Ecuador Testimonials
The boat, Infinity (Royal Galapagos), was beautiful! The crew was awesome! Our guides, Markus and Gustavo, were great and really enhanced our experience. Both the boat and food were fantastic. We were fortunate to have only 14 of us on board, and we had some very interesting and fun fellow passengers. I would definitely recommend this boat in the future.
I also want to recommend our other two guide: Myriam Barona M. in Quito and Luis in Cuenca. Both made our experiences so much better than had we not been with them. It was like having a local friend there. We especially enjoyed our hike in El Cajas National Park with Luis. Also, after the Galapagos we did have a great time with our Colorado friends who now live near Montanita on the coast. Another fun area to explore and enjoy!
Thanks again for helping us plan and organize this trip. We will contact you again when we need help in planning another adventure that I don’t feel like tackling on my own! I often do all our own planning and know the time involved in that, so when heading to an unfamiliar area of the world I really appreciate the help in making it such a great experience. Both of our trips with AWR have been awesome!
Nancy C., USA
Custom Ecuador + 5-Day Galapagos Cruise, December 2018
Lovely boat, great crew, wonderful food. The Islands were incredibe. Our guide, Erik was fantastic- his knowledge of the islands and the animals was so amazing and made each hike and snorkel so enjoyable. He also had an easy going nature which was just perfect. Everything went as planned which is a real treat. Robin responded to my emails in a timely fashion which was most helpful. Our top three moments were: 1) Opportunity to be around so many endemic animals 2) Snorkeling everyday 3) the other guests on the boat were all wonderful- very diverse but we all got along great.
Working with AWR was: Easy- to me the ultimate compliment. Our itinerary was ideal- just the right amount of islands visited which gave us the opportunity to hike on each one and then snorkel in very different venues. Also, a 16 passenger boat was an ideal number- anything bigger would have been too many.
I am already talking to Dan about Vietnam- can’t wait!
Michael G., USA
4-Day Galapagos Cruise, November 2018
We had a great time. Thank you. Definitely a 10. You made everything so easy. We love all our tour guides and the excursions. We also loved our guides. They were very friendly and helpful. We’re already thinking about where our next trip. My husband and son really enjoyed the snorkeling. Seeing all the animals on various islands was my favorite part of the trip. We can’t think of anything you need to do to improve. Thank you.
Chau W., USA
5-Day Galapagos Cruise, October 2018
You did a great job – the trip was fantastic and all your recommendations were spot on! Thank you for everything – it was all great! I loved Machu Picchu because it is so amazing and I have wanted to see this since I was 7 years old. But, as a family – we loved the Galapagos – so wonderful and interesting – we had a terrific outstanding guide – Omar, and everyone on our boat was so so fun and interesting and the crew could not have been nicer or more accommodating. We all felt pretty connected to each other after just the 5 days and we all felt pretty lucky to have this experience together.
Lisa D., MD, USA
6-Day Peru: Machu Picchu Tour by Train and 5-Day Galapagos Cruise, July-August 2017
I thought the trip was incredible! We loved the Tunnels tours off of Isabella island. I would definitely recommend Adventures Within Reach (10), and hope to do another trip soon !
Jessica A., PA, USA
5-Day Galapagos Island Hopping, July 2017
Our outstanding trip to the Galapagos was truly the dream trip of a lifetime. Seeing the beautiful land and sea creatures in the setting of that starkly beautiful archipelago was absolutely unforgettable! I would certainly recommend Adventures Within Reach to my friends and colleagues.
Being with our 11 family members made it even better; watching everyone else’s enjoyment was very gratifying. The hikes on that incredible terrain were inspiring; the snorkeling, especially when we saw quite a few white-tipped sharks, and got to swim for a little while with a friendly marine turtle, who joined us at one point; seeing birds and animals who were unafraid of our presence was magical.The six crew members on our catamaran were outstanding in providing us with delicious and regular meals, and keeping things shipshape. They were friendly and kind and helpful. Thanks for organizing an excursion that will always remain as one of my happiest times.
Suzanne M., TX, USA
5-Day Galapagos Cruise on the Lonesome George, July 2017
I would happily recommend Adventures Within Reach to anyone. I found everything to be great, communication was good, and all of the teams and accommodation you used you used were efficient and very friendly. I received excellent service from [AWR], something I was struggling to achieve face to face with travel agents in Australia. Our experiences were amazing. I would certainly use AWR again, when we are considering our next holiday (Kenya next year?).
Helen N., QLD, Australia
4-Day Amazon Rainforest + 5-Day Galapagos island Hopping, June-July 2017
Your guides and coordinators were all very attentive to our needs; the guesthouses were charming, clean and friendly. Still, I am most grateful for the way so many of the guides took special care of my 79-year-old father. He received such patient and caring treatment from everyone, we are all very grateful.
Martha J.D., FL, USA
8-Day Galapagos Island Hopping with Diving, March 2017
I have already recommended Adventures Within Reach []. We had heard about all the people who went on cruises in the past, many friends of ours, but preferred the autonomy of staying on land and having a well-organized trip for the five full days we had.
We loved the B&B in La Isabella, and the owners (Ecuadorean-American couple) who were so kind. We loved Los Tuneles off that island, and the tour guide we went with was fantastic in providing sociocultural context about Galapagos. I don’t remember his name, but all the guides were excellent in any case. We enjoyed having one program daily and some relaxation time in the evening. The other favorite was taking the boat on Day 2 (a nice boat and great tour guide and snorkeling) to the uninhabited island. I was so grateful to have my high power camera, I am only now going through images and am in awe of the Galapagos’ beauty all over again.
Our trip was perfect. Groups of 2-10 were ideal for the tours so we had personal time with the guides. We were especially glad when we could have Spanish tours rather than dual language to practice, and that happened often thanks to the group sizes and diversity of groups.
Marissa P., NJ, USA
6-Day Galapagos Island Hopping, December 2016
Of course I would recommend you to others. There is someone already who has asked me for information about the trip.
My favorite part? Oh my. The snorkeling, the blue-footed boobies and the Nemo III and its crew. Our guide was marvelous. Oswaldo. The boat was perfect and so special.
Lily M., USA
5-Day Galapagos Cruise, March 2016