Luxury Peru Travel Agent Review: Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Lima, Amazon Jungle, 10-Day Tour

Review by traveler

David S.

7.2.2022

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Peru

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Overall we had an amazing trip to Peru. Our guide was the highlight. Words can only begin to describe how great he was. He led us thru the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Cusco. His passion for the history and people exceeded our expectations. Would highly recommend him for any Peru related guiding. Our other guide was also great as he led us through the jungle portion of our trip and showed us the beauty of the Amazon. We saw several animals and birds, but no jaguars or snakes. Initially we were told 1 in 4 chance of seeing a jaguar. We were later told by the owner Paul that there is a 1% chance of seeing one. All the hotels were beautiful in their own way. The disappointing portion of the trip was the pre-trip lack of timely communication about final plans and COVID requirements that certainly led to some degree of stress, unexpected baggage changes, and the tour of Lima was lacking. We also had a “gastronomic” tour of Lima which has great food in general, but the tour was just pathetic as all we did was go to a city market and look around then we had lunch where we watched them make ceviche (2 minutes) and make a pisco sour. We fully anticipated going to several venues for tastings and to actually be involved in the making of the ceviche etc.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Our guides. The whole Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, and Amazon jungle portions of the trip.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

I would not use Jason as the salesman from this travel company as his communication AFTER we paid and committed certainly diminished compared to before we committed without dollars. I blame him for the stress around the negative comments above.

Travel Company Comments:

Thank you for taking the time to post your review about our services.
Great to hear that you had an amazing trip to Peru, and we are especially pleased to hear that you liked our guides; we shall be sure to pass these comments on. I just wanted to respond to some of the other comments that you made within your review. We appreciate all feedback good and bad as this helps us improve our services for future clients.
Regarding timely communication of travel plans. We send out a final travel package as standard 10 days before the start of all trips. This includes a detailed day by day description, timings, helpful information, tips, hotels details etc. I've checked the system and these documents were issued as promised 10 days before the start of the trip. We are happy to send these documents a few days earlier, we just need to be advised so that we can program this with our operations team. I know that there were some concerns on your part regarding covid vaccinations needed for entry to Peru. Unfortunately, during those 10 days prior to your trip, the Peruvian government updated the decree relating to covid entry requirements not once by an incredible three times (over a three day period). The decree was somewhat unintelligible and lacked detail that needed to be clarified with the authorities and tourism unions here before we were able to verify the exact details for entry. We apologize for any delay in getting this to you, but as you can imagine this is something that is very dynamic and a little beyond our control.
Regarding the Gastro Tour of Lima. We verified this with our operations team and we confirm that there was a booking error on our part. The wrong supplier was booked to perform this service and subsequently we provided a very similar experience, which wasn't the one described in the itinerary. For this we are truly sorry and as agreed will refund you the money for this trip in full. We have spoken to all the necessary people in our team to ensure better communication so that this mistake doesn't happen again.
Regarding the jungle! It is important to know that when visiting the jungle, wildlife spotting isn't guaranteed. The Amazon is a delicate and remote wilderness where the wildlife is abundant but needs patience and time to find. At the lodge where you stayed (Tambopata Research Center) the chances of spotting a jaguar are 35% (in accordance with statistics published by the same lodge), so the information Jason provided was accurate. When I personally met you here in Cusco, there must have been a misunderstanding, as I mentioned that at the TRC you have a much greater chance of seeing jaguar, whilst it is just 1-2% at other lodges in the area.
Jason was disappointed to read the negative comments you posted about his service (the first ever). He prides himself in his hard work and dedication to our clients, and is generally well regarded with our clients. He responds to all emails within 1-2 working days (mainly the same day) to ensure the highest quality of service. Jason is, and remains to be one of our most experienced and professional travel advisors here in our team. However, we take onboard any guidance you can offer on how we can improve our services for future clients.
We are happy to hear that overall you had a great time here in Peru. Should you be returning to Latin America in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out to us and we'll be pleased to advise on your next adventure.
Yours Sincerely,
Paul