My mom and I had a wonderful time during our trip to Chile! It truly was an amazing experience and we are so thankful for you and your co-workers for helping to organize such an exciting vacation for us. During our stay in Santiago, we stayed at the Casa Bonita, and I was excited that you were able to reserve this hotel for us even though it isn’t one of the places you typically book with. This hotel was in a perfect location and it was a beautiful. We really enjoyed our time there. As for the Santiago area tours, they were absolutely fantastic! Our city tour had only 2 other tourists and our trip to Vina del Mar and Valpraiso ended up being a private tour. We really appreciated the small tour group size. It was so nice to be able to really talk to the tour guide and learn more about the area. For the private tour, it was nice to be able to cater our experience to exactly what we wanted. This was particularly nice as my mom is from Chile and used to live in these areas, so she really appreciated being able to take our time at some stops on the tour and spend less time at others that didn’t interest us as much. In terms of airport transfers at Santiago, these all went off without a hitch. They were always on time and it really took a lot of the hassle out of traveling to know that we could count on them for all of our transportation.

During our stay in the Atacama we had an amazing time. We stayed in the Hotel Poblado Kimal, which I think is the most beautiful hotel in all of San Pedro de Atacama. We were so excited to stay in our own adobe cabins and have nothing but good things to say about this hotel. Again, this was something we found on our own and is not one of your established hotels, so we were grateful that you were still able to book it for us. The tour group size here was larger than in Santiago but still much smaller than most of the other tour companies there. We really appreciated the smaller group size, as it makes for a more personal experience. The tour guides were all so knowledgeable and well educated- I don’t think we have ever learned so much on a tour before! The staff was also very helpful, even going out of their way to arrange a horseback riding tour for us with another company since their company does not offer these tours. Also, you had arranged a star-gazing tour for us upon our request and we were so excited about that part of the trip. It was truly a unique experience and we were happy that you were able to book it for us. Lastly, the airport transfers in San Pedro were on time and very convenient for us.

My mom and I were so happy with the trip and it was truly the vacation of a lifetime for us. We will definitely tell our friends about Yampu and use your company again for future international vacations. Thank you again for everything.

Carolyn

Thanks for checking in. Overall, the trip was good. We really enjoyed the first two days in Santiago, Casblanca Valley and Valparaiso. Our guide Bolina was very friendly and helpful. The Matetic Vineyard is well worth the visit. We really enjoyed the wine tour and the chance to visit Valparaiso. Torres del Paine was also very enjoyable. The accommodations were very good. The meals were okay. Our final half-day in Puerto Montte, the guide there, Jamie was also very knowledgeable and helpful.

The other tours were not as good – I think part of the problem is that we were not expecting bilingual tours. A lot of times, the English was not kept as well because the guide was more comfortable in Spanish. While the scenery was lovely in Puella, there were swarms of tabanos (horse flies) that just hatched, which detracted from the overall beauty of the area. It wasn’t until later on our last day with Jamie that we found out a little bit more about the environment and tabanos.

The tour to Chiloe Island was also slightly disappointing. Because of ferry delays and traffic, a lot of our stops were 10-15 min long and then bus rides ranging from 30-45 min on the island. However, the resort/lunch stop at Quilquico was unexpectedly very serene and lovely. It was bit out of the way, but the lunch was delicious.

There were a lot of connections since we were traveling up and down Chile quite a bit. It was good to have someone meet us at the airport to help us get to our next destination.

Elizabeth

I must tell you that our holiday was supremely brilliant. Yampu’s organization of all aspects (even the weather) was excellent. The guides and drivers provided were obviously totally dedicated and choice of accommodation was faultless. I would especially like to commend our driver guide Guido. His general knowledge and interest in botany and geology combined with his enthusiasm of the Patagonian culture resulted in an enjoyable, challenging and informative journey.

After three weeks away I was thinking we should go home as nothing more could compete with what we had already seen and done BUT then we went to Terra Luna Lodge! The marble caves on the way in, the actual location of the lodge, the accommodation/food and the excursions we went on and the friendly staff all combined to make this the “icing on the cake”

We certainly would like to return to South America at some stage. In all my travels I have never experienced such honest hospitality.

Thank you for your team’s time and energy. You certainly provide an excellent service and I have no hesitation in referring my friends to a holiday in Patagonia organized by Yampu

Luise and Anita (clients from Australia)

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

Wanted to tell you the trip topography, geology, and site for us were absolutely amazing!!! Great adventure. We really enjoyed the treat with Easter Island in the midst! The stars in the southern hemisphere were totally awesome on Easter Island. The Hotel Otai was perfect!
San Pedro is very windy and dusty for sure and the excursions were strenuous. Mom had a hard time with the treks . Lots of hiking for distances and up and down steep terrain, Mom had a hard time with this for sure. I guess I did not consider this part for her..

The Hosteria San Perdro was OK. No hot or warm water for 2 days, and we had to switch rooms to even get warm water, so a little draw back here. They were nice and accomadating, but the hotel seem to lose the warm/hot water often. The advantage of the hotel is that it was in walking distance to mainstreet.!!!! The excursions were very interesting, the information from the guides was breif, mosly spoke spanish, then they would speak partly in English.
LAN airlines continued to throw curve balls. The flight from San Pedro was
The Santiago guide and tours were the most informative and professional knew the most on the history and spoke very good English. Overall the trip was great, I think if we knew more Spanish we could have learned more of the history.

Group Family

We had a great time — thank you so much for your help. Everything was very well organized and the local tour companies provided excellent services. Our favorite part of the trip was the Andean lake crossing — what a phenomenal experience. We were lucky to have great weather and loved the accommodations in Bariloche and Puerto Varas. We also really enjoyed the day trips to Chiloe and Valparaiso/Vina del Mar. The tour guides were especially informative on those outings. Additionally, we had two great day-trips with Regina from Turavion in Chile — the Santiago city tour and then a vineyard tour (which we decided to add on our last day). She took great care of us!

There were only a few glitches I can report. In Buenos Aires, the local tour company had our flight-time to Bariloche wrong on the itinerary, so we had to call and straighten that out for the correct airport pick-up time. We also missed the van to the tango show one evening, but were able to get a cab and then take the van back to Hotel Madero (great hotel).

The one disappointment was the location of the Santiago hotel — the Radisson Petra la Dehesa. It was beautiful hotel with great service and amenities, but the location was so far away from the city center and any of the main tourist spots. I think for first time visitors to Santiago, a more central hotel location would be preferable.

We would also suggest one extra leisure day in Bariloche. It was such a beautiful location and the hotel was wonderful, we were sorry to be there only one night!

Justin and I would definitely use Yampu again to book future South America trips. We felt like we maximized our time in Chile/Argentina and saw varied terrain: both city and countryside. All in all, a wonderful trip!

Kristen

I had a truly fantastic time in Chile and Argentina. The trip went like a dream with absolutely no hitches. I had been promising myself this trip to Patagonia for some years and am happy to report that it has exceeded all my expectations. Thanks for putting together a great itinerary for me and taking the hard work out of planning my vacation.

I will be in touch to seek your help planning my next trip to South America whenever that may be.

Andy

Our trip to Easter Island was fantastic… well our whole experience in Chile was great but this was the highlight.

Our guide “Yoyo” was an expert and shared many aspects of his culture along with the fascinating history of the island. We saw a show, many activities during the festival, and got to meet the wonderful people of the island. The hotel was so close to all the activities and we really appreciate your efforts of getting us into the hotel. Yoyo arranged our excursions to best benefit our learning experience.

We also appreciate your emails and updates during the trip to let us know when things would happen.

We hope to contact you for further excursions to South America… we are most interested in Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

Linda and Geoff

I appreciate your e-mail and also the letter that you sent after my holiday. It all seems so long ago but it was a fantastic holiday and everything went smoothly. I met a lot of interesting fellow travelers, the hotels were great, the sights spectacular, the guides were tremendous and the weather was very kind to me (except in the Atacama where we were treated to a violent thunderstorm…..so much for being one of the driest places on earth!). I can’t thank you and your team enough for making it a holiday to remember.

I have attached a few photos of Robinson Crusoe Island for you. The Island is still recovering from the devastating Tsunami last year and I was astounded to find out on my arrival on the Island that the Crusoe Island Hotel had only reopened that day! I was met on the quayside by the manager, and driven up quite an intimidating track to the Hotel and on arrival told that I was the only guest. Not often that one has a Hotel all to ones’ self. The Manager, Michel-Angelo, and his family, could not do enough for me, I was treated like Royalty.

All in all a mind boggling experience that has satisfied a lot of my ‘things to do before you …’:-) I intend to return to Chile and will be in touch with Yampu again after my satisfying experience on this holiday.

**client’s photos of Crusoe Island can be seen on Yampu’s Facebook page.

Clive

Iris and I enjoyed our trip immensely. The cities were very interesting and the scenery in the countryside was spectacular. The tango club and the wine tasting were highlights of Buenos Aires. By the way, I can’t say enough about the BA Four Seasons; the staff was really exemplary and the location was great for our own walking tours. We learned how fortunate we were to have good weather for the lake crossing, since it apparently rains or is cloudy much of the time, even in summer.

The hotels were all first-rate; the Puerto Varas hotel is really a gem and we were sorry we were only there for a few hours.

I would note one thing that was a surprise: when we arrived in each location, we were provided the paperwork (vouchers) for that location only, and at each pass off the guide professed no knowledge of our next steps. In fact, everything went fine but I hadn’t expected that and consequently was a little (but only a little) apprehensive. I probably would have felt more comfortable if I’d known what to expect ahead of time. The only mess-up occurred in Bariloche. The tour company left a message the night before that they’d pick us up to take us to the boat for the first leg of the lake crossing at 8 am, and by 8:30 no one had shown. Fortunately the Llao Llao hotel is very close and they offered to take us, so we didn’t miss the boat and no harm was done. The guides were all very friendly and also flexible so Iris and I were able to see some museums that we had read about but weren’t on the tour. One example is the Funk museum in Valparaiso which was extremely interesting.

We met some very interesting and very pleasant people on the trip and that is always a highlight. The only problem with the trip was there are now quite a few places that we need to go back to see.

Iris and Tom

The trip was great! I loved it down there!! All of the details were great and perfect. I especially loved taht all of the tours were very personal, with no more than 10 people in one, sometimes just 2-3 other people. The guides were great! The scenery in Chile was amazing, I am still uploading my pictures and I promise to send you a few! Thank you for all your help and planning for this trip, I loved it!

Marissa

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

I had an amazing experience in Chile thanks to recommendations from Yampu on locations to go to and time allocated to each destination. It combined both the cultural aspect as well as adventure excursions to breathtaking destinations eg Atacama Desert and Patagonia. The logistics for travel and hotels went without a glitch, thanks to great planning from Yampu, including responding to last minute changes. I will definitely recommend any potential to tourists to visit Chile through Yampu. “

Will definitely recommend Yampu to my friends / colleagues here in Asia, when they travel to South America.

Ernest, Hong Kong

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

We just arrived in Philadelphia – always hard to come home after a spectacular trip. Everything worked out very well. While we are glad we visited Bariloche we would not however go back as we think it is very overdeveloped and overrated and also pricey.

We were in Chile 4 years ago and things have really changed (e.g., the quality of food for example is so much higher than before) so in comparison to Argentina which is really struggling – you could tell there are stark differences between the countries.

We loved Hotel de Los Volcanoes and Puerto Varas and we also loved Hotel Natura in Peulla – as we were extremely lucky – not one drop of rain and only sunshine the entire time and everywhere we went – Peulla was beautiful. We understand in the rain it is difficult to be there but we were indeed lucky. We can’t wait to go back and next time we will go in Chile’s summer so we can visit S. Patagonia – so stay tuned!.

Thanks again for a successful trip. It was extremely helpful to know that we could call or e-mail you at any time if we had any difficulties.

Laura, Ph.D.

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

Sorry about the delay in letting you know about the great trip you put together for us. Our trip went extremely well – all connections worked and the weather cooperated by giving us 18 consecutive days with sunshine (see some of our enclosed pictures! If I had to select three highlights (which is very difficult due to the great experience we had at each of the locations on our trip), I’d say the Lake District, the glacier cruise and Iguazu Falls stand out. We did note that folks in Santiago were very much aware of the fact that they’re living in earthquake country (as are we in California!) so we were sorry to see the devastation the latest quake caused. I hope you didn’t have too many clients in the immediate area during the quake. The Wrights join me in thanking you also for helping us put together this great itinerary.

Klaus and Erika

We only returned to Paris yesterday since we stayed a few more days in Buenos Aires after the trip to Iguazu you organized for us. For your information: Tierra Atacama was extremely enjoyable, almost perfect. The hotel was very good, the staff exceptionally helpful, the excursions well organized, the guides very competent. Iguazu was also very good, a level below however. The Amerian Portal was beautiful, very well situated and comfortable, the excursions were convenient

S.Levy from Paris

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)

The visit was very good. The hotel was great and the tours informative. We found out and saw everything we went to see and hear. Our tours were finished before we found out that we would have to come home a day early.
Thanks

Dave

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

Janet

We are home after a fantastic trip. We will be in touch in greater detail before too long, but I just wanted to respond to your message. We so appreciate all that you all did for us – your flexibility before our departure as well as your quick response after we were diverted to Cancun. We will certainly recommend you all to everyone who will listen!

Denise
Moss Beach, CA

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

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

Our trip was lots of fun and everything went well. All of our tour guides were very informative, helpful and made us feel very welcome. This was the best vacation that we have been on and hope to get back again sometime. I’ll be in touch when we are ready to go again or if I know of someone interested in going to South America.
Thank you so much.

Ryan
Toronto, ON

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

Our holiday went very well indeed – we loved every minute of it! That’s why we went back to Yampu. : ) The Explora lodges in Atacama and Torres del Paine in particular are both standouts – the service was fantastic, the lodges themselves superb and the guides are amazing. Have never met a bunch of people so passionate about and eager to show off their environment. We learnt a lot.

Elaine and Eu Han
Third time repeat clients from Hong Kong

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 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

I returned home from my visit to South America last night. It was perhaps the most fabulous trip I have taken, especially the Australis Cruise. I had no idea the accommodations would be as nice as they were which made the trip that much nicer. We had requested simple and unique and that is exactly what we got. It was also a good value too. It seemed as though your team worked hard at keeping all of our desires in mind while planning the trip. I appreciate all of the work your team went into to set up all of our excursions and guides. Everyone was where they should be at the designated time which gave an added sense of security to the trip.

Again, it was a wonderful trip and if I ever go to South America again I will use your company and recommend you to others who plan to travel there.

Elizabeth
Colorado Springs, CO

Thank you. Home and well. I’m holding on to the peaceful moments. Both countries were incredible. I must say I fell in love with Chile. I wasn’t expecting that but the people, history, culture and the open air were all breathtaking. I really enjoyed Torres Del Paine National Park. The hiking was great and the entire park is exactly how it should be. I really got excited on the Mare Australis cruise. What a spectacular opportunity. I’m so glad I stumbled upon your website and found out about this one of a kind trip. The food was delicious, the staff was super friendly, and the excursions were way more that I expected. We saw so many birds, penguins, and even a few dolphins. Thank you for setting up a very safe and organized trip. It was worth every penny and then some. Can’t wait to book my next trip.
Sincerely,

Nicole
Stamford, CT

Back to the USA from a fantastic trip to Antarctica, Easter Island and Lake Titicaca. Thank you for all you did to make this trip work so smoothly for us. You may use me as a reference…a very happy, repeat
customer.

Tom and Kaye

An excellent and memorable holiday!

The Skorpios II cruise was excellent – the weather not brilliant, but it was a very professional and friendly ship, which made the cruise a very enjoyable experience, with lots of Chilean colour, particularly the cuisine. The ship was only half full, despite it being (presumably) high season so, with only 60 passengers, we received a lot of attention and service.

Our hotels were very good, – we discovered when we got to Santiago that the Cost Australis hotel in Puerto Natales had burnt down, so we were put into the Indigo, which was a good replacement.

Easter Island was a wonderful experience, although it is apparent that the island is changing rapidly. Our weather in Torres del Paine was just good enough to see the sights we had come to see, although the weather set in, and others following us may have seen very little.

Thank you for planning the holiday and making all the arrangements.

Simon
UK client

The trip met our expectations in every way, and all the elements of your well-planned, detailed, itinerary, were executed flawlessly. The guides we had in Santiago, Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales were excellent. The Explora in Rapa Nui was outstanding and our stay here was the highlight of our trip. The chef is a genius turning out wonderful gourmet meals. The guides were knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and in our four days we covered the island comprehensively. The 2 guided programs a day kept us busy and in the evenings we were pleasantly tired and hungry. The facility itself is a paragon of modern architecture incorporating native influences and providing understated luxury. I would say my best night’s sleep-wise were here.

By the way I should also mention that we enjoyed greatly our stay at the Hosteria Las Torres. The meals that stand out (apart from those at the Explora) are a steak dinner we had in Puerto Natales (Asador Patagonico) and the incredible fresh, moderately priced king crab we had in several Punta Arenas restaurants (esp., La Luna).

Thanks again for your assistance in putting together our trip.

Gerald

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

We wanted to thank you, and tell you what a wonderful trip you planned for us. Everything was just great—Santiago a gem; Easter Island a magical, mysterious place; the wineries of Chile very tasty; the seaside tour of Valparaiso a great contrast to Santiago.

The one thing (person) that made the trip for us was our most excellent tour guide on mainland Chile—Hernan Correa. He is a gem. He was incredibly knowledgeable (and proud) of his country, has a great personality with a wonderful sense of humor. Everything ran like clockwork…all arrangements were just right, and he seemed to know the right people at all the destinations, including restaurants. He was extremely helpful, flexible, and by the end of the week he felt like an old friend. We wanted you to know that!

The “Cooking Class/Chef Tour” was an experience of a lifetime…really. We met Chef Richard Knobloch at the market (he had already been there for an hour before us and scoped out what was fresh/available, etc.) He is a really enjoyable guy. We walked for about 90 minutes as he explained various local fruits and vegetables, as well as meat, fish and seafood to us in two different markets. He asked us if we had anything particular we wanted to try, and we said being from the American Midwest we wanted to experience Chile’s seafood/fish. We shopped together, tasted as we went along, and he pointed out various spices and herbs used in day-to-day Chile. He purchased all the items along the way.

It was really, really fun. We left hotel at 9 am and got back at 7pm. We don’t think Chef Richard does this very often, as there was no set time, everyone was enjoying themselves, and we went with the flow. It was just really something else. We loved it! Richard took Dave under his wing, knowing he loves to cook, and it was just something to watch the two of them!

It was an unforgettable experience for us….one of the highlights of all our worldwide travels. I’m sure you didn’t expect to get all this detail, but we feel really strongly about how much we enjoyed this special excursion. Thanks again!
Linda & Dave

Linda & Dave

Thank you for your phone call – it was nice putting a voice to an e-mail. Yes, of course, I’ll add to the testimonial collection but I’ll never do my trip justice!

Here it goes. It is difficult, impossible, to exaggerate how impressed I was by Emma’s organisation of what was a very open ended, possibly over ambitious South American adventure for a loner.
The route planned – Santiago, Easter Island, Atacama Desert, Iguazu Falls and the Pantanal was perfectly coordinated with superb hotels and brilliant guides, especially in Easter Island. Ernest, our guide in Iguazu has to come in for special praise, also.
The two glitches, both minor, were completely my fault. I especially appreciated Emma’s recommendation of background reading, her prompt response to my often stupid questions and the very personal approach to the whole experience. It meant a lot. If all this sounds rather fulsome -it’s not meant to be. I’ll be singing Yampu’s merits until my friends are fed up with me.

Megan
UK client

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

I wasn’t sure who to email, as I dealt with several people on the staff at your office, but I want to thank everyone for the trip you put together for us in February to Chile and Argentina. All the connections and reservations went without any glitches or delays, rather amazing considering all the transfers we made. The guide service was all very good. We particularly enjoyed the people we had out of Santiago, Francisco the guide and our driver, Carlos. All of the accommodations were quite adequate. The only change I would make from what we did would be to add a few more days here and there to look around on our own time.

Alan & Nancy

Just wanted to let you know that our “Trip to the End of the Earth” is on our website at marieandtom.com if you want to check it out or refer people to it.

Thanks again for everything,

Marie and Tom

Easter Island is one of the most extraordinary and fascinating places on Earth. Yampu’s arrangements for the trip (air flights, transfers, hotels, and guided tours) were all exemplary. The tours of the island were all conducted by knowledgeable guides who covered all the highlights I wanted to see and more. This was a “trip of a lifetime” and Yampu Latin America Tours helped make it so.

Best,

John

We’re returning from our trip today. Had a wonderful time. We loved all of our hotels…particularly the Llao Llao in Bariloche and the Eolo in El Calafate. The lake crossing is a must for anyone visiting the lake district….had to be experienced to be believed.

Our tour guides in Santiago, Puerto Montt, El Calafate and Iguasu were WONDERFUL. All in all it was a fantastic, memorable trip and I would recommend Yampu to others.

Carole, Ladies Group of 6

Thanks for checking in. We had an excellent time in Chile and Argentina. Everything worked out perfectly. It was very comforting to have someone meet us in each city and facilitate our tours, while allowing us plenty of time on our own. All of the transfers and pick-ups were perfectly on time and were with very kind and helpful guides and drivers. Our only problem was in Chicago on our way home when our flight was cancelled, but there was really nothing anyone could do at that point. Otherwise everything was great!

We really enjoyed all the hotels and the tours you recommended and look forward to working with you again in the future.

Thanks again!

Sue

We did have a brilliant trip! Practically everything went according to plan and we were very happy with the itinerary, the hotels, the city tours and the other trips you booked for us in advance. The guides were all very good and some of them exceptionally good. We particularly enjoyed having someone to collect us from the airport and take us to our hotel and back again in unfamiliar cities. This is something we had never done before but it is definitely a very good idea and takes away most of the stress of travelling so much in such a short time.

John wants to visit Machu Pichu next and we will definitely get in touch with you when the time comes. With many thanks and good wishes,

Loli
UK Client

I can’t compliment you enough for the excellent preparations for our trip to Argentina and Chile. Everything went remarkably well, on time, without a hitch. We got excellent service from everybody in both countries. The guides Nicolas in BA, Sergio in Torres del Paine, and Lorena in Santiago were excellent with a vast knowledge of the area, the culture, the history. They were also most pleasant and very accommodating. Please make sure that their agencies know how pleased we were. Every time, everybody was remarkably punctual as well.

We also loved the choice of hotels. The Sofitel was a great recommendation because we would have never imagined. All of them had great concierge services. Useless to tell you, we ate very, very well. (I put a couple of pounds).

Many, many thanks for arranging this trip so masterfully and for having understood so well what we were looking for. I’ll be pleased to highly recommend your services.

Aracelia, Group of 6

Thank you for your welcome home message. We had a very good time and thank you for all your work. The following is my input:

- The transfers and the guides are great and way beyond my expectation basing on my experience of traveling in South America several years ago. Every single transfer on both Chile and Argentinean side was on time. The cars are above average in cleanliness and style. The guides are helpful and full of information.

- The guide that picked us up at Bariloche was full of information. His explanation on the economic down turn in Argentina few years ago was better than many.

- Since Llao Llao has its own transfer to and from airport, our own transfer was not absolutely necessary. But the advantage of our own transfer is that they keep track of the delays, informed us and pick us up at an appropriate time. As a result, we can sit and wait at the hotel which was more pleasant than sitting at the airport.

- Christine, the guide that picked us up at the airport in Buenos Aires was an angel. She was waiting for us at 11pm even though we were supposed to have arrived at 3pm. She arranged a city tour for us and also helped to change our return schedule (one day less at Iguaçu Fall and one more day in Buenos Aires because we were concern of delays that may cause us to miss our international return trip). Your local office was able to change our flight and hotel stay within a morning while we were touring and the new schedules were waiting for us when we return to the hotel in the afternoon. Christine even met us at the hotel and told us to go to the airport an hour earlier for our international return trip. She was right.

- With our schedule changes, we did not know what to expect. But everything was well coordinated, again beyond my expectation.

- We had (and did not expect) a private guide at the fall. We had only an afternoon and a morning, but thanks to her we were able to do everything. Claudia Placher was just the best.

- In short we are extremely satisfied with the travel arrangement. We jokingly said that we would go back just to experience that!

- Explora Lodge is every bit what we have expected and more.

Thank you again for your help. I’ll definitely work with you again.

Winnie (Family of 6)

Thanks for your good New Year’s wishes and your interest in feedback of our recent trip. All in all our experience in Easter Island was excellent, everything worked out as planned. The Hotel was very good, had great service and the people very helpful. The tours and the guide again very good, helpful and informative. This island is a jewel and can only hope that we tourists don’t ruin it. It was a great trip thanks to you all at Yampu.

Thanks again,

Federico

Thank you for the good wishes and I want to tell you that my trip to Chile and Easter Island was perfectly planned and everything worked smoothly. Your agency was excellent, the guides first class, the hotels fabulous. The variety of areas we saw made a wonderful balance and you can use my name for a recommendation of your thoughtful service.

Gratefully,

Carol

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

I’ve been meaning to write you an email to tell you about our experiences in Chile. First of all, I just wanted to thank you, Angela, and Yariel for all your help in planning and organizing our trip. I especially appreciated your responsiveness to all of our questions. All of the tour guides were nice, knowledgeable, and for the most part, on time. We were always on the go and almost every day we were making different transfers and it was comforting for us to have such great service especially in a foreign country where we didn’t speak the language (although we tried!). We especially enjoyed the private van service with an English-speaking guide for most of the trip…very helpful since we asked tons of questions :)

We had a great trip and again, thanks for all the great planning. I think we decided that if we were to do it again, we’d give ourselves less time in Santiago, maybe a full day in Valparaiso, more time in Torres del Paine with a stay at Explora, and a visit to Easter Island and the Lake District. Thanks again!

Irene

Just back from an amazing four week experience in Chile organised by Yampu. I put in my list of “must do’s” on their website and within minutes Meike called me back and was helping me put a suggested itinerary together. They organised all the internal flights and recommended accommodation based on their agents or clients personal experiences. As a female travelling alone I highly valued the very professional services of their Chilean partner travel guide service who always met me off flights and transferred me to hotels, accompanied me to check in for the next part of my travels and were on hand in case of emergencies. This gave me huge reassurance as to my personal safety. I cannot say there was one best bit of my trip because everything exceeded my expectations – it is a beautiful country”.

My blog site is http://www.getjealous.com/chrissiew

Again so many thanks for helping me put together the most amazing trip

Christine
UK client

We just got back from Chile and we had a wonderful time. The tour guide Muriem was delightful and able to answer our questions about the region; adding her own personal touch. The only thing I can find to complain about was the wine train – they did not speak English but we still had a good time. The tours of the wineries were excellent (they did speak English) and the wines were superb (but no way to ship home). All in all we had a great time and we have all vowed to speak better Spanish!

I was not expecting the personal tour – I was used to groups (10 – 26) and now you have spoiled us. We would hope to go back some day.

By the way – are you a male or female? Hard to tell these days.

Thank you so much for the wonderful memories.

Karen

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

This is the first chance I have had to access my hotmail for the past few days, and I just wanted to let everyone know that I managed to get back to the UK okay, my return flights were on time, and I managed to retrieve my luggage without any problems.

Once again, I would extend my thanks to everyone in re-arranging my itinerary after I failed to make my connecting flight from Madrid to Santiago and for helping me locate my luggage before I left Chile.
Despite all the problems with the airline, it was a great holiday. I have no problem recommending this tour to any of my friends.

And as I have mentioned already, the Yampu staff was very helpful in providing valuable assistance. Thank you so much.

Dan

We had a great trip! Paul and I are back and working (uggh) today!
Thank you for coordinating such a great honeymoon for us! Of course, you may use our e-mail and comments for reference. We had a fantastic honeymoon that was the trip of a lifetime, and it was beautifully coordinated at all levels! We will be remembering this trip for the rest of our lives, and we are looking forward to telling our children about it (and returning to Portillo to ski with them, when they are old enough!).

Thanks again!

Leila

I just wanted to personally thank you for a seamless transaction. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Mr. Ballard has returned from Chile and couldn’t say enough good things about his trip experience…he was absolutely blown away with the tour guides, their helpfulness and advice. He will be personally thanking all of you! Plus your service made me look good…everything that I stated would happen, happened to the delight of Mr. Ballard. I look forward to conducting more business with your company.

Kelly
Travel Agent for Mr. Ballard

I just returned from the Galapagos and Easter Island Tour last Friday and wanted to let you and the Yampu staff know what an AWESOME trip it was!

The plane connections, meet and greet, and hotels were really good and the entire trip went off without a hitch. One of the highlights was the evening of Febuary 6th (my 48th birthday) when the staff of the Galapagos yacht Aida Maria brought out a trimmed birthday cake with my name on it for the evening dessert! I was really surprised.
Thanks to all of you and your staff for such expert planning and coordination. This trip was “over the top” and made for a wonderful birthday!!

Ben

iorana karolina,
both Mr. gurganus and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Chile and Easter Island. The joy of our travels was completely enhanced and facilitated by the arrangements you made and by the guides you provided for us. in Chile Paulina went out of her way to make us feel welcome and she was able to make changes and adjustments in the schedule to accommodate our wishes. It was especially comforting to have someone there for us when we landed. Santiago is such a vibrant and comfortable city.
I was surprised and impressed with its metropolitan nature. Easter island on the otherhand has to be one of the most unique and stunning places on this earth. China was our guide there. She is as wonderful, energetic, and as enchanting as the island itself. All our accommodations were comfortable and secure by American standards.
Any confusions or discrepancies in schedule or arrangements were quickly straightened out by our guides, such as museums being closed on Mondays, or the Moai sites being too crowded on the first day so we reversed the order of the tour to beat the crowd.
I am most pleased with our decision to arrange for a private guide, I would recommend this to most Americans traveling to Chile and Rapa Nui. It was more than worth the cost, it was more intimate and put us into a closer touch with the culture and personality of both places.

I would like to return to Chile and visit other regions. By the way the Isla Negra, Neruda house tour is fantastic and a must see, but most Americans do not know very much of Neruda. I am 100% satisfied with the professionalism, security, comfort, and adventure of your tour arrangements. I will recommend you to all my contacts and friends and will gladly work with you again.
Thank you so much for a wonderful and enlightening experience. I feel like I visited another world all together, the magic of travel to foreign lands. Thank you.

iorana,
nick glennon

Nick

My husband, Kenneth Wong and myself wishes to thank you for the wonderful time we had at your beautiful country (Chile).

We were delighted at the beautiful places we visited, from Santiago, Valpriaso, Vina Del Mar, Ronoc to Torres Del Paine to Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas, and the lake crossings. But most of all, we were impressed at the personnels you have on board. They spoke good English and knew their country well. In Santiago, we were fortunate to have Ms Lorena Arcos as our guide. She is very interested in her job and provide excellent service and information about our stay. We were at Puerto Varas end of our tour, Mr. Patricio gave us a wonderful tour of Frutillar and last but not least, Mr. Javier MalDonado, help us out with rearranging our departure flight when AerolineDelSur cancelled our original booking. He took us back to the airport promptly and helped us secure a flight out so that we would not miss our connecting flight to New Zealand the same evening. Mr. MalDonado stayed with us all the way until our departure safely from Puerto Varas. In the meantime, he was very knowledgeable about the land and very interesting to talk to. We learned a great deal about your wonderful country.

The hotels we stayed at, from Hotel Diego De Almaagro, Hotel Martin Gusinde, Hosteria Lago Grey, to Hotel Colonos del Sur Express, are very centrally located, comfortable and clean, the staffs excellent, friendly and helpful.

Again, thank you for a wonderful vacation, and you are to be congratulated for having such wonderful staffs in your organization.

Sincerely,

Kenneth and Katherine

Apologies for not contacting you sooner but it has been hectic here since our return. I just had to write to you to congratulate you on the excellent organisation we encountered during our vacation to Chile and Easter Island. Everything went like clockwork and I am sure it is all down to you at Kon Tiki and your ‘local’ colleagues in Chile / Easter Island.
We had a fantastic time. In particular, Easter Island was all we expected and more. Terry the local guide at Rapa Nui Travel made our stay especially enjoyable. He even climbed up a coconut palm to get us fresh coconut milk whilst we swam in the Pacific Ocean. It made it all the more enjoyable as there were snow storms at home in the UK at the time.Thanks for all your help and we will be contacting you again when the next vacation comes around. Not soon enough unfortunately but at least we have the summer here in the UK to look forward to, such as it is!

Ivan and Thelma (Derby, England)

Just to let you know that we returned safely and that we had a wonderful time. All the local guides were most gracious and so were the hotels. Our favorites were Buenos Aires, Iguazu, the tour of the Lagos, Puerto Varas is spectacular with its lake and volcanos. Pedro Neruda’s home in Isla Negra was a site to see. We certainly will consider going back to these
countries.

Berta and Herb

All in all, we had a fabulous trip. The guides were quite good, especially Manuel and Andres in Puerto Varas and Patricia in Torres de Paine trip. Hotels were perfectly adequate. Buses were adequate. Thanks again. We had a great trip and we can’t wait to return to Chile and visit the northern part!

Philippa

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

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

The bottom line is all went VERY well. We had a great time. Thanks for your help. We would certainly recommend both Kon Tiki Tours and Easter Island to anyone. The Vouchers were waiting for us at the Hotel in Santiago when we arrived. The last time we were in Santiago was 1973. As you may recall those were not good times for the Chilean people. What a pleasure it was to be there this time. Feel free to use us as a reference via email and/or enter our comments on your web site.
Again best wishes and many thanks,

Betty and Al, Florida