Holiday review by Mr. Ian Gardiner

Name: Mr. Ian Gardiner

Date of trip: 22/09/2018

Number of people: 2

We had a giggle, haven’t laughed so much in ages! Highlights were in many cases things we did over and above the itinerary, such as: Getting so wet in a boat to the base of Iguazú Falls that waterproofs were rendered pointless! Jumping from a 6m high platform into the waters near Bonito Seeing jaguar twice in Pantanal - yay! Being brave enough to hire Boris bikes in Rio and cycling the complete coastline Hiring a beach buggy on Noronha on day one and enjoying it so much we did the same on days two and three

  • Pool at Hotel Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil © Hotel Santa Teresa

    Pool at Hotel Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • Belmond Das Cataratas – aerial view © Belmond Hotels

    Belmond Das Cataratas

  • Hotel Cabanas

     

  • Caiman Ecologilcal Refuge

     

  • Scenery at Caiman Ecological Refuge

     

  • Cordiheira suite at Caiman Ecological Refuge

     

  • Spot jaguars at Caiman Ecological Refuge

     

  • The swimming pool at Dolphin Hotel

     

  • Dolphin Hotel guest room

     

  • A beach near Dolphin Hotel

     

  • Dolphin Hotel pool and daybeds

     

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Tribes Overall:

Loved it. Great itinerary - it was like having 5 holidays in one!

Tribes Service:

Yes we had a hiccup on the luggage front, but the response to this could not have been better. Aside from that we’ve been very impressed again.

Guides:

Generally very good. Having a non English speaking driver to take us from Campo Grande to Bonito was a bit of a challenge given our lack of Portuguese but we all took it in good humour.

Social & Environmental Responsibility:

As the question says, it’s difficult to assess. The one piece of feedback that we’d give is that we learned from talking to visitors from São Paulo that very little of the entry fees for Noronha actually go towards upkeep of the island but instead flow off to mainland government. That’s heresay of course but if true leaves us a little sad.
Social benefits of tourism in the Pantanal were evident with associated employment at Caiman Lodge.


The places you stayed

Lobby at Hotel Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil © Hotel Santa Teresa

Hotel Santa Teresa

Rio de Janeiro

Great location, nice on site restaurant. Great standard, helpful reception staff.


Belmond Das Cataratas – aerial view © Belmond Hotels

Hotel das Cataratas

Iguazu Falls

Generally very high standard, as to be expected from premium hotel. Concierge and bar staff exceptional. A la carte restaurant a little disappointing.


Hotel Cabanas

Hotel Cabanas

Brazil

Lovely setting, sense of being in the wild. Room was comfortable but didn’t really feel like a treehouse. Breakfast ok, didn’t eat at the hotel in the evenings. Kayaking good fun, though beware the rapids!


Caiman Ecologilcal Refuge

Caiman Ecological Refuge

Brazil

Beautiful setting, food very good and staff excellent. Shame some of our fellow guests were rude Brits with unreasonable expectations but hey, I guess you can’t do anything about that!


The swimming pool at Dolphin Hotel

Dolphin Hotel

Brazil

Room very small, but staff very friendly and sorted lots of stuff for us. Big relief to have an English speaker on reception as Noronha would have been a challenge otherwise.