Underwater GalapagosThis morning we bid farewell to the Grand Odyssey, leaving our new friends on board. We disembarked on Santa Cruz, boarding a small bus for the highlands. We drove up out of the cloud cover, past fincas and small homesteads into dense forest. We finally pulled into the Charles Darwin Research Center, a sanctuary for the famed Galapagos Tortoise! A light rain created mist and fog throughout the grounds, making our surprise even greater when an enormous, lumbering tortoise made it's way out of the foliage. When startled, the tortoises retract their lanky necks into their shells, emitting a loud hissing noise as the air inside their carapaces escapes. After seeing nearly 15 tortoises and taking several rain-soaked photos, we climbed back into the bus for our final ride to the airport. Upon arrival back in Quito, we were met by Adventure Life Ecuador's Coordinator, Betty Jaramillo. It was so great to finally meet her, after two year's of only email correspondence! Betty took us to have traditional 'helados de paila', ice cream made in a copper pot. I immediately chose the Guanabana flavor, my favorite fruit in South America! After enjoying our helado we drove up the Pinchincha volcano to Betty's house, also the home to the Adventure Life Ecuador office. We met the rest of the crew, and John was invited to join a soccer game between Adventure Life and another local tourism competitor. After two hours at 10,000 feet, of course he was ready to play soccer!
Creating a checklist was very beneficial and meeting objectives on certain dates helped as well (to keep my trip organized). The Adventure Travel personnel helped keep me on track which is why my trip was so successful. Communication from both travel agencies (AT/MT) was vital.
Iziah Carthens
2 days ago
This is an amazing company to work with. I generally do not use tour companies as I am more of an independent traveller so I was slightly reticent. They were fantastic from the start - 10/10 - from lining up a phone call to discuss requirements, then their ongoing communication in the lead up to the tour and during it (thank you, Franny and Phen). They also explored cost-effective options (eg group transfers). The tour was in Patagonia so Adventure Life organised a pickup from the El Calafate airport to the El Chalten accommodation, two day hikes with a private guide and then to the El Calafate accommodation. A tour coordinator came to the hotel to explain, using the maps, what was involved in each day tour and what should be expected, and patiently answered all questions. The tour guide Marcos was excellent - very professional, knowledgable, communicative and at all times felt very safe with his navigational skills (important in the Patagonian wilderness). On the second day I forgot to take hiking poles so Marcos kindly gave me his. I honestly wouldn't have changed a thing and would happily recommend and book through them again.
Petrina Sta
4 days ago
Adventure Life has been great throughout my planning process for our up and coming Galapagos cruise. Kevin Moore, in particular, was very helpful in assisting me in making choices and providing me with options. He was also very patient, as I worked through figuring out what I really wanted in this vacation.
Lucy Greenway
4 days ago
Adventure Life was a pleasure to work with. They helped us find different options for our charter and answered a lot of questions with patience and clarity.
Brooke Hopper
5 days ago
Excellent service, great hotels and well organized excursions with expert guides! Highly recommended!
