Fantastic holiday , A real adventure. We saw sights I had only dreamed about. Every day there was something new to wonder at, from the desert at Nasca , to Machu Picchu to Colca Canyon. Fantastic.
I can't recommend this tour enough. Well organized, amazing experience. Hiking was beautiful and the porters and staff were so hard working, they carried everything, set-up camp for us every day/night and allowed guests to immerse in the magic of the Incan culture and natural beauty unencumbered. Also - the food, which was cooked fresh every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner was delicious, healthy and made with care.
Amazing variety of experiences, excellent tour guide and local specialists. I also loved that Trafalgar supports local artists and family run farms. A highlight for me was the Make Travel Matter experience with the weavers.
Our guide Benny was everything I have come to expect from an Explore Guide. Genuine, enthusiastic, interested and interesting. All questions were answered; about our itinerary, the island, our hotels, recommendations for restaurants, food (including allergies/intolerances), drinks, customs, flora and fauna. Benny's knowledge of his homeland is encyclopaedic. I had been to Madeira many times before, and of course the island has changed, whilst maintaining it's essential qualities that I have long treasured. For my husband David, it was his very first visit. Luckily for me, he fell in love with the place too, and we are already trying to fit in a return visit asap.
I was suffering from injuries to both achilles tendons and had thought I would be unable to take part in any of the walks, but decided we would still go on the holiday anyway and make the very best of things. I rang the Explore office about a week beforehand to fill them in and asked them to pass on the information to our guide. I was delighted to find at our initial meeting that Benny had indeed been advised about our situation. Having discussed things with Benny, we gave it a go, and loved the walks that we did. We had a few days off to allow recovery on the days between the walks we did. The walks were stunning in terms of locations. The terrain was very varied, the variety of flora and fauna was better than expected, given the time of year.
The three hotels in which we stayed were in excellent locations, they were spotlessly clean, the staff were very friendly and helpful. The last hotel, in Funchal was a little "tired" but the staff have explained that this year they are undergoing an extensive program of refurbishment to the public areas and to the rooms. Again, I stress, we had NO complaints. We actually stayed there a few additional days after the end of the tour, and thoroughly enjoyed our stay.
I would not hesitate to recommend our guide Benny, this tour, and Explore Holidays in general. Five star ratings from us both!
The entire trip was wonderful. I’m unable to single out just one city or experience because I enjoyed it all equally. I signed up for every optional experience and was not disappointed. I loved the ruins and the history from both our tour director and the specialists brought on in various areas.
