Pura Aventura Reviews

I'm so pleased that you enjoyed Central America so much and that the content and pace of your holiday worked for you. As you discovered, Nicaragua is still such a 'new' place to visit that people who do go there tend to get a huge amount from being there, if nothing else because the locals are so happy to have tourists and proud to show off their country. All the best, Thomas

I'm so glad that you and your family enjoyed yourselves so much. It's also particularly pleasing to hear that you felt that the service was more than you expected. Thank you. As for Cerler being the special place it is, we just keep praying that it stays the way it is. Pre-crisis there were grand plans for extending the resort into the next valley which would then connect it to the French side of the border and motorway from Barcelona. Of course there would be economic benefits to Cerler but it would change the spirit of the place and (selfishly) none of us wants that. All the best, Thomas

I'm delighted that we are delivering consistently well! As you know, I can now take zero credit for this as all of the hard work is done by Sarah and Gloria here in the office and Jaime and Anna over in Cerler so who am I to steal their thunder?! Still, thank you. All the best, Thomas

I'm delighted that you had such a good time. Your holiday is one of our 'biggest' trips taking in Atacama, Patagonia and then over to Argentina to sail to Antarctica. As with all of our holidays, we genuinely strive to 'get it right'. The longer and more complex the holiday, the more the team here and over there have to do to make that happen. It makes the reward of such positive feedback all the sweeter, thank you. All the best, Thomas

From a family who run a major player in the travel industry, your loyalty is a source of some pride and delight for us here. Although it's only 11am, I'm now transported to a warm restaurant settling in for an evening of steak and what? A bottle of Somontano? Ribera de Duero? I can but say thank you both for your feedback and your constancy! All the best, Thomas

Thank you for this lovely feedback. Your praise really belongs to Sarah and Gloria for making sure that things run like clockwork, that's what they do best! All the best, Thomas

I'm disappointed to read this feedback, particularly in the light of your own highly positive feedback immediately after your Galapagos cruise: "I'm back in quito after a wonderful 8 day trip on the chacalote. The boat was great, the crew fine, excellent naturalist/ guide. Also excellent food & interesting iteniery. The one downside was that on the last day we went snorkeling in a area that was somewhat rough, & i not Being a powerful swimmer got into a little trouble & lost a flipper. Another person also lost a flipper. I have no problem paying for something i lose, but they charged each of us $56!! Outrageous for 1 or even a pair of flippers! It shouldn't be more than $10, maybe a little more. You should look into this as it gave us a bad feeling at the end of a terrific cruise. That is, for the future & compensation for me now. Looking forward to hearing from you." That's the email received, verbatim. We have since been in touch with not just the office of Cachalote but the owner herself to make representations on the client's behalf. Our approaches have not been successful. In summary, when clients did not have personal responsibility for the care of their gear, losses were commonplace. Now that clients have that direct personal responsibility, gear losses have reduced dramatically. On board this boat the crew are responsible for the care of the gear and it would therefore be them subsidising the purchase of replacement fins. I have personally checked that $56 is a reasonable sum for fins in Ecuador. Strange as it may seem to some of us, it is very much in line with current prices. There is no punitive element to this charge, it is simply the cost of replacement, no more and no less. We would normally assume these charges as a goodwill gesture to the client. In the light of the fact that we have not been given the opportunity to reply to this client in full, there will be no such goodwill payment in this instance. Instead I have donated the $56 to the Galapagos Conservation Trust. All the best, Thomas

The best seven words of the year. Thank you! All the best, Thomas

Thank you for your feedback, I’m delighted that overall you had a good time, and particularly pleased to hear your excellent feedback on the Australis cruise and Atacama. In the latter it was especially good to hear that you were so happy with the guides, this is a recurring theme amongst our clients! I am also pleased you found Sarah to be efficient. She manages our operations so I would be worried if you found her to be anything but efficient. At Pura we do have a dedicated operations team who look after the delivery of your holiday and that is completely separate from the sales side. I am pleased that worked for you. However, we were all disappointed to hear that your wishes were not quite as fulfilled in every part of your holiday. It seems there was an element of ‘crossed wires’ in communication around the day trip to the glacier, as we have discussed in our recent correspondence. Again, apologies for this. As for the walks you wanted to do in Torres del Paine, yes, it would have been great to know about those in order to advise you as well as we can. Insistence is usually the best way in these circumstances (exacerbated by the very tricky late availability over the Christmas/New Year) to make sure we're on track. We do genuinely appreciate your taking time to send your feedback as it helps us continue to improve. All the best, Thomas

It's most kind of you to say so. Adding value is clearly the only reason we should exist. When someone has spent so much time travelling in South America, that task gets harder. But we love a challenge, it helps to keep us all on our toes! All the best, Thomas