Friends of ours had enjoyed the Sensational South America Contours tour and recommended Contours highly. And I must say that my two friends and I had a ball! I returned to Australia a few days ago, my friends are still there, enjoying their further tour to Patagonia. Two of us had never been to South America and we were quite concerned. Our fears were never realized.
We were so impressed with most of the local guides—their English was good and their knowledge of their topic was extensive, well explained, and with great enthusiasm.
The tour did include all the highlights of the 5 countries we visited and we loved it all. We especially enjoyed how the tour included a stay in the Sacred Valley, to acclimatize to the altitude before we went on to Machu Picchu and Cusco.
We were so surprised to find a young Aussie woman as our tour director. Her 15-years of extensive travel and living throughout Latin America combined with her fluency in both Spanish and Portuguese really enhanced an already great tour. Her sense of humor and fun really helped the disparate group congeal into one unit, again difficult to achieve especially over such a long tour. Daily she went beyond what we could expect to help each of us in so many ways, or spending so much of her own time facilitating our travel and tour plans. Her extensive knowledge of local history and sensitivity to local customs ensured our greater appreciation. And to top it off she always knew great interesting restaurants—or even great places to have pedicures or massages!