Balkans Active outdoor Trips

The outstanding aspect of this wonderful hike was the planning of the campsites. We stayed largely in smaller campsites out of phase with the 200 other hikers joining the trail every day so one would not have known there were so many people on it. The exception was the final campsite which was unmissable given its views over the Andes and clouds. The other advantage compared with the average tourist is the walk down into Macchu Pinchu, I had previously visited there on a tour and the experience was infinitely better this way.

Great trip, led by an exceptional guide David who cared about our experience and well being, topped off by supreme safety consciousness. Felt welcome, included and a partner on the journey

This was an incredible trip and I highly recommend it to anyone. Shout out to our guide, Arturo, who went above and beyond to ensure we had the best possible trip. My particular highlights were Lake Titikaka and the Inca Trail. The itinerary was perfectly crafted - with the first week a bit slower to allow us to get to used to the altitude, and the second week the walking ramped up with the Inca Trail. It was the perfect itinerary that went at a good pace and allowed us to see lots of Peru in two weeks. Thank you!

I gave the Plaza Regency (Regency Plaza) a "good" rating only bc the staff was not customer oriented & did not go out of their way. We had a few issues (showers not draining, towels not left in rooms on a daily basis), but there was a major issue, especially with management (specifically a female manager) bc we had picked THIS hotel bc we were coming in early before going to meet the group on our tour date. We had prior communications with the hotel requesting to leave our suitcases in the baggage hold for 2 days while going to Gozo as part of the tour & afterwards the tour would return to this hotel & we'd pick up said luggage. There were 3 of us. (We had been on a prior tour for 2 weeks with another company & didn't want to haul our luggage to Gozo.) The hotel responded positively that we could store our luggage for the 2 days, YET once there there insued a 2 day argument with management ensued whereby they refused to hold our larger luggage. Because one of our members knew the name of the person from previous correspondence, management finally relented, allowed the holding of our luggage, however, they would not take responsibility for it & they promised to reprimand the person giving the initial permission to hold our luggage. (This should not have been communicated to us, very unprofessional. ) This was a stressful beginning to our Malta excursion. Honestly, I have put this ordeal on Social Media with Expedia, Booking.com, Trip Advisor and on Facebook. I only mentioned the hotel, not the travel company. The travel company was excellent & had nothing to do with the luggage issue. What a shame bc there was nothing wrong with the hotel physically and it was in an excellent locale, it's just that the management was so bad. I travel 3-4 major trips around the world each year & have never encountered such abhorrent behavior on the part of any hotel.

This tour was everything I dreamt of and more. KK our tour guide/driver/organiser was just fantastic. How he drove through the flooded national parks without getting bogged I’ll never know. He was so knowledgeable about the animals and birds we saw and never became impatient at our questions and how long we stopped to see the animals and birds. The sighting of the cheetah and two cubs found by KK before any other safari vehicles arrived was extraordinary. I also really enjoyed the travelling to and from the national parks watching the daily life of the Botswanian people. It’s a challenging trip as you are in a safari vehicle for hours at a time but if you really want to immerse yourself into wildlife viewing you couldn’t ask for more.

Nicaragua should be on everybody’s travel list. A stunning and unique country with very few tourists. It was like travelling back in the 90’s. Book direct with Vapues in Nicaragua, who are excellent. Our guide, Oskar was superb.