10 Days in Andes Mountains

We had the pleasure of working with Carlos and Joel from Best Andes Travel to plan our honeymoon. I found Best Andes Travel through various online searches (maybe a Frommer’s article?), and felt at ease knowing I was working with a US company. Joel arranged the Galapagos Island portion of our honeymoon (which ended up being my favorite part). He was very patient with me, as my husband and I went back and forth many times deciding what we wanted to do/what dates/etc. He was always quick to respond to emails, and always kept me updated of how the process was going. He found us a last minute deal on the Cormorant Yacht, which turned out to be the best boat on the water (I seriously recommend this boat – the ultimate in luxury, as far as luxury at the Galapagos Islands goes)! I ended up waiting til almost the last minute to give Joel our preferred dates, but he was still able to have everything booked, organized and paid for in less than a week or two – truly an incredible feat! Joel arranged our flights to and from the Galapagos from Quito, and arranged to have a representative meet us at the airport for the most seamless boarding process ever (it almost worried me how smooth it went!). All our tickets and paperwork to gain entry to the islands were printed and handed to us upon meeting our representative. Our representative was on time, very friendly, and incredibly knowledgeable. I worked with Carlos to plan the Machu Picchu portion of our honeymoom, which we tacked on to the week after the Galapagos portion. He was just like Joel. Incredibly helpful, patient and so quick to respond to emails. He helped put together a custom Peru package for us, since we were unable to do the Inca trail hikes (I was 4 months pregnant and didn’t think it was a great idea). He made it possible for us to still experience Machu Picchu, arranging an incredibly sweet personal tour guide for us. This guide later ended up helping us change a portion of our travel since my husband fell ill (some type of stomach bug, as to be expected!). The hotels Carlos picked for us were great – very reasonably priced, in great locations, and with breakfast included. Again, Carlos worked so quickly to make this all come together. We were very impressed with the quick turnaround! Both Joel and Carlos were very accommodating to me, since I wanted to plan some in-between portions of the trip on my own. They did not push me into having them book things and even offered great tips to help me out. I couldn’t have been happier allowing Best Andes Travel to plan our Galapagos and Machu Picchu honeymoon excursions. You will be in excellent hands if you go with Best Andes Travel and I don’t hesitate at all to recommend them to anyone looking for US based travel coordinators. My husband and I are incredibly grateful for the wonderful trip, and truly owe it to Best Andes Travel for making it possible. Thanks.

I wanted to submit a review for our trip with Best Andes Travel on the Moonstone Trek to Ollataytambo and then on to Machu Picchu. We stayed in Cusco at the Costa Del Sol Ramada and absolutely loved it. Great rooms that are well taken care of with a courteous staff and good breakfast (included). Well positioned in the city with easy access to all amenities.
(Note: this is a long testimonial. You may read it in full, or scroll down to the rest of our testimonials.)
From the moment that we started our orientation to the trek we met our guide, Henrry Chauca, and knew that we were in for a treat. He told us all about Cusco and what to do there. His organizational prowess and intuition for our abilities and understanding were superb. When we actually started the trek I noticed that Henrry was communicating heavily with drivers, wranglers and the cook to make sure that things were not being missed. His lingual knowledge was also prevalent: speaking spanish, english and Quechua with ease and seamless transition. When one of us needed to stop for a restroom break in a small town he knew its exact location and coordinated the stop early for the cook to acquire some of his supplies as well.
My inability to have gluten was discussed between himself and the cook and I never had to worry about it after that. When we started to hike I could tell that there was a subtle testing process at work. Henrry would walk quickly for almost undetectable periods, evaluating if we could increase our pace. He also watched over his shoulder covertly and listened to our breathing to adjust his pace. He called frequent rests and asked us how we were doing to assess our physical fitness and altitude acclimation. When we wanted to push faster he intentionally slowed us, reminding us that we were not used to the altitude and would need to proceed slowly to acclimate better. This was well needed because later at higher altitudes we did in fact struggle more than we anticipated.
Henrry also started asking us our interests and finding key words to use as segways to Peruvian or Quechuan culture and history. He probed us to find out how interested we were in various aspects of Peru and started gaining our trust and respect on a personal level. He asked us about our families and culture in the US to have us in turn do the same with him. Finding out about his past and personal interests became something we were genuinely interested in and soon we were all joking and having long talks while we walked. Wilson’s opinions on issues were completely shrouded and polite and took much probing to discover which is a breath of fresh air compared to the forceful nature of most US patriots’ rantings and annoying behavior.
I completely enveloped myself in the calm and polite respectful nature of Henrry and the other employees that Best Andes Travel/Incan Tours provided us with. We would sit in the dining tent at the end of the day and laugh and joke and make light of the world. It was so comfortable and calm and Peruvian. The feeling that I got from Peru, with Henrry as my instrument of discovery, was one that I grew quickly to love and admire and require more of in the future. What a wonderful human being he is!
On top of all of this, we were astounded by Henrry’s physical abilities. We challenged him to run on a steep grade once and he did so with a gazelle-like ability. It was uncanny and absolutely amazing. In fact, Jesus – our cook, was similarly marvelous in his physical fitness! At 55 years of age he was taking short cuts and bounding over sections of ground like he was a young man in his teens. Truly remarkable. We had an excellent time on this trek.
The food was amazing, the history and culture shared by Henrry exemplary, the jokes and laughter during the trip kept things light and the scenery was breathtaking and challenging as well. Henrry organized the trip perfectly to include our best photos and experiences. He scheduled things perfectly and managed us subtly to make sure that we kept on pace to assure the best parts were not missed.
Thank you so much Best Andes Travel. Thank you so much to Henrry, Jesus, Carlos and Joel. We are already looking forward to our next trip with Henrry and Joel and crew and will recommend this group and trek to many others! Please have any prospective clients feel free to contact me for my recommendation on this trip. It was truly “bucket-list” fulfilling!

“A trip of a lifetime in the Andes” Our guide Juan Carlos was excellent and shared his knowledge of the Inca culture and history. He was patient, kind, and, thoughtful. Safety to the our group took precedence at every turn!. The food was amazing! Three course at every meal. Jesus was our chef. He created Andean meals for us during our journey. The porters were friendly, happy, and attentive. The scenery along the trail was breathtaking. I can’t imagine not doing this hike. For us it was about the journey. We were not disappointed. I would recommend Best Andes Travel to plan your next trip to S. America. Don’t wait. Do it while you’re still young

We loved our entire trip! It was so nice to have everything taken care of (transfers, etc) which all went very smoothly. You did an awesome job coordinating it all.
To begin, we fell in love with Cusco. We wish that we had gone a day earlier to spend more time there but we really enjoyed the limited time that we had. I would highly recommend the full day Sacred Valley Tour as it gave a great overview of the Inca history and we saw some amazing ruins. German Dario (poor guy was stuck with us for days!) was very knowledgeable and proud of the history. The hotel in Cusco suited our needs perfectly.
The trek was truly incredible! As you know, we ended up with a "private" trek which was nice. I don't think that there is anything that I would have changed about this part of the trip. The porters, cook, equipment, etc were all great. I would highly recommend doing the trek vs just going to Machu Picchu as the journey makes it so much more meaningful.
The Eclipse was the perfect boat for us. We had a lower naturalist to tourist ratio and the four naturalists were very experienced and good. The ship had a lot of amenities including a nice outdoor dining deck. The food, service, hospitality, etc were all exceptional. We loved the Galapagos and would have loved to have stayed longer. We enjoyed a city tour in Quito on our last day.
Y'all are the best! Thanks for everything!!

We have just returned from a South American holiday and without a doubt, our Inca Trail hike and Machu Picchu experience was the highlight of this once in a lifetime holiday. We were unsure of exactly what to expect on the trek in terms of the food, equipment and the hike itself. The information we were provided by Best Andes Travel prior to leaving and at the briefing before hand was great.
After we had met our guide, Jesus, we knew we would be in very safe and knowledgable hands. Our group was only small, which was lovely and the bond that we all had after the five day experience was really nice. A huge thank-you to the porters who carried all the gear up and down over steps and inca stones. You guys are just amazing! Campsites were always set-up on arrival and they would always be there to assist in anyway. The food was so yummy and filling. Three courses for most lunches and dinners and some amazing culinary skills in camp like conditions. It really kept us going. But a massive thank-you goes out to Jesus, our guide. He was so passionate and knowledgable about the trek and the area. He was always checking on everyone in the group and making sure each and every one of us were enjoying our time. Best Andes Travel.... He is an asset to your company!! We will highly recommend this trekking group to our family and friends.

very good atencion and beautiful places 10/10