Travel Review: Peru Family Vacation, Cusco, Lima, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Amazon Tour, Andes Mountains Horseback Riding

This company was an excellent travel agency.  We traveled to the Amazon, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Cusco.  In planning the trip, my agents worked with me to customize the itinerary, and they were very flexible with my family's needs.  Everything was well organized --people met us at the airport, hotel, excursions etc., -- every step of the trip was very well coordinated.  Guides were always on time and very friendly.  The staff communicated with each other -- every guide that met us would be aware of what we had done with the previous guide.  While we were in Peru, we had to modify our travel plans, and my agent was very responsive to all our requests -- all I had to do was email her and she responded immediately with alternative options.  It seemed like she works all the time!  One slight criticism -- our guide at Machu Picchu was not as knowledgeable as we would have wanted; he gave contradictory "facts" at times and wasn't able to answer our questions as expertly as some of our other guides.  The tail end of our trip was marred by the loss of our luggage by Avianca, the airline that we flew from Cusco to Lima.  We were connecting in Lima back to the US, so we left for the US without our luggage on the plane.  We had to rely on Avianca to get our bags back to our home and Avianca did a terrible job -- shipped the bags to Toronto, then back to Lima, then San Salvador, etc.  It was a very frustrating experience trying to track our luggage -- but our travel agency did a great job in helping us out, particularly in contacting Avianca at the Lima airport.  They didn't have to do this, given that our trip was over, but their efforts bespeak of their commitment to giving their clients a positive travel experience.