Ecuador's highlands & Galapagos Traveller Reviews

The Galápagos are a unique destination and did not fail to impress. Each day was different, each island was different. And this so much to see. Ecuador also was good, but wet a lot of the time, we had some very good experiences though.

The service was professional and very friendly. They always made time to answer each question thoroughly and we're most reassuring. They had recent in depth knowledge of the area. The tour leader in Ecuador was great, knowledgable, available but never intrusive.

Trip to Ecuador (Quito and Mndo) and Gapagos cruise (MV Grace)

Very helpful, superb organisation

Having listened to what makes me tick an itinerary was organised for 2 days in Quito, 8 day cruise in the Galapagos (Seaman II boat) and 2 weeks in Colombia. It was 1st tailor made holiday ever. In Quito I visited the Old Town and caught a cable-car up a volcano, then got a horse to go to the top. Galapagos has a special place in my heart. We did 2 talks a day and 2 snorkels a day. I will treasure my snorkelling memories: swam with Turtles, Penguins, Rays, Sharks, and the best...played with 2 sea lions in the sea for around 10 minutes. The crew were so attenetive, food amazing and the guide was superb. In Colombia just did 1 night in Bogota, then myself and a friend were driven via Zipaquira salt cathedral (our transfer driver/guide did our tour and got us in early before the crowds arrived!) to Villa de Leyva, a beautiful town with a stunning (& massive) town square. After a half-day exploring the next day we hired bikes and cycled to Pozus Azules, some pretty blue lakes, a local vineyard, and a local dinosaur museum (the sweetest girl gave us a guided tour in excellent English. Beautiful scenery. The next day we tansferred back to Bogota and flew to Armenia for coffee country. Stayed at the fabulous Hacienda Bambusa. We were kindly upgraded to a suite with our own balcony with a hummingbird feeder. We were entranced by the hummingbirds, the 1st we'd seen in the wild. Did a cycle round the estate (magical...banana plantations, cacao, papaya, loads of birds, Brehmen cattle, bamboo forest). Booked on to a few tours via Bambusa: tour of a nearby coffee plantation, (lovely guide, beautiful, varied walk with an adorable Retriever dog that I wanted to adopt), bird watching (Camilo our guide was excellent, saw over 100 birds, almost all exotic, all on the Estate), and horse-riding (v safe horses, varied terrains, lots of incredible views, water buffalo, pineapple plantations, plantains, trekking through maize taller than us). Service at Bambusa was incredible...sunbathing by the pool you get treated to water, then iCE CREAM!, "happy hour" (possibly free! cocktails before Dinner with the other guests). Dinner each night was served in a different location, always enchanting, with beautiful place settings. The 2 Managers were excellent...highly recommend! Next stop was Cartagena. Stunning Old Town with narrow streets, balconied buildings, flowers everywhere, sundowner drinks at Cafe Del Mar. Visited Playa Blanca....carribbean golden sands and azure blue sea. Pina Colada out of a pineapple. Then Santa Marta (best food in Colombia at Ouzo restaurant), stopping off point for Tayrona beach. Tayrona was paradise, Sierra Nevada mountains meet green rain forests, meets golden beaches with perfect rock-lined bays. I stayed in EcoHabs, private cabins that look like hobbit huts with views over the sea and sands. Waking up to those sunrises, and falling asleep to the sound of that perfect sea was the perfect end to the trip of a lifetime.

Jack Brooker/Journey Latin America. Recommended to me by a friend. Spent a good bit of time listening to me 1st about my wishes. Gave me a steer and guidance where needed. A very collaborative approach. And very approachable. We did lots of tweaks to the itinerary over time, but he was happy with this. All the transfers worked well (on time, excellent English, informative). Even before I decided on the above countries JLA sent out 2/3 page leaflets on the countries of South America that I was interested in. It were these that made up my mind where to go. Other info from other operators was baffling.

We had a wonderful time on the JLA Albatross Tour of Ecuador and the Galapagos. The Galapagos islands were all we hoped for and more and with an excellent local guide and a good ship and crew we were immensely well cared for both on the individual island visits and in the sea when snorkelling. We saw so much wildlife up close including the wonderful snorkelling with turtles,rays and seal lions that just travelled alongside with you, curious to know what you were and so many spectacular fish - just a breathtaking place. The local people we met throughout Ecuador were all so friendly and cheerful it was humbling to be made so welcome and to be treated as guests rather than just another tourist.A lovely country and well worth visiting - we certainly hope to return again.

JLA and it partner Metropolitan Touring did a excellent job in ensuring we had a wonderful holiday and we will be booking to go back to S. America with JLA again

A wonderful trip to Quito, the Napo wildlife centre and the Galapagos on the Grace. All completely wonderful - mind blowingly beautiful!

A perfect and completely smooth running holiday despite many locations and flights etc. Everything was perfectly arranged and happened seamlessly. Journey Latin America and their representatives could not have been more professional and charming.

Excellent organisation, guides, transport (mostly) and great success for us. Partially group tour and partially extensions. Enjoyed it greatly.

JLA did a good job working with other companies to provide extensions.