I just wanted to say thank you for all your help with our trip to Peru last week. You were all very responsive and helpful at every step along the way, including the last-minute questions due to the earthquake. Everyone we met in Peru in connection with Yampu was very friendly, helpful and professional. All aspects of our trip went off without a hitch. We’re extremely pleased with Yampu and would recommend you to anyone. You can absolutely use us and our comments as a reference.

Nancy

We had a wonderful time. We all knew we would, having booked our trip with Yampu Latin America Tours. We were not affected by the earthquake that occurred the day of our arrival. We did feel aftershocks the following day, but that was to be expected.

We encountered no problems with our domestic flights within Peru. Once we were back in Cuzco, we were able to enjoy our tour of the city, and our heads were no longer in the clouds. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Carlos would be transferring us to the Cuzco airport for our departure to Lima. We had met Carlos two years ago when we last visited Peru.

Our hotel, Casa Andina Miraflores, once again had nice clean rooms. The food in Peru was delicious, and we all miss it. All the hotels had abundant breakfast goodies to choose from in the morning. And I personally would love one more cup of coffee from Cuzco.

Yes, Karolina, we had a great time. And I knew we would because of the previous experience we had with Yampu Tours. We are not done visiting South America, so you haven’t heard the last of us.

Group Family

The trip to Peru was amazing thanks to Yampu Tours. The guides for each segment of the trip were wonderful, and their knowledge and the history of the area made the trip an amazing adventure. Thank you for all your help.

I would be more than happy to talk with any of your clients about Peru. I loved the time we spent in Peru and am very happy we made the arrangements with Yampu. Your company did a fantastic job making our adventure a memorable experience.

Thank you,

Sam

Thank you for the wonderful trip that you arranged for us to Peru. We don’t travel much (this is our first experience with a tour), so we were a bit apprehensive and didn’t quite know what to expect. We were very grateful for the friendly, personable and professional people that you provided to help make our trip a memorable one.

Roberto and José were there to meet us at the airport. Roberto made sure that we understood our itinerary and vouchers, and José, our driver, was very helpful in suggesting things for us to do in our spare time and making sure that we got on the right flights. Caesar, our Lima guide, was very informed and we really enjoyed seeing some of the sights of Lima.

Milene was amazing. She was always on top of things and made sure that we were well looked-after. We were very happy that we decided to take a little extra time in Cuzco to get acclimated and to just sight-see a bit on our own. The city tour of Cuzco and surrounding places of Pukapukara, Tambomachay, Q’engo and Saqsaywaman were great and our guide, Pumasonko, was very knowledgeable.

Our stay at the Casa Andina Hotel in the Sacred Valley was beautiful. Again, Milene was there to welcome us and make sure we had our bus and train tickets for our trip to Machu Picchu.

What can I say about Machu Picchu? It was a dream come true (especially for my mother who turns 81 next month) to experience Machu Picchu. Our guide, Darwin, was fun, enthusiastic and very good in showing us around. The citadel and surrounding area is an unforgettable sight, and our stay at the Sanctuary Lodge was so comfortable that my mother didn’t want to leave.

Milene, again, went the extra mile and had us get off the train in Poroy. The train would have taken another hour to get to Cuzco, but by driving us there it only took 20 minutes. She was also terrific in zipping us through the airport lines so that we didn’t have to wait for our Cuzco flight.

Thanks again to Yampu for making this trip so enjoyable!

P.S. Our prayers and thoughts are with the earthquake victims, their families and the people of Peru.

Roy & Karen

We had a wonderful time, and everything went really smoothly. We were especially impressed with the quality of the guides – are they all that good, or does Yampu have some special connections? Thanks for all of your help; we will definitely recommend Yampu to friends traveling to South America.

Warm regards,

Dr Sarah from London

We have returned from our Peruvian tour and want to thank you, personally, for working with us so diligently to put it all together. It was an amazing experience that none of us will ever forget. The people in Lima and Cuzco were wonderful. They were always prompt and attentive to our every wish. The whole trip went like clockwork.

We were especially impressed with the tour guides and drivers. Vanessa and José in Lima were so much fun to be with and knowledgeable, as well. Both Roberto, who met us at the airport and returned us at journey’s end, and Bruno, who rescheduled our plans on our return to Lima, were very helpful and kind.

And lastly, our guide and friend for life, David, and his driver, Jimmie, were incredible. They were with us for the tour of Cuzco, Saqsayhuaman ruins, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. David was a wealth of knowledge and made all of our destinations exciting, magical and fun. Jimmie was an expert behind the wheel and made every trip easy and comfortable. Carlos, who met us at the airport, kept us abreast on all of our day’s schedules, by calling and checking on us regularly. He was a real pro.

Again, thanks to you and all of the people mentioned above; it could not have been a better vacation for all of us. I would definitely recommend Yampu to anyone wishing to travel to Peru. You are the greatest!!

Marti

Wow, that was a wonderful trip. I am so glad you suggested Peru and especially the Inca Trail and the rain forest. Sorry for the delay in replying.

Overall, it was a very nice trip, and it was nice to have everything arranged by Yampu. The accomodation, itinerary, flights and the rest were great. It was really nice to go on an organized tour, and I have been recommending Peru and Yampu to a lot of friends here. Thank you very much for your help and also for remembering my birthday. It was really nice to be cutting a cake at that altitude on the trail!!

Smita
UK Client

We had a great time in Peru. All of the guides were wonderful, and all of our connections were made with ease. Your suggestion of taking the Andean Cuzco train was an excellent one—it was a great way to see the countryside!

Machu Picchu was everything I ever imagined it to be, and the floating islands in Lake Titicaca were a great surprise! Thanks to you and Yampu for all you did to make this possible. It was great to work with a company so flexible with dates, hotel choices and itinerary. We really got to have the trip we’d dreamed of for years!

Heidi

I returned to Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon. In the van back to the Lima airport to come home, I met another Yampu traveler, and we both agreed that our Peru experience with Yampu has been the best we have ever experienced with a travel agent!! My hat goes off to you, your company and all the people you interact with in Peru; all were beyond our expectations. Maybe we have come to expect horrible service because that’s what we so often get here in the U.S. but certainly not what we experienced at every location we went to in Peru.

Our Shaman made the experience even more spiritual and memorable than we could have hoped for. He is kind, knowledgeable, and very caring about his country and us, the travelers. I’m not sure if you heard, but my sister Rose became horribly ill with (what we believe) kidney stones when we were in Ollantaytambo and had to spend a couple of extra days there. From the moment I contacted Carlos early in the morning, he had a doctor at the hotel within a half hour and she received outstanding care from everyone involved. From Carlos and the doctor down to every member of the staff at the hotel, we were treated like we were royalty.

Throughout our trip, we were met by concerned, prompt members who made sure our trip was a memorable experience. I will no doubt recommend Yampu to everyone I know when they are thinking of travel plans. Thank you again; the trip was beyond my expectations and I look forward to when we are able to plan another adventure.
Katherine Duran

Katherine

Our trip to South America was absolutely WONDERFUL and we have you and Yampu to thank for that! Our travel guide in Cuzco, Melina, was the best. She was friendly, personable, professional and above all, helpful! We did not have to worry about a thing and all of our accommodations and tours were top rate! We were able to see Inti Raymi, which was so very beautiful, and we feel like we had enough down time between tours to explore a little on our own.

I’m happy we changed our itinerary to spend more time in Cuzco rather than Lima as we found Lima to be beautiful but more urban, which was not what we were interested in. However, our city tour of Lima was very special because our guide Millie made it so. We got along very well with her, as though we already knew her. We had philosophical discussions about politics and religion and found that very stimulating. We will definitely keep in touch with her!

Additionally, THANK YOU for the very special gift on our anniversary! It was unexpected to say the least but most delightful and appreciated. We can’t thank you enough for making our vacation such a magical experience and one we will never forget!

Art and Rita

Following up on my phone conversation with you, I just want to thank you for organizing and planning my two-week adventure. Everything went so smoothly; the transfers were courteous and on time, and the trip to the Napo Wildlife Center was exciting and also comfortable—the food and accommodations were great.

My guide in Quito, Alejandra, was very helpful and did a great job. The flights from Quito to Lima and within Peru were good, and check-in processes were handled well. All of the hotels were good and well-located, especially of course the Monasterio and Sanctuary Lodge. The guide at Machu Picchu, Darwin, was very knowledgeable. He has written a book on the place and explained the symbolic background of the ruins very well.

Again, I was very pleased on how smoothly everything went, given that this was a somewhat complicated itinerary. I would recommend Yampu to my friends and look forward to using your services to other destinations in South America.

Jeffrey

Thank you for following up to see how our trip was. I am just back to work today and was planning on e-mailing you. We had an amazing time. Really it was just the adventure that I was looking for. Thank you and your staff so much for being so organized and meticulous in the details of planning everything for us. Every aspect of the trip from my plane ride to transfers to the hotels to the feeling like we were so well taken care of on the Inca Trail, and in Cuzco and Lima, was great. You all made everything so easy for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I would recommend this trip to anyone and everyone.

The hiking part was tougher than I had expected mainly because of the altitude. Our guide, Cesar Calvo Nunez, was so great and patient with our group of five (we liked to joke around a lot) :) and he really knew his history and really seemed to enjoy telling us about it all! And the porters were amazing. Talk about the hardest job on the planet. They all were so hard working and great!! They earn every dollar they make. And the food presentation and quality was really quite amazing considering we were camping for several days.

I sincerely want to thank you all for this trip of a lifetime that I’ll never forget. Maybe I’ll do it all over again someday!

Best wishes to you and everyone at Yampu Travel!!

Susan

We’re back and thrilled! My husband, who was not really wanting to go to Peru but did so as a favor to me, THANKED me as we were returning home. Neither of us has ever had an experience as wonderful as the trip you arranged for us. And the services provided by your company—all the attentive tour guides and hotel staff, etc., pampered us and made us feel safe and welcome.

Surprisingly, the jungle extension, which Dan thought would be an uncomfortable experience, was his favorite! (and mine too). I hope your company is aware of just how knowledgeable and personable José, our Manu guide, is.

And José, our Lima driver, is also a gem. The same goes for all the staff at the Casa Andina hotels—they go out of their way to please their customers. (We’ve never before met a group of people as friendly and cordial as the many Peruvians we met. Living in New Jersey, we’re used to rudeness. It was a refreshing change. :-)

Anyway, we’ve been great free advertisement for you since our return. We’ve recommended your agency to many people. In fact, there is a couple from Philadelphia who say they will probably contact you or Angela in the near future, to seek information about a trip of their own.

Lastly, Dan hinted that he might consider a Galapagos tour with your agency. We probably wouldn’t go until 2009. (We’re still trying to physically recover from the Peru trip!) So keep us in mind. If you have any specials on Galapagos packages in the future, please let us know. Otherwise, you’ll hear from us again in the next 1–2 years, when we travel with you again!

Thank you for taking care of EVERYTHING and making this a worry-free and exciting experience.

Kathy

II would be remiss if I did not let you know how wonderful our trip to Peru was. Everything from beginning to end was first class. Each and every one of the staff was outstanding. The itinerary that you prepared was absolutely perfect. Every driver, staffperson and tour guide was always on time. Above and beyond helpful.

I was a little apprehensive since I had never used a travel agency before to plan a trip, but as soon as we landed I knew we were in good hands. Was met at the Lima airport by Roberto, who was so helpful. Our driver in Lima, José, we just loved that he was always early, we never waited on him, was so very helpful—just an outstanding person. When we went to the Lima airport to catch our flight to Cuzco, he never left while we were checking in, baggage, taxes, etc. he stayed until he knew we were ok and ready to board. The Park Hotel in Lima was just outstanding;I loved the staff there.

Met at Cuzco by your reps, Carlos and Milene. They were absolutely outstanding, they made sure we got checked into the Monasterio Hotel alright and Carlos went over the itinerary with us to make sure everything was in order. Our tour that afternoon by Jhanet was very well planned and very informative; she was so interesting and just a delight.
Next morning, Milene was there bright and early to take us to the train for Machu Picchu. She stayed with us until she was sure we would be boarding the train. Wish I had gotten the name of the Cuzco driver, but he too was just wonderful. Staff on the PeruRail was as well wonderful. Great way to travel to Machu Picchu, get a chance to see all of the countryside and mountains.

We were met immediately by the hotel staff for the Sanctuary Lodge, and they retrieved our luggage. Also waiting for us was our Machu Picchu guide, Armando. Again we were never waiting for anyone. Boarded bus immediately for the trip up the mountain. Armando’s tour was very informative and very inspiring. He is very passionate about the history of Machu Picchu.

Enjoyed our stay at the Sanctuary Lodge, which gave us a chance to be up early without riding the bus up to experience the sunrise at that magical place Machu Picchu. After our second full day experiencing all of the wonders and magic of Machu Picchu, we headed back down and checked into the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Hotel. Oh my gosh, that place is a piece of heaven on earth. The surroundings are unbelievable and so peaceful. Great staff there as well, and wonderful accommodations. Truly did not want to leave that place.

Back to PeruRail for trip back to Cuzco. Was so much fun on train heading back, because staff on each car did a show. First there was a dance with staff in costume of Cuzco/Peru. It was so much fun, and passengers had a great time watching them. Then there was the fashion show, with all of the beautiful Peruvian Alpaca wools. Was great fun. Loved that staff, Rubin, Helen and David.

Again Milene was there to meet us with our driver to take us back to the Monasterio Hotel. She is just a delight, we just loved her so, she was so caring, we just knew we were in very good hands. Had an awesome room service meal in hotel that night, just worn out, boy that was a 5-star meal served in our room. Early pick up again with Milene of course she was there to make sure we got check out and got us to Cuzco airport and never left our side until she knew we could board.

José was of course there to meet our flight from Cuzco to Lima and got us to our hotel. Had a great tour of the city with a guide by the name of Rosario. She was great fun and very informative. We really enjoyed her. Next day, José took us to the Indian Shopping Mart and had a great time just shopping, picking up souvenirs. José got us back to the hotel, where we toured around the ocean coast. Last day, José picked us up promptly at 4 am to take us back to the Lima hotel, and again he never left our side, until he knew we could board.

Sorry that I have rambled a little here, but didn’t want to leave anyone out. They were all so spectacular and made us feel so special. That made our trip just absolutely wonderful. Thank you and all of the Yampu staff for planning such a great trip for us. I know there are others I do not know who helped in all of the planning, so hope you can share our e-mail and let everyone involved know how much we appreciated all of their efforts. There are just no words, but again to simply say THANK YOU.

PS—can’t wait to go back again!!!!

Richard & Chris

Sorry for the late response. I appreciate you checking up :). We had a fabulous time in Peru. It was more than I had hoped for. I cried when we reached Machu Picchu….okay, maybe there was some tiredness in there (hee, hee). The porters, guide, hotel, transportation, etc. all went so smoothly. I applaud the entire staff throughout for making the trip such a success.

My traveling partner is interested in further treks in Peru, mainly alpine climbing tours if available. I told him to check your website. Thanks a million for all that you’ve done for us.

Marinette

The trip you arranged was memorable. Everything went like clockwork, and Peru could only be described as spectacular. Thank you so much for all of your help. We would be delighted for you to use us as a reference or post our comments online. We could not have been more satisfied with the planning and implementation of the trip.
My wife and I returned several days ago from a trip to Peru arranged by Yampu Tours. The trip encompassed Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley, and included the following hotels: JW Marriott, Monasterio, Sanctuary Lodge, Sol y Luna, Novotel, and Miraflores Park. All details arranged for the trip were carried out to perfection—when a guide or transport person was scheduled to pick us up at X time, he or she appeared exactly at X time. Moreover, those servers were uniformly knowledgeable, responsive, and, forgive me for the cliche, “very nice people.” Neither my wife nor I speak Spanish (not a trace), but we encountered no problems whatsoever. We loved Peruvian food and cooking (and ate too much), yet encountered no digestive difficulties. We did, however, drink nothing but bottled water, and used that bottled water for all aspects of teeth-cleaning. All the listed hotels provided ample amounts of bottled water without additional cost. We did eat many fruits (peeled) and vegetables (cooked), and they were generally delicious, so I would expect a vegetarian to be satisfied. As I recall, perhaps the top restaurant in Lima (perhaps Peru), which we thoroughly enjoyed, has vegetarian options. That’s Astrid y Gaston. In summary, for those considering tour companies to South America, Yampu did a superb job in arranging our trip, using our specific choices rather than tour package sequences in putting it together. We could not recommend a company more highly.

Arnold and Virginia

I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you but things have been crazy since I got back. The trip you booked for us was perfect! Other travelers that we met along the way were amazed that you were able to get us into the Sanctuary Lodge. All of the guides that were sent to help us were so nice and helpful, especially the woman in Cuzco. All of the tours that you booked for us were well put together, and the guides were all polite and well educated about the areas and the culture.

Bill and I have been inspired to take more trips like this in the future, so from time to time I would appreciate it if you could send me some info on other destinations. Thank you!

Kristie

Just a quick e-mail to say thank you very much yet again for your wonderful service. I just wanted to let you know that my now-husband and I had a fantastic trip around South America and it’s all due to you. Everything that you arranged went smoothly, and there was not one problem at all.

I have to say after booking the trip about six months in advance, we did wonder whether we would be remembered at our first transfer, but we were and were greeted by all with wonderful smiling happy faces and if you have a moment I would appreciate you passing our thanks on to those agencies too.

South America was a breeze due to you, and we had not one worry at all. The activities were brilliant. If we ever return to South America at all we will be sure to contact you. If you have any other countries you deal with, please let me know as I would gladly come back.

Thank you once again for everything.

Lesa and Simon from Australia

The trip to South America was awesome. Yampu did a fabulous job with all the arrangements. From Iguazu Falls to Buenos Aires to Lima and Cuzo to Machu Pichu, we were treated so great. The guides and rides were wonderful. The lodging was great. The food was superb. We had so much fun. It was the trip of a lifetime. Our son finished his two years in South America with a bang. It is great to have him home.

Jeff

I never took the time to thank you for the wonderful arrangements made by you and your team at Yampu for a trip we made in late January of this year to Peru and Bolivia. I cannot really convey in a few sentences how satisfied we were with your services. We had never used a travel company before this trip. Considering the fact that we were traveling to third-world countries where life simply is not the same as here in the U.S., we were wonderfully surprised at the smoothness of all of our travel. We attribute this to your choice of tour guides and accommodations chosen in those countries.

I thought of you and Yampu recently because we are planning to travel to southern Spain next year, but unfortunately for us you don’t service Spain! Some day we plan to travel to Chile and Argentina, and hope to make use of your services again.

Thanks again for such great travel arrangements.

Karen and Stephen

Sorry for not getting back to you earlier; we’ve been so very busy since arriving back from our trip.

Our trip to Peru was absolutely perfect! We can’t say enough about the excellent service, flexibility in meeting our needs, last-minute changes and personal considerations we’ve received from Yampu. The people we dealt with throughout our journey, were extremely professional and caring.

Our cousins from Italy were also very impressed with the high level of service and planning that went into our trip. We want to thank Carlos Terrazas from Cusco in particular. He was able to provide an Italian-speaking guide at the last minute – a request our cousins made the night before our tour in Cusco was to begin. All the guides made special efforts in communicating in Italian with our cousins, which Davide and Maria were very grateful. We also wish to mention the care and understanding Alfredo in Puno showed us when Davide became ill due to the high altitude (he felt better within 24 hours). Alfredo called a doctor and made sure our needs were met. He also had to make special tour re-arrangements for our cousins while in Puno. All in all, he made us feel safe and comfortable during our stay.

I can’t say enough about how pleased we all were. We will certainly call on Yampu again to organize other trips we plan to make to South America in the not too distant future. We truly appreciated everything Yampu was able to do to make our vacation a memorable one.

Thank you again for a marvelous trip and wish you well in your future endeavours.

Diletta and Lucio

By all means feel free to give our names. I have already recommended you to 2 friends and acquaintances. The hotels were not only comfortable and typical of Peru but they were very good value. The properties were extremely well maintained, very typical, service was excellent and staff was friendly. This includes Girasoles in Lima (by the way, Miraflores is the district to be when in Lima), Casa Andina in Cuzco (superb), San Augustin in Urubamba and of course the Sanctuary Lodge – not many superlatives left to describe this property! We loved it and I would urge all visitors to Machu Picchu to stay there rather than in Aguas Calientes.

The local guides in Peru were also outstanding, courteous and friendly and professional. The transfers were all on time and the vehicles were clean and safe. The guides were great, well informed and spoke very good English.

Thanks again – I hope this helps.

Tony

Hi Jose,
First, I again want to tell you that we had a great time in Peru. Your Country is beautiful and the people were all very friendly and helpful. The Monasterio and Macchu Picchu were outstanding.

Now that Cheryl is back from her latest trip, we will be planning our 2007 family vacation to Argentina. Only one rule, no more jungles.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday season. Thanks for all you help planning our South American vacations. We will be back to you soon.

George, Sheila and Cheryl

Our trip to Peru was wonderful, the services was more than what I expected. I would definitely recommend Kon Tiki to my friends or travel again with Kon Tiki!!!

I could be a reference for Kon Tiki or you could use my comments for your web site because I`m truly and very satisfied with the services that I received from you guys. And I`m thinking about travelling again with Yampu in the near future in Brasil, Argentina, chili…

Anh Tuan

Sorry it has taken so long to reply, I have been extremely busy and have to admit that I just forgot about you. We had a great time (a real adventure that we will always remember). The hotels, agents / contacts, and arrangements were excellent, we did not have any problems. The Inca Trail was top notch. The guides were knowledgeable, the food was superb, and camping gear was clean / well kept. Regards,

Don

Oh, Chris! Our trip was amazing! You did the most wonderful, fantastic, incredible job of planning this for us. The tours, guides, hotels and everything were perfect! I will tell anyone and everyone I ever hear of who wants to go to Peru to contact you. Thank you so, SO much. Attached is a photo of us in Machu Picchu. Please feel free to use this as a testimonial.

Sincerely,

Don and Lyn

Just wanted to send a quick note that Jim and I had a wonderful time in Peru…in fact, we got engaged there! :) The Yampu guides and staff were incredibly helpful and the Cuzco team in particular were very kind to us.

Erin
Thank you!!!

Erin

We had a great trip and were happy with the service provided by Yampu. You can use my name as a reference. I have traveled to over 30 countries and your travel company made our trip to Peru, Argentina and Brazil one of the best and hassle free.

Ed

We just got back from our dream vacation to Peru, Argentina and Brazil. Everything was perfect! Your suggestions as well as your attention to every detail made this a most memorable vacation. Even the weather worked out well. I can’t think of anything that I would change if I had to plan the trip again. The hotels were beautiful as well as very accomodating. I must make special mention of a few of the guides that were delighted to have- Alejandro Epstein in Buenos Aires as well as Tamara Levenson in Uruguay. They are experts in their fields and were able to give us real insight – adding to the overall experience. I would highly recommend your services to anyone
who is planning a trip there. Once I get my pictures sorted I will forward a few to you.
Once again – Gracias
With best wishes,
Vivie Golubtchik

Vivie

We have returned from an amazing adventure and a marvelous time in Peru. We want to thank you for the super job all of you at Yampu did in organizing everything. It could not have been better and we sincerely appreciate the professional job you all did. We will recommend you for sure.
Our best,

Jan and Rick

We had a great time in South America. Almost everything was perfect. Unfortunately there was a landslide just past the Sun Gate along the Inca Trail, so we hiked a very long day on the third day down to Aquas Calientes and stayed in a hostel and then had to take the bus up to Machu Pichu to watch the sunrise. It was disappointing, but there is nothing you can do about Mother Nature.
We loved the train ride from Cusco to Puno. It was the most beautiful day of scenery we have ever seen. Thanks for recommending we take that train….it was well worth it. We also LOVED the Posada Del Inca on the Sun Island. We wish we would have stayed for 2 nights!

Thanks again for your help. We won’t hesitate using Yampu in the future and recommending your services to our friends.

Karen

We just got back from our trip to Peru, Argentina and Brazil. I do not know what to say. How should I thank you guys for such a pleasant and beautiful trip? I found Yampu on-line completely by chance, never knew how great it turn out to be. The trip was excellent. My husband and I travel a lot, but this trip was something else. Machu Picchu and Iguazu cannot be described in words. We enjoyed every second of this trip. Your organization was excellent. You hotels and agents were great. I recommended you to all my friends here in California. Thanks again and look forward to work with you again in the future.

Saba

Hi Jose,

Just to let you know myself & Kiran had a great time in South America, we didn’t want to come home! The whole trip ran smoothly and we were impressed with Yampu, we especially thought Yampu in Peru was excellent.
Unfortunately the weather was not that good but we had a great time anyway. Thanks for everything

Sarah

Hi Jose

We have returned safely from our trip and I’d like to thank you for all you did.
It was absolutely fantastic. The trip of a lifetime. The Inca Trail trek was very difficult but very rewarding. We loved Peru and would surely like to return some day.
Kon Tiki did a wonderful job of co-ordinating this whole trip. Your choice people was superb, top notch, We would recommend your services in a heartbeat. Please extend my sincere thanks to all those on your staff
that were involved.
Karen and I are trying to start a Tour business here in Canada and we have learned a great deal by taking this trip.

Eric and Karen

Dear Kathryn, Jose, Cindy and Chris,

I just wanted to tell you thanks for all the work ya’ll did to put together a perfect vacation package together for me not once but twice. Everything was superb in Peru, Argentina and Chile. It was just as I expected and more. I will recommend to anyone that they experience a vacation tour with ya’ll. If you want me to go into any details I can burn your ears for hours but thought I would just let you know that You all did a fabulous job and that the guides and workers there did a really great job to keep us happy. I want to especially commend Ivan
on the Jungle portion of our tour He is an exceptional young man and treated everyone with equal interest and concern. I loved him. Isabella in Buenos Aires was a brief encounter but she took very very good care of us. Thanks
for all our wonderful memories. P.S. The food was awesome especially in Peru. That was my favorite.

Geralyn

My husband and I have just returned from our fabulous trip to Ecuador and Peru. We wanted to thank you for the excellent itinerary, services and guides that your agency provided for us. Everything went so smoothly. We loved both countries and their people. We certainly will recommend your agency to friends in the future.

We wanted to mention our guides personally. In Ecuador, Desiree Vinueza and her husband Mauricio Cordova were wonderful. Their English was excellent and they were very knowledgeable about all aspects of Ecuador and our travel stops. Spending eight days with someone you’ve never met could be a difficult experience, but not with Desiree and Mauricio. We felt very quickly that we were traveling with friends. When we think of Ecuador, we will always think of them.

In Cusco and Machu Pichu, Edwin Medina was a wonderful guide. He, too, was very knowledgeable about this very historic region and he spoke very good English. When we wanted to make an itinerary change and attend the Virgen of Carmen festival in Pisaq, he made the arrangements with Carlos and was very amenable to the change. We also want to mention that Carlos and Henry also provided us with excellent service while in this area.
In fact, we had the opportunity to meet Carlos at the Virgen del Carmen festival in Pisaq!

We only spent a short time with Alfredo Rombro in Lake Titicaca, but we were very impressed with him. He took us to this excellent out of the way restaurant on Tequile Island that we thoroughly enjoyed. Moreover, the day we flew out of Juliaca, there was a strike. When we arrived at the airport, we found that the flight was delayed. Alfredo remained at the airport with us until he was sure the flight would arrive. This was very reassuring for us because I would not have wanted to navigate back through Juliaca alone if the flight had canceled! The strikers there seemed to take things very seriously! My husband highly recommends given all the guides and personel a raise!!
We were thoroughly impressed by all your people here in the U.S. and in Ecuador and Peru.

Again, let me say that our trip was fantastic. We really like South America and hope to travel to Brazil and Argentina, as well as return to see the Galapagos Islands. We will contact your agency when we are ready to make more travel plans in the future.

Bravo to you all!!

Jean and Michael
Scottsdale, Arizona

Jose:

We’re back from our trip to Peru and Chile— everything went great, without a hitch. This was certainly a trip that we’ll always remember.
Regards,

Tom Van Laan, PE
President

Tom

Jose and the rest of the team.
I arrived safely back in the UK Saturday Morning at 6.30 AM. I would like to express my thanks and congratulations to organising a most fantastic trip to South America. Everything from beginning to end was fantastic. Every city, every trip, the people, the culture, the food need I go on?

Whilst you had nothing to do with the beautiful scenery and wonders of these countries and their people you did organise my travel and that was perfect. Everything went without a hitch which was a wonder given that I did so much. There was always someone to meet me and I always felt safe, a very important thing to a woman travelling alone.

I found it was the right balance of travelling and days of leisure. I do not tire of travelling so that was fine.I was always picked up on time. Hotels were good. Some better than others but all clean tidy and suited my purpose. The Amazon was amazing, wish I had longer. Machu Picchu everything I had dreamed. Everything was great, everyday something different and a new wonder to see. I cannot say which was my favourite bit as it all was special.

Watching the people in the cities, the countryside in the mountains was all an experience I will never forget. A very big thank you for the perfect trip. The only down side was I had to come home.A very big thank you for the perfect trip. The only down side was I had to come home.

Regards and many thanks

Janet

Janet
Swindon, UK

We took the Peruvian Treasures Tour in mid-February and we were very pleased. We expected some of the prettiest scenery in the world and we weren’t disappointed. Although we underestimated the differences between what we are accustomed to and a third world country, we found the Peruvian people to be warm, caring, and honest. Lima was an unexpected pleasure do in a large part to our guide, Roberto and our driver, Oscar. Our whole trip was well organized and ran right on schedule. Even though we felt that we took a chance by booking online with a company that we weren’t familiar with, we were very pleased and will highly recommend Yampu Travel to others.
We were very pleased with Yampu Travel and very impressed with your homeland. Best wishes for your continued success because Yampu travel is doing a great service to both our countries by helping us American travelers experience Peru.

Ed, Nancy, & Staic, PA

We just returned from our Peru trip and want to thank you for all that you did to make it a wonderful trip. It was all that we hoped for and more. We will start to write about it and put it on our website in the very near future. We would recommend your agency to anyone who is considering a trip to South America.
After traveling with your company we know that we definitely would never want to travel with a large group again. We had become reluctant to travel on our own due to Tom’s medical problems and concerns about being vulnerable in strange places. However our trip to Peru was the perfect way for us to travel. Where arrangements were made for us for transportation, tours, hotels, but we could explore alone and have more autonomy.

We now have the trip on the Internet. You can access the travelogue either from our homepage at marieandtom.com or go directly to the Peru page at http://www.biz2web.com/grant/Peru.htm. Hope you enjoy reading it.

Thanks again for all your help in making our Peru trip a peak travel experience.

Tom and Marie

Tom and Marie

The trip (to Ecuador and Peru) was really over the top – so much more than was anticipated. We enjoyed the market at Otavalo and took quite a few pictures. After going to the other markets, we thought that it was the best as far as merchandise and colorful costumes went. As you know, we stayed at the Hacienda Pinsaqui and enjoyed ourselves at a welcome cocktail party with 23 Italian tourists.

The Beluga was very comfortable and we can’t say enough about the staff. They were all from Ecuador and so proud of being able to help their visitors enjoy the trip. The Galapagos Islands are a wonderful destination and I can’t imagine someone not being thrilled to be there and learning what is being done. There were a total of 15 guests on the boat – six Brits, a family of four, two Americans, one German girl. All were easy-going and compatible with everyone else.

We flew to Guayaquil and had a great tour and wonderful dinner at a restaurant that the guide recommended. We went to the airport for our flight to Lima but it was delayed for a couple of hours. We finally arrived in Lima at 2:30 AM and there was our guide at the airport to meet us. Since our flight was leaving Lima airport at 7:30 AM, we decided to just stay there and not go to the Pardo Hotel.
Our flight arrived in Cuzco and we were taken to the wonderful Monasterio Hotel. This is probably one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in.

We went to the Sacred Valley and after overnighting there, took the surprising modern train to Machu Picchu. What a fun time that turned out to be!

Machu Picchu and the Sanctuary Lodge were both one of the highlights of the whole trip. Can’t figure out how people can just go there for a few hours and take the bus back down to Aguas Calietes.

Back to the Monasterio for two nights and we were upgraded to one of the Royal Suites. The trip really got better and better. Enjoyed the tours from Cuzco and when we went back to the airport to go to Lima, we found out our airline – Aero Continental had gone on strike. There were three people from Peru Vacations trying to get us on another airline. They worked at it for about three hours and finally we were able to go on one of the other airlines. If we had been there by ourselves, we would have still been trying to get to Lima.

All the people that were involved with meeting us were there. What impressed us was that the communication between each office was excellent. Everyone knew what we were supposed to be doing.
When we filled out the questionnaire asking for a rating of services, locations, etc., etc., we marked everything excellent which is truly a first for us.

Thanks for making all this happen. It was really such a complicated itinerary but both you and Jose made it all work.

Your efforts are very much acknowledged and appreciated.

Kathy & Frank

Thank you for a wonderful package for our Peru vacation. I now know that the trust I placed in Yampu Latin America Tours was well rewarded. Our trip was fantastic — the guides and drivers at each location were wonderful, the hotels comfortable and with outstanding service, and the tours both interesting and well executed. Worthy of special mention were Roberto and Oscar in Lima, and Rachael in Cusco. We felt these people really went out of their way to ensure we had an excellent experience. While we are not typically “package/group tour” travelers, we
found your arrangements to provide an excellent balance of package/group services along with the freedom to explore our own agenda. It made
exploring an unknown country a manageable and enjoyable event.Please feel free to quote me and/or use me as a reference in the future, as I was very impressed with the value and quality of your services. Again, thanks for providing us with a wonderful package. You may be certain that I will look to you for future South American adventures.

Eric and Diane, IL