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Testimonials

Please have a look at a little of the feedback we have received from clients over the years...

Here at South America we firmly believe in the feedback of our clients, be it good or bad, as it really is the key to us moving forwards and improving our service and the overall experience. With the price of hotels and flights only on the increase we feel it is important to know where we have gotten things right and where wrong. In the below, please see what our clients are saying about us and judge for yourself. (please note that ALL of the reviews we feature are 100% real and unedited. If you would like to speak to any of our past clients please let us know).

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Hi Holly,

Thanks for following up and arranging the tour for me! All in all, I had a great time! In particular, the scenery at the salt lake, Antarctica and Patagonia was superb! The camper trip and the campfire was a unique experience. My only complaint was the food at the one night at the Salt Lake Hotel and the one at the cruise could be improved. Otherwise, I enjoyed the services and the decor at the 2 Tierra hotels and the Singular Hotel. I’d definitely recommend you to other people from HK who might want a similar tour.

Regards
Angela

Angela and Clarice

Hi Nick and Holly

We just wanted to say a very big thank you to you both for helping us to arrange and organise a really memorable trip.
All our Airport transfers were perfect and it was a treat to be met at the different Airports and driven to our Hotels.
We loved Buenos Aires and the Hotel Classic was perfect, staff very friendly and helpful.
The location was good breakfasts nice and we would definitely recommend it.
By the way we did 2 cycle tours to the North and South of the city, it was a real fun way to see the different areas, the cycling was easy and we had fabulous informative and caring guides, the company was BA bikes - highly recommended.
Next stop Bariloche, the hotel Charming was excellent, breakfasts and restaurant very good.
The location and accommodation was very good, fantastic setting right on the lake and again would highly recommend this hotel.
By the way we got a free upgrade on our last night to a superior room with dry sauna and Scottish steam shower.

Pleased we didn't stay in the town.
We did a seven lakes tour organised thro the hotel, was great.
Next Salta.
Here unfortunately we felt the hotel was very isolated and too far from the centre.
The hotel itself had lots of character and the food was good, but was definitely too far out for us. We visited the Maam museum which was very interesting.

The 2 day tour was fabulous, we shared with a couple from Zurich and our guide Raul Zanotta was excellent, his English was perfect and he was very informative , we saw Incredible scenery and Raul really went out of way to stop and show us wonderful sights.
The Hotel in Purmamarca was fine, perhaps we could have been a little closer to the town centre but was a lovely setting.

Next was Iguazu, the falls are amazing and we loved the Lois suites right in the jungle.
The Argentinian side tour was excellent, our guide was Gustavo and although we weren't too happy about getting up so early, it was best as we got there before all the crowds.
The Brazilian tour was also excellent our tour guide was Maria .
The wedding was lovely in Florianopolis and our friends had arranged coaches and we were well looked after.
Final stop Rio, the Sofitel in Copacabana was great and the location was superb.
The staff were super friendly and in fact we were able to keep,our room till 5.00 pm on the day of departure.
We also did a Favela tour arranged thro the hotel, it was a Jeep Tour and our guide was David Santos, he was excellent and it was a real eye opener to see how the people live in the Favelas. The favela was called Rochino
We did a full day tour on the Friday before we left with Rodrigo the guide who collected us from the Airport when we first arrived.
I think we saw and did everything, Rodrigo also went out of his way to show us around.
It was a really fabulous holiday and once again many thanks.
We might add that the drivers who took us to the Airports for onward flights were extremely helpful and saw us up to the departure desks.
Mike and I wish you both and your respective families a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Regards
Mike and Jennifer

Mike and Jennifer

Hello,

Further to our discussion this is just to say that the whole trip was memorable and everything went smoothly.

The organisation was excellent and we we had a wonderful time.

The trip to Estancia Dos Lunas was rather too long (1 hour on rough road), but it was worth it when we got there: a special place.

Club Tapiz was really pleasant, although the place probably needs a little updating now.
Wonderful inventive food and very generous servings of their excellent wines.

Eolo hotel was amazing and, although very expensive, a most worthwhile experience. Excellent food, attentive service, wonderful location.

Thank you for all your assistance and organisation.

Kind regards,
Roddy

Roddy and Julia

Hi Nick
Now we have our feet back on the ground, I just wanted to let you know that we had a fantastic, amazing and truly awesome trip! Thanks to you and your team for your suggestions and for organising everything for us. It was a holiday we will never forget: beautiful country, friendly people - and we were even incredibly luck with the weather...
Thank you so much!

...As far as the holiday is concerned, it was truly wonderful – the holiday of a lifetime, which is quite something as we have already been to some pretty special places such as the Okavanga Delta, Singapore and Malaysia, Colombia and Tropical North Quensland. The accommodation was all outstandingly good and the service very friendly and obliging. Having our own car was a real bonus, allowing us to explore:
· Around Santiago
· The coast to the north and south of Valparaiso
· The more remote bits of Chiloe Island
With the benefit of hindsight it was not necessary to have a car while we stayed at Patagonia Camp (where the guides were excellent), although even then it was good to be able to stop and explore when we wanted when we were driving between Punta Arenas and the camp.
Valparaiso was fantastic – wonderfully chaotic and bizarre! Chiloe was beautiful and unspoilt. Torres del Paine was spectacularly beautiful - with a vast amount of wild fauna. All three places were totally unique in their own way. Perhaps the only criticism would be that some of the food, at Patagonia Camp, was fairly ordinary but adequate. And the weather was unusually good in Patagonia – no wind or rain, wall to wall Sun, and warm.

Thanks for organising it.

Kind regards
Jan and Richard

Jan and Richard

Hi Holly and Nick,

The new destination Antarctica is truly exciting! Luc and I had a great and memorable time on board of the Hebridean Sky.

Some suggestions that maybe useful for other travelers visiting Uruguay and Argentina:

Hotel Serena in Punta Del Este has great views on the beach but is bit out of the city center. Friendly staff advised on tours and especially the city tour is a must-do: take the Spanish tour, it saves you a lot of money, and it's fun! Casa Pueblo was the last stop in the tour, and while we already visited the museum, go to the hotel restaurant next door. You will experience Casa Pueblo with a different view. We liked it very much.
Parador La Huella, one of the best restaurants in Uruguay, unfortunate is too far. We paid almost 150USD for the taxi, and although the food/location is good, a diner in hotel Serena, might be as good as well if you are willing to spend a bit more.

Olivia Luxury Hotel, liked the hotel and location, but for diner suggest to take one of the restaurants in the neighborhood; and if you are in Montevideo, a visit to a wine house is quite nice to visit for a tour and lunch. They a have a couple of 'famous' locations!

Hebridean Sky, professional crew and expedition team, you won't get bored! Diner is excellent. The cruise ship is luxury, but quite small: when the weather is not that good you will have more days at sea! To visit Antarctica itself, later in the year (not early spring) and taking a cruise from Ushuaia might be a better option. We have seen a lot of South Georgia, and landed at South Orkney, all very interesting, but we spend limited time in Antarctica itself. Kayaking is a great experience (definitely recommended), but the max 16 people is still a lot, so the less number who can subscribe, the better.

In Ushuaia Arakur hotel is a great choice. The outside pool provides views of the city, and around the hotel you can walk in the beautiful forest. Viejo Marino restaurant is worth the waiting for having the King Crab.

Back in Buenos Aires, Legado Mitico hotel, is a great small hotel. We loved the overnight stay, walking around in the Palermo neighborhood and diner in nearby restaurant. Tigre is nice to go too, especially when the weather is sunny.

Overall, again, a great vacation!

Best regards,
Inez and Luc


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Inez and Luc

Dear Nick

Thank you so much for organising our holiday to Chile at such short notice the entire trip was perfect and fantastically planned.

Going from the Atacama desert to trekking and horse riding in Torres Del Payne,finishing our holiday in the wine region where we managed to chill out.

The people you used in the various regions were always on time,courteous and eager to help with our requests such as recommending a restaurant or shopping from local artisans.

We are already thinking of our next adventure with your company having enjoyed such a great holiday .

Kind regards
Michelle and Sue


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Michelle and Sue

Holly:

It was an awesome trip and you did a great job planning it. Legado Mitico provided great service, the rooms were beautiful and being in Palermo was a major plus; probably the best neighborhood in Argentina. Jeremy of H&T was a great tour guide, despite the shortened tour.

Punto Tumbo was fascinating; I never knew Penguins built nests into the ground. Plus it was almost, a private tour, as there was only one other couple. One of the highlights, though, was the whale watching. It was truly incredible and nobody wanted to go back to shore after the tour ended! A mother and her calf followed us the entire time. The guide was also very good. (I noticed that very few people tip on these tours, which is a shame). Found a great seafood restaurant in Puerto Madryn as well.

Iguassu’ Falls was the other highlight; it was truly awe inspiring. We were so exhausted after our visit that we skipped the boat tour. We had more than a full day’s worth of activities. LOI Suites was great and I wish we had an extra day just to hang around. We also found another seafood restaurant in the city and have “river” fish.

Mendoza was a spectacular experience. The wine tour and driver from Kahuak made the trip extra special. She was truly very knowledgeable about wine, wineries and the industry. She deserves an A++ Drinking Malbec will never be the same for me after learning so much about the wine and its production. Can you get her contact information so I can provide her with a stellar review? On our last evening we attended a “taste of Mendoza festival” which was much nicer than Taste of Chicago.

Finca Adelgisa was a great choice and they couldn’t have been more hospitable. I think it was a better choice than Club Tapiz.

When we returned to BA, Legado Mitico upgraded us to a suite at no charge. Interestingly, on the way back to Ezeiza there was an “environmental protest” on the expressway. The road was blocked by burning tires, which isn’t environmental in itself. It took 2 hours but we had plenty of time.

Thanks again for making our trip special. I would be happy to post a review on your website and share some pictures with you.


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Mark and Shelley

Hi Holly

Thanks for your note. I had a wonderful time and am very grateful for your help in shaping and arranging the trip. I saw some amazing sights. Some of them, like Iguazu, Corcovado and Sugar Loaf mountain felt like world class experiences. But I also loved Colonia, the architecture in Brasilia and being right on Copacabana beach. I really appreciated your behind-the-scenes organisational skills before I went, and your readiness to deal with any query. I also want to thank you very much for how quickly you responded when my ferry to Montevideo was cancelled. All in all, a super trip. I will very happily recommend you to others.

In terms of hotel by hotel, I thought this might be useful to you:

- Legado Mitico, BA - absolutely wonderful place. Hugely stylish design, great staff, great location - and a wonderful lounge area.
- Hotel Charco, Colonia - lovely room; really nice staff; great restaurant (best in Colonia as it happens) with wonderful views
- La Cantera Jungle Lodge - the setting and the rooms are very good; the restaurant area needs some modernisation and the food was fairly average
- Royal Tulip Brasilia - very impressive design; very comfortable; given the size of the place, the restaurant worked very efficiently with a high quality buffet service model morning and evening. V nice quiet location by the lake and the presidential palace. It’s a decent taxi ride though if you wanted to go out into the city in the evening.
- Miramar, Rio - great location, super views, comfortable hotel, plenty of places to eat and drink nearby

Hope all that helps.

Thanks for everything

Ben

Ben

Hello Holly.
Thank you for dropping me a line – I’d been meaning to write to you to say thank you.

Everything you arranged for us worked perfectly – from flights to transfers to excursions. We didn’t have a care in the world, other than to have a good time – and we certainly did. It was a sensational holiday from start to finish.

All of the drivers spoke brilliant English and were (proud) and knowledgeable about the places we were visiting; each of them offered great tips for things to do, places to eat, etc.

The glacier was the clear highlight, with dinner at La Tablita the night before the excursion also exceptional. The hotel in El Calafate was probably our least favourite (the décor was a bit tired and the breakfast was disappointing) but it was perfectly adequate. I know it was our idea to stay there, so I’m telling you just for future reference for other customers; I’m certainly not moaning. And in fact the view was fantastic from up on the hill and to my mind that more than made up for the lacklustre food.

The hotel in Salta was lovely – the best room of the bunch (thank you for organising the upgrade). The hotel staff couldn’t have been more helpful. The only comment here was that the hire car was a bit tatty and probably could have done with being a small SUV or 4x4 given the (stunning) drive we had through the mountains to Cafayate. No complaint about Agustina from the hire car company by the way. She was very friendly and helpful and had some great ideas for things to do in the region.

Iguazu was also a great few days, and the Loi Suites a lovely hotel. Minor gripes: we found the bar/restaurant staff slightly inattentive at times and there are LOTS of children playing in the pool during the day, so if you have customers who are looking for peace and quiet, you might want to put them somewhere else. Overall, we were very happy though.

Just to reiterate, I’ve only shared the slightly less good bits in case you find it useful for advising clients in future. We had a brilliant time – and now the process of telling every living soul about our trip is taking almost as long as the trip itself. I ate 15 steaks while I was out there, so you may soon also get a letter from my doctor.

We took hundreds of photos, so we’ll see if we can find a few good ones to share on your site.

Thanks again – a job very well done on your part.

Tom

PS I forgot to mention the Nuss Hotel. Very good – lovely staff, the best-cooked breakfast of all the hotels, and a perfect location for getting around all the tourisity bits. Spot on.

Tom and Rachel

Hi Holly,

My husband Chris and I want to extend our sincerest gratitude to you and the team at the south america specialists.
We had the best honeymoon we could've dreamed of...Chile was an unbelievable country we both fell in love with.
Thank you for all of your guidance throughout the process of planning our trip, and we hope to work with you again in the future!

Best,
Laura & Chris

Laura & Chris

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