Ecuador testimonials

Sandra, I just arrived back and I wish to thank you for the perfect organized trip. It was amazing, a real life experience. The agent in Quito was present waiting on my arrival in airport, hotel, everywhere in conformity with the program schedule. The cabin was better then my expectation (as at looked in the computer) and a guide with good nature knowledge. The islands are of volcanic origin, the vegetation is not to rich mostly cactuses, but the animal fauna is real unusual rich and special, and not afraid from human presents. The whole think is very interesting and special. I made about 1000 pictures (from both trips) and I can make a video show from then with music background and the whole trip can be seen on TV screen.

The problem with Galapagos is the huge distance from civilization, for every one its very far, but for me not less than 35 hours flight, I don't know how I arrived alive. But I don't regret it for a moment, it was unusual interesting. The lady agent in Peru-Lima came to meet me in the hotel it was very nice and I real hope to be able to meet you too. I wish to remain in contact with you and if you have any idea or deal for the future, please let me know. Again, thank you for all and wish you all the best Your -Dr P Rath

Laura, many thank for your organization. You have organised eveything on a perfect way. The internet page with all the information was great. The information were clear and good to understand.(Plus a user guide, many thanks).

The front desk in the Hotel Patio Andaluz in Quito expected us. Checking in was so easy then. It was a good idea to recommend us this hotel. The location is perfect, the hotel very nice, very clean and a warm atmosphere. We saw also other hotels in Quito, like the Hilton Colon and Mariott. The Mariott is also very good, we took this hotel on our return from the Galapagos cruise, because of the parking space for the car we rented. But the location of the Patio Andaluz is the best you can have in Quito.

When we left Quito for the Galapagos cruise, checking in at the airport in Quito was so easy, I couldn't beleive it. We walked in the airport and went just to a counter of the Airline TAME. The counter officer checked our name, please us to wait a minute and after 1 minute a nice girl picked us up and handled us all information and boarding cards.We received then a blue chain with the name of the cruise arround the neck.

On the arrival in Baltra, guides recognized us on our chain and took care of us It was so easy, you can believe me. On our return from the Galapagos, to receive our car from Avis, it was the same service. All my compliments. It was so easy the book this with you. Many thanks. I wish you mery merry Christmas, that you have good Christmas event with all that thinks around as family, friends, gift, good food. I wish you also a happy new year , good health and that all you wish come true in 2008. Best regards, Raymond

Laura...The trip was very nice and we had a good time. The hotel in Quito...Patio Andaluz...was charming. The tour company that picked us up and delivered us to the airports was teriffic! Always on time, friendly and very efficient. I highly recommend them...especially Alex. The Finch Bay Hotel was very nice..Thank you for all of your assistance...you really did a great job for us. Carl

Laura. I have been travelling since Ecuador so I am a bit behind on e-mails. I don't have my itinerary at hand so I don't have all the hotel names etc but you can match my comments against the itinerary. We found that the local company was very well organized and attentive. They met us at the airport as planned and recommended that we do the city tour very early before our trip to Otavolo at the end of the week.

They felt we would need time to rest as the altitude impact would hit us harder if we were active in any way. We took their advice. The altitude effects were strong the first day (headaches and dizzy) but started to ease off by the second day. Even after a week though, a high activty level would have been difficult. Travellers should take this into account for sure.

We had Odette Morillo as our first guide as far as Riobamba with Ramero as our driver. Odette had lived in Canada, so her English was excellent. We went through a fair bit of country side to see the real Ecuador, off the main roads. She arranged for us to stop in very interesting Haciendas for coffee and lunch and bought small things for us to see or taste from vendors enroute. We found the Riobamba accommodation at Abraspungo lovely.

Some TripAdvisor comments were not as positive but it looked like a few rooms very extremely small and worn. We had a huge two- room space with a very modern bath. Travellers do need to take warm cloths to sleep in as there is no room heat - we were fine. The food was very good at the Inn. At Odette's suggestion we had the Inn arrange a taxi tour of Riobamba just before the sun went down. The next morning we had Javier Cufrrerol met us at the Inn. He came up from Cuenca to get us. Again two interesting days of exploring off the main roads into villages and farms in his 4 wheel drive. The Cuenca hotel was traditional style - almost European, but lovely. Again we had a huge room overlooking the river, good service and good food in their dining room.

Cuenca is a gorgeous and surprisingly safe city to walk around. We had a full day visiting the city and some nearby towns. The guide took us to see several small artisan studios off the beaten track where there was no pressure to buy, just to see the traditional techniques of weaving, pottery ect, we ate interesting (safe) foods in the markets at his suggestion and he went out of his way to locate a wool shop for me to buy Alpaca knitting wool.

We enjoyed a visit to the Cuenca Panama hat factory. We ate lunch in a lovely terraced restaurant in Cuenca. The following weekend, we were back with Odette to visit Otavalo. We had a early morning city tour of Quito then off to visit many market towns to the north. The itinerary was easily adjusted to suit our interests and pace. Again wonderful lunch spots on both days (hacienda's) and our hotel was magnificent. They gave us a huge double bedroom/sitting room with a fireplace. The staff set the fire for us during dinner.

We enjoyed their tradition of a welcome warm cocktail, snacks and local music before dinner. We had difficulties flying from Cuenca to Quito - they closed the Quito airport just 5 minutes before landing so we diverted to Guayaquil. Odette had given us her cell so we called her and they did their best to try and follow what was happening to our flight. Odette's driver Ramero stayed at the airport until very late just in case, but we did not get back to Quito that night. In the morning, the tour driver was back at the airport waiting to collect us. This was very good service. This was one of our best South America trips to date (there have been many).

Your local representatives ensured that in each hotel/inn we had excellent accomodations, bottled water, good food etc. The guides were both very knowledgable and spoke English well. All in all, we were well looked after. Thank you. Kelly

Laura, We intended to write to you as soon as we arrived back home. We enjoyed our trip. Everything went smoothly and on time. The boat, the crew members, the food and the cruises everyday were more than satisfactory. Specially we enjoyed our knowledgeable and nice guide. Best regards, Hanna.

I booked a boat tour of the Ecuadors Galapagos Islands with Sandra Benavides, an agent for Latindiscover. Sandra provided an impeccable service far beyond my expectations. I anticipate booking through Latindiscover in the future and will definitely request Sandra Benavide's service.

Sandra, everything worked out well at hotel Quito and they did not charge me for the 12th. Thank you very,very much. My trip went precisely as you had planned it for me. It was indeed a fine trip in so many ways. Thank you very much. Kind regards, David

Laura, We were very pleased with our trip on the Beagle, in fact I cannot think of a way to improve on it. The boat is beautiful and very well maintained, the quality of the rooms and service was better than most 4 star hotels I have stayed in (it even had excellent private hot shower and toilet facilities). The staff were friendly and efficient, the food and drinks were excellent, we felt very welcome on board. There were many nice touches such as hot cocktails after snorkeling trips and one day of navigating under sail. In particular the itinerary and guide (Camilo) were superb, we saw a very wide variety of island geology and wildlife, every day was a great adventure. I was especially impressed with the fact that we still had great trips on the changeover days at each end of the trip. On the first day, after being picked up from the airport we went to North Seymour and were immediately surrounded by boobies, frigates, sea lions, land and marine iguanas etc. On the last day we had an early morning visit to a mangrove swamp on Santa Cruz where we saw large flocks of blue footed boobies diving for fish together. Thanks for arranging the trip. Regards, Giles.

Laura, We had a fantastic time in Galapagos. The Coral I was a beautiful boat and the crew and guides were excellent. We also found the itinerary to be very good and enjoyed going to some of the further islands like Fernandina. Thank you very much for all your help in arranging our trip! Everything went very smoothly. We will definitely recommend Latin Discover to our friends. Kind Regards, Adam