Holiday review by Mrs. Sheila Griffiths
Name: Mrs. Sheila Griffiths
Date of trip: 16/09/2015
Number of people: 2
Had wanted to visit Machu Picchu for many years - (should have done the Inca Trail 'proper' 20 years ago!). But the first real sight of the scale of Machu Picchu was awe inspiring.
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© Wyndham Costa Del Sol
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© Casa Andina Premium Puno
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Tribes Overall:
Surpassed all expectations. Everything ran smoothly, pick-ups and transfers, the guides, the drivers et al.
Tribes Service:
Paul guided us in refining our itinerary and answered all our questions (sometimes probably daft ones!). His advice to consider Suasi Island when I wasn't keen on the home-stay proved to be the perfect end to our very busy trip. Thanks Paul.
Guides:
All the guides, without exception, were knowledgeable and clearly eager to share their knowledge and love for their country, the history and the wildlife.
Edison in Cusco/Machu Picchu - particularly brought the history alive and added to our experience..
Transport and the drivers were excellent. Prompt and helpful.
Social & Environmental Responsibility:
Very difficult to judge. Certainly the Heath River Lodge and Sandoval Lake Lodge made great efforts to minimise the impact of travellers on the environment. Guide (Pepe) referred to environmental issues at various points.
Cusco/Machu Picchu - perhaps a different story.
The places you stayed
© Wyndham Costa Del Sol
Wyndham Grand Costa del Sol Lima Airport
Lima airport
Ideal airport location for us as flying straight out the next morning. Good room and breakfast.
Heath River Wildlife Centre
Peru
Obviously not a 5 star luxury hotel room but was perfect for this type of experience. Everything was clean, food was good the staff were all very friendly - what more can you want.
Sandoval Lake Lodge
Peru
Perhaps slightly more comfortable than Heath River, but then it is less remote so 'horses for courses'.
Casa Andina Cusco Plaza
Peru
Rooms and breakfast good and all in all a perfect location to explore Cusco as so central.
Pakaritampu
Peru
A lovely hotel, lovely room overlooking the gardens with llamas grazing outside. Excellent breakfast which set us up perfectly for our first visit to Machu Picchu.
El MaPi
Peru
A busy hotel perfectly situated for an overnight stay in order to revisit Machu Picchu. On arrival at 5:30 pm was given the option of dinner at 6:30 pm or 9:30 pm. Opted for 6:30 as didn't think we would still be awake at 9:30!! Dinner service was very chaotic and very slow - for us. Though we were one of the first to arrive, we were one of the last to be served as the staff attended to a large group of Japanese tourists, (who arrived at 6:45pm), before the smaller groups and individual guests like ourselves. Just a bit irritating but the food was good when it came.
© Casa Andina Premium Puno
Casa Andina Premium Puno
Lake Titicaca & Puno
Just an overnight stay here before travelling to Suasi Island. Room was fine, breakfast was good.
There was a message waiting at reception on arrival to say that we were being picked up at 6:20am (for Suasi Island I thought). Fortunately our guide who had brought us to the hotel read the message properly and spotted that the pick-up was for a transfer to Bolivia. He then spent a good 20 minutes on the phone sorting it all out. Turned out that the hotel had made the error and the message was for someone of a similar name staying at the hotel. Thank you to the guide for sorting it all out as it was certainly very confusing at the time.
Hotel Isla Suasi
Peru
A perfect end to a brilliant but busy trip. Idyllic location and everything as expected. On our first night there were 2 other couples, second night just 1 other couple.
Such a lovely place with lovely helpful staff and I worry that it is not sustainable with so few visitors! Sunset from the top of the island was worth the climb. Also so lucky to view the lunar eclipse from here.
