Luxury Galapagos Islands Tours

We just returned from a trip to Peru and the Galapagos Islands. We visited Lima, the Amazon, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Cusco, with an overnight stay in Quito.

The Zicasso-recommended travel agency created the perfect itinerary for us. All of the transitioning from place to place was seamless, the hotels were beautiful, the recommendations for restaurants were great, and the guides we had were amazing. They were so enthusiastic and willing to share their knowledge about past and current history. We were so impressed with our travel agency that we are already considering our next journey with them.

Excellent airport/hotel pick-up and drop-off services, as well as ground transportation services. When we arrived at an airport or train station, there was always a person with a big sign that has our names and the company logo on it. Our flight from Lima to Quito was delayed by 5.5 hours (a night flight became a red-eye flight), and sure enough, when we exit the gate there was a tour guide waiting with a cup of hot coffee.

Because of the flight delay we were tired and decided not to do the day time Quito City exploring and Middle of the World  tour. We asked if we can change the itinerary by moving the activities to the day when we return from the Galapagos Islands. Our travel agent and company agreed without any hesitation so we had one full day of rest at the hotel. After our enjoyable Galapagos Islands cruise trip, our guide took us to the Middle of the World and arranged a nice dinner at a restaurant by a volcano crater. Although it was rainy and turned dark so really no too much scenic view, our experience on the equator line of the Middle of the World park was truly amazing. We appreciate our guide's effort trying to show us as much as possible within a limited time frame.

Our Machu Picchu trip was also excellent. Our guide picked the right time to enter the site and on a path that took us the least energy to walk through the site. She also took us to some spots for pictures that had the least tourist traffic. Her stories about the site was so interesting and informative. Our next day's 2nd entrance to the site turned out a good decision by staying overnight at the small town by Machu Picchu. We were able to hike to the "Sun Gate" and had different views of Machu Picchu.

The guide was amazing. His knowledge about Cuzco and its surrounding points of interests made our Cuzco city tour so culture rich. The other guide was also worth mentioning, for his on-time pick-up/drop-off services with good explanation about the local neighborhood when we asked. 

We had a very nice trip to Quito, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands. The people in Quito were very friendly and we felt very safe. We were initially concerned based on what we saw in the media, but Zicasso's travel agency checked with the hotel and guides, and said all was fine. We are glad we listened and went on the trip.

Our guide was excellent and we spent four days touring around Quito, Cotopaxi, the cloud forest, and Otavalo Market. Then we flew to Galapagos and went on a four-night cruise. It was an amazing experience seeing sea turtles, sea lions, penguins, sharks, and giant tortoises. The landscapes were beautiful and we got some great pictures on our nature walks. The crew and guide in the Galapagos were top-notch. The meals on the boat were fabulous as well. Make sure you are physically able to do long walks, sometimes on rough terrain, and go snorkeling, as they kept us busy multiple times per day. We highly recommend visiting Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.