Trip of a lifetime
Ecuador | May 29 - Jun 13, 2022

E
Elena A.
Aurora, CO | Reviewed on Jul 16, 2022

The trip was a gift for my son's 13th birthday who wanted a trip of a lifetime. It was amazingly organized by the local specialist Alvaro. First, he spend the enormous amount of time with us planning the trip and provided us various options to choose from trying to accommodate our needs and beyond. And we were not easy customers because we were trying to go to so many different places in a short period of time and we had 2 kids of different ages and multiple culinary restrictions. All of that was taking into consideration and finally we agreed on a schedule. We don't know what we would do without Alvaro because during the trip we had multiple situations where his involvement was required. It's South America after all and unpredictable things happen. For example our flights were changed or cancelled many time, and Alvaro went out of his way to adjust the schedule very quickly, making additional provisions for vans, hotels, boats etc.
First we went to Peru where we went to Palcoyo Mountain (substitution of Rainbow Mountain) and Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was amazing, and we had an awesome local guide Andre who is from the local tribe and we learned a lot about the local tribe traditions and history. Even my 6 year old loved it. I would strongly recommend to skip the Palcoyo Mountain though because it took 4 hour drive one way (half of it on a gravel road) to get there. The kids were throwing up all the way. Then you arrive to 17500 ft and have to hike up for about an hour. We are from Colorado so the mountain was not that impressive to us. My little one was so tired that the local guide carried her up the mountain.
Then we flew to Ecuador. That's a completely different country, more civilized, they used American dollars as their currency. We spend several days in Quito that is really beautiful and has a lot to do. We had a great guide Christian there too that was picking us up every day in the hotel and driving to multiple destinations. We loved the city tour and the cooking class. It was a unique experience where the whole family was cooking a lunch that was served to us later in a beautiful courtyard.
After that we went to Ecuadorian jungle at Napo Cultural Center. Despite the usual belief that jungle is scar it was a very comfortable, safe and even luxury experience. The only negative thing was that they didn't have a conditioner in the cabins but they tried to accommodate us as much as possible by giving us a second fan. There was no mosquitos at all!!! They fed us 3 times a day with exquisite dishes, met us after each jungle trip with a cold towel and exotic juice, even tried to feed us with a local delicacy (some beetle's larvae, which we didn't eat). The local guide Juan was a true jewel who knew jungle up and down, took us to a day and night walks, canoe ride, showing multiple animals on a way. We saw different monkeys, sloth, giant otters, parrots, herons, opossum etc.
The last stop in our trip was Galapagos Islands. We visited 3 islands and had a boat tour to the fourth one. Since the flights between the island were cancelled, Alvaro had to book speedboats to transfer us and applied the money left to the dinners we had on the islands. The nature is amazing there. We saw giant turtles, penguins swimming around us, sea lions, marine iguanas, flamingos and others. The best island was Isabella, and I would recommend to stay there more because they had real beaches and the little one had a chance to swim (not just snorkel) even though the water was very cold.
Overall, we were very pleased with a trip. We travel a lot and usually plan everything ourselves. With this trip we benefited so much from working with KimKim and Alvaro because they helped us with unpredictable changes in itinerary that would be very difficult and stressful to organize without them.
Thank you Alvaro and KimKim!! We recommended you to many friends and relatives and will travel with you in the future!

Local specialist: Alvaro Pereira
Alvaro
Alvaro Pereira
Local specialist in Quito, Ecuador | Replied on Jul 19, 2022

Dear Elena,Mikhail, Levi & Aviva!

It was truly my pleasure to work together on creating an amazing trip for you! All these challenges that we overcame together were oriented for you to enjoy a beautiful and hazzle-free journey.

I am so happy for you and your family had a wonderful time with long everlasting memories.

Remember and I am one text away from your next adventure!

I wish you all the best!
Alvaro