Central America Volcanoes Trips

Our tour manager was excellent. She had a great eye for spotting large and small native flora and fauna. We felt like we saw the best of Costa Rica in a little over a week.

We like Explore! because of the small group mode of all the tours we've done with Explore! (5, so far). The Greek Island Wanderer was 5 guests and a guide, and we had 3 in our party. So, it was the smallest group ever for us. But it was like friends taking a tour and one of them happened to be a local expert. Panajotis was a brilliant tour guide who is passionate about his adopted country. I can't say enough about the tour guide, Pan. The calm nature he presented while the gears were turning in his head to find us the best places for history, the views, the coffee shops and restaurants plus the people of the places we visited. He figured out how to accommodate me and my need for MORE and my wife who's a marathoner but a shopper too. Plus, our cousin Gary with a physical limitation and a lady fresh out of an April surgery who was a total Champ. Folks could dial into all they wanted or chill out with the options Pan offered for 2 weeks. Just brilliant. Overall, the tour was fantastic, so my inputs are really only the stand-out goods or bads. Starting in Athens, the Evripides Hotel was a great choice. The location and the facility offered everything we needed. Initially, it seemed to be in a bad part of town, but it turns out that Athens just looks like that all over and its just fine. The location is unbeatable. We loved the long walks through Athens despite the heat. My wife would have added a few more water or refreshment stops. We absolutely loved the ferries. That's something new for Americans. The schedule was nice between islands allowing just enough time to really see the top spots. We also loved taking the night ferry to Paros. The Mykonos option was fun because of the Super Express Ferry, and we skipped the ruins stop. I’d have been happier staying on Naxos for that day but, indeed, Mykonos is a must-see on most folks list, so I’d do it again. I’d call it marginal. The Francois Hotel on Syros was a low spot. Its very small and the shower stall was ridiculous. We were glad to move on. Each island had its own charm, and the accommodation was just right in all the other places. On Santorini, Pan took us into an art Gallery where he knows the proprietors. I'm a rather-be-hiking guy but my wife and our cousin thoroughly enjoyed that visit. They both suggested more museum and gallery stops. Again, Panajotis made the trip what it was. I’m glad we had him almost all to ourselves even though we usually consider that the other guests and their experiences and conversation to easily be 50% of the reason for traveling in the first place. We’ll be perusing the Explore! Website soon for our next adventure.

Loved the trip, it was everything I hoped for and more! The trip followed the itinerary and had lots of exciting things to do. I loved the hiking, the group/leader, and itinerary.

A very interesting tour through a less well known part of the world. We were on four islands and saw the differences and similarities among them. Some of the walks were much harder than I anticipated from the tour description but it is fine to skip a walk if you are not up for it that day. A highlight was a soak in a hot mineral pool. Good food, comfortable hotels, friendly people. Our tour guide, Coco, was outstanding. I would highly recommend this tour.

Azharudin is a fantastic tour guide who very passionate about his work and cares very much about his clients. He is extremely knowledgeable and is a very decent human being who is prepared to go the extra mile. Finally, he .supplied the group with some excellent photos and videos of the trip.

Great holiday, good walks - some fairly demanding, some easy, and always wonderful views. Our guide was very knowledgeable and informative and fun and introduced us to lots of cultural nuances that we would otherwise have missed. The accommodation was good but a bit 'corporate' - i.e. we could have been anywhere in the world, I would have preferred a more authentic and local feel. we were introduced to local cuisine, which was interesting, but not to everyone's taste! Overall very enjoyable and efficiently run.