Dear Emma,

Coming to Galapagos has been a dream of mine for so long, I wondered if I would ever get there. There were many conversations with girlfriends about going, but something always got in the way. And then of course there was the covid drama.

But finally I got there, with lots of helps from you! Thank you so much for making it happen; for all your organization, knowledge, advice and support along the way. It has been an amazing trip I will never forget. I couldn't have done it without you! So thank you again!

Dear Emma

Coralie and I have been home three weeks now and we are still trying to compute all we did in Ecuador!

What an amazing place and what an experience for us.  As you know we were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary, albeit 2 years late!!  Everywhere we went we were warmly welcomed and found the wildlife exceptional and the guides showing us the wildlife exceptional too.

Many thanks to you and Jorge for all your help.  Jorge was always on time and polite. He gave us a very interesting introduction to the history of his country and a tour of the old town.  When acting as our taxi driver he was excellent, please pass on our thanks.

A big thank you to you too for helping to put the pieces of our jigsaw together, it all went like clockwork and not even the strikes and road blocks in our last week caused any delay.  Our trip to Sacha Lodge was truly memorable.  Fausto made us very welcome and all the jungle was able to offer us during our brief trip was brilliantly explained by our guide, Gus.

I understand you know Gabriel, at Hacienda Alegria.  He and Paty made us very welcome and our riding in the Cotopaxi National Park gave us the perfect end to our holiday.

None of the above mentions the Galapagos by which we were mesmerised.  Two day trips to Bartolome and to North Seymour completed our knowledge on the geology and wildlife of the ‘Enchanted Islands’ and 8 days on a dive boat gave us world class diving. Diving with the schooling hammerheads and a number of whale sharks ticked off a forty year old ambition!!

Once again many thanks for all your help.

With love and best wishes

Emma,

All is well with us.  We're in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.  The weather is fabulous and the town is as cute, if not cuter, than Cuenca.  

Our tour of the Avenue of the Volcanoes was fantastic.  Juan Fernando Duran is an outstanding tour guide.  He is knowledgeable, entertaining and accommodating.  He educated us not only about the geology of Ecuador, but its history, politics and the socio/economic conditions in the country.  He introduced us to indigenous people who still farm the land as they have for centuries.  He also took us to local restaurants where we sampled the "tipico platos" (typical dishes).  When my companion, Kathleen, mentioned it would be fun to take a tour of a rose farm, Juan immediately arranged one for us.  The farm was as interesting as we thought it would be. 

The lodgings you booked us into are top-notch, clean and very comfortable.  The owners of the hacienda, Hato Verde, are warm and welcoming people.  Their home and farm, which are four generations old, are beautiful and our stay there was a joy.  The hotels where we stayed were very attractive.  Their staff are professional and very helpful.  Our only regret regarding the hotels, especially Samari in Banos, was that we were only staying one night at each of them.  It barely gave us time to appreciate the impressive amenities. 

The tour of the volcanoes was everything we expected.  The mountain vistas are breath-taking (literally), the people we encountered are delightful, and the overall experience was rewarding.  We highly recommend it.

Hi Emma

Thank you again. As mentioned, you were lovely to work with and I appreciate everything you've done! I will be sure to pass you along to family and friends! 

Have a nice rest of your weekend! 

Hello Emma and Maria

Everything was perfect, thank you so much. Every recommendation was outstanding. The hotel in Santa Cruz was terrific, the day excursion with Finch Bay was terrific and Sacha Lodge was the best. Maria, you picked up seamlessly where Emma left off. I am so impressed with the impeccable service you both provided and again, the great recommendations. I'll be sure to write public reviews. Thank you both so, so much!! 

Kindest regards.

Hello Emma,

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond.

The Avenue of the Volcanoes tour was terrific - we really enjoyed it. We especially liked the guides we had - both of them. It's hard to imagine nicer or more helpful people. Please tell Juan Fernando Duran that I am really enjoying the book he recommended, The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf, and remind him to look at the books 1491 and 1493 by Charles C. Mann, and Crises by Jared Diamond. (Clearly, we had a lot of good talks while driving south.) We didn't have as much time to get to know the second Juan, but we also liked him a lot.

We were a little disappointed in the Devil's Nose train ride. That has nothing to do with your tour, it's just that the train ride itself is less thrilling than it seemed on the web. The other parts of the tour were great!

Thank you for providing a very good tour.

Emma,

Some feedback on trip with you:

Juan was great!  His scope made it possible to see many birds up close.  He loves birds and Maquipucuna.  Arsenio, at the lodge, was wonderful, as well.  A great combo! He’s a native, so more expert than Juan, but Juan is an eager learner.  We loved Maquipucuna - the isolation, the food, the birds, the staff!

The one suggestion - tell people to bring their own hairdryers, as that was a bit of a problem at Maqui and at San Francisco.  SF had only 1, and Maqui had them only in some rooms attached to the wall, so could not be shared.  

We thank you for your flexibility and efficiency.  Everything worked like clockwork, as planned, and I know how hard that must be to execute, given the locations.

We hope to return - and maybe stay overnight at Santa Lucia, such a beautiful place and nice owners.  It is exciting to see ecotourism working to preserve wild places that we love!

Hi Nena,

I just wanted to thank you for organizing a wonderful trip for us!  Every detail was perfect and we couldn't have enjoyed our trip more. We loved every guide and person that we interacted with.  We will be sure to recommend your company to our family and friends!  Thank you again for such a wonderful experience.

Dear Male,

Please find enclosed our feedback! Our trip was unique. We really enjoyed your services and the whole journey. Everything was more than perfect!!!!!!!! Fausto was the best guide we ever had during our tours worldwide!! We loved all tours and also the hotels were fine. 

We really can recommend your company to travel agencies in Austria – we informed already two agencies we know quite well.

Emma and everyone at Original Ecuador,

What a wonderful time I had with Andres!!!! Not only is Andres a very good guide but sensitive and extremely bright. He picked the best hike for me today. The experience was a dream come true.

Thank you!