Review: Luxury Tour of Columbia, Bogota, Birding, History, Culture

While we found Colombia to be a beautiful country with warm, friendly people and an interesting culture and history,  there was an overarching theme of disorganization and lack of attention to detail that characterized many aspects of this travel company's tour.  Our best days were the two that we organized on our own and the one day of birding.  However, our itinerary stated two days of birding when in fact we had only one. In addition the vehicles used for transportation, with the exception of one, lacked seat belts in the back. The guide that we had in Bogota was pleasant and friendly but not well informed. Her English was acceptable, but not great. The Bogota office failed to book us for the coffee tour and the Lake Guatavita tour on the days when an English-speaking guide is available.  Prior to our arrival in Colombia, we had clearly indicated our dietary restrictions However, the restaurants selected for our meals were always consulted on site rather than ahead of time to verify that they could indeed accommodate our dietary needs. We could not fathom why a simple phone call in advance could not have been made to verify this ahead of our arrival. Fortunately, both restaurants on our excursions served us enjoyable meals.During our all-day excursions in Bogota, bottles of water were never offered. On the second day with our guide, we requested bottles of water and provided money for their purchase. This is a small and inexpensive gesture that adds greatly to a guest’s comfort when traveling over many hours.  All of the accommodations were great with the highlight being a small Finca above Minca in the Sierra Nevada range.