SouthAmerica.travel IncReviews of southamerica.travel

It took 3 or 4 attempts and a week or so to arrange for the flights we wanted, but in the end it worked out fine.

Conrad was very helpful and informative, with continuous updates. The only glitch was sending the copy of our passports.

The accommodations were very good, unusual & interesting sights and experiences and some great tour guides. A trip to remember!! Jon was very helpful deciding in what we could see in our time frame. We were repeat customers.

The booking procedure was great but we haven't been on the trip yet so reserve judgement!

Excellent, professional service. I loved our guides. My only concern was that I wanted an adventurous vacation. We should never have been sent to Cartagena. It’s basically like going to Cancun. For people who want adventure and physical activity, don’t send them to Cartagena.

I wanted to pay extra to my deposit, but the web site would not allow me to do this. This was frustrating, Otherwise, everything else was easy and convenient

We were visiting the Galapagos Islands. Simone set up some wonderful tours for us, which we had made more complicated by asking her to coordinate inter-island flights for two family members who could not travel by boat, while the other two family members did travel by boat. All of our tour guides at the Galapagos were courteous and knowledgeable. Our tour guide for the last two days was simply exceptional in his impressive command of the English language; in-depth knowledge of everything from the flora and fauna of the Galapagos to the history of Ecuador; and his warm, vibrant, and infectiously cheery personality that made him feel like a member of our family whom we wanted to take back home with us. :) There were a few hiccups that prevent us from giving a 5-star rating: 1) When our air-traveling family members arrived at Isabela airport from Baltra, there was no guide to meet them. The flight had left Baltra early and thus arrived in Isabela early, but apparently nobody at the travel agency had been keeping track of the flight so as to be aware of the schedule change. Isabela's airport is essentially deserted and there are no cabs there. One of our party managed to find an airport maintenance person who allowed her to borrow his cell phone to call the emergency number that was on our itinerary paper, and that agent handled the situation promptly, with the guide then showing up at the airport within minutes of the call. 2) When our boat-traveling family members arrived back at Santa Cruz after our Isabela visit, there was no guide to meet them. They could have walked to the hotel themselves, except that they were feeling tired after the boat ride, plus they had suitcases, so they just took a cab that was there. 3) Our hotel room in Isabela (Cally Hotel) did not have hot water, so showers were really no fun at all. The hotel was otherwise lovely, even with the daytime construction noise. Update: After I communicated the above issues with South America Travel, the company did some thorough investigation into what happened and took steps to tighten operations so that things like this do not happen to other Galapagos tourists in the future. They also offered compensation, which I appreciated. We still had a wonderful time on our vacation, despite the hiccups, and we would use South America Travel again.

Jon at South America Travel showed initiative in showing me various travel options that I was not aware of and was patient during the back and forth, answering all the questions I had while I was comparing their offerings with itineraries from other agencies.