Vaya Adventures - Berkeley, California

Shari A. D. S.

Best trip EVER or equal to our S. Africa trip! Liz at Vaya, did an excellent job detailing a three week adventure for 4 to Santiago, Patagonia and Buenos Aries. Excellent accommodations - not over the top but lovey and unique, our guides, drivers and all excursions were perfect. I will call upon Vaya next time we travel.

Jin W.

Our first trip to South America was unforgettable. We are very pleased that we chose Peru. The guide that was assigned to us first 5 days in Cusco and all tours including Machu Picchu were fabulous. Wilfredo was always on time, very involved in all aspects of each tour, explaining the culture the history and whatever we did, he was always sharing stories and giving us an in-depth explanation which helped us learn so much about Peru in a short amount of time. The visit to the Amazon was amazing. We stayed on the DELFIN I for three nights and four days, it was an incredible experience. Only if I could have had a camera attached to me at all times videoing... that would be amazing. THAT COULD BE A FUTURE IDEA TO GIVE EVERYONE A BIRDS EYE VIEW OF YOUR SERVICES 😉 THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the upgrades, the champagne on our Anniversary evening, the special cake while onboard the Delfin I. We will be sharing this trip for years to come and hope to visit again. A HUGE thank you to Emily! Without her amazing help, we couldn't have experienced this first trip to Peru like we did.... Thank you all on the Vaya Team!!!

John B.

We were thrilled with the trip to South Africa and Mozambique. It exceeded our expectations on multiple fronts. We’ve never been to Africa before and Dervla did an incredible job of walking us through this journey and helping to craft a trip that fit our wishes exceptionally well. This is the second trip we’ve had with Vaya travel and we’re thrilled with that consistently high-quality service provided.
Dervla was so fun, professional, thoughtful, detailed and effective. She was accessible when needed and had great suggestions based on our input. Look forward to going back to Africa and having Dervla craft us another gem.
Each of the four places we stayed were remarkable in their own way. So thankful for the high-quality recommendations.

Max L.

Best organized trip I've ever taken! It was flawless. From pickup at airport to drop off. Exceeded expectations. 5 stars all the way!

Dervla Pinto was very professional, organized and an expert on travel in Tanzania. Dervla spent a lot of time with us to put our trip together and found a super guide who is French speaking which made the trip that much more enjoyable for us. She ensured that all the resorts knew that my wife and I were on our honeymoon and we got special treatment throughout our trip from every resort. Flawless execution of the trip. Many thanks Dervla!

My wife and I did a 10-day Safari for our honeymoon in Tanzania that covered the Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. Jafari was our guide from start to finish and we loved our experience. He is an amazing guide. Friendly, warm smile, calm demeanor, very patient (at our request, we stopped a lot to take thousands of pictures…), very experienced (over a decade being a professional guide in the region), knowledgeable (knows all the wildlife and where to spot them), kept us informed and safe at all times and is fluent in English and French. He is also a fantastic photographer and helped us with the settings on our cameras. We plan on returning to do another safari, this time with our kids and we’ll most certainly book with Jafari. THANK YOU JAFARI for the most amazing memories that will last a life time!

Thomas Q.

Our trip to Patagonia was fantastic ... everything went very smoothly from the second we arrived in Puerto Natales until we left El Calafate.
Patagonia Camp was exceptional. The superior yurt (yurt #13) was fantastic, and the unobstructed view of Lago Toro was indescribable. The staff at PC was incredible - I would recommend PC to anyone. It was beyond comfortable!

The hiking guides were outstanding - we had 3 different guides at Patagonia Camp. They were all very good - different personalities, which added to the flavor of our trip. All were knowledgeable and accommodating, and they were ‘alert’ to the hiking abilities of the group members they were guiding.

The guide in El Chalten (Pablo) was superb! It was a long hike (15 miles, 9.5 hours), but he got to know our abilities very quickly. He knew when to 'push' us, and he knew when to take break. He was incredibly knowledgeable, and we had great dialogue all day long - he brought the incredible vistas even more to life (if that was even possible given the sheer beauty of what we saw/experienced) – imparting his knowledge really made the hike incredible. I would recommend Pablo to anyone!

Our land transport drivers were excellent - arrived on time, very accommodating to stop at scenic overlooks and for necessary breaks.

Gabrielle at Vaya was fantastic ... she worked with us on the itinerary and provided us with a tremendous amount of information – we felt very prepared when we arrived in South America. I thought she went above and beyond having a 30-45 minute conference call with our party pre-departure. She had excellent recommendations for us, and we took her up on several recommendations, particularly in El Chalten. She brought things to life before we even arrived, and what she described was very accurate. I will recommend Vaya to others traveling to Patagonia, and I know we will eventually return, and we will call on Vaya to help us arrange the journey! Thank you for being so knowledgeable and professional - we could tell you love what you do!!!

Judit V.

Our 10-day trip was excellent at the end of May. This trip was planned for 2020 but Covid-19 made us postpone it for 2022. Our trip organizer Marci has kept in contact for 2 years and has been able to keep the original prices for almost everything. She was very responsive to any frantic email I sent and answered any questions we had. She also made sure we had support at the locations and in the US too. I felt very safe and pampered before, during, and even after our trip!!! Thank you for this great experience.

We had knowledgable and friendly guides at each location, who helped us have all the adventures and visit all the sites we wanted.

For example, Marcelo in Rio de Janeiro had great knowledge of when to go and where to go, would move earth and sky, so we could see Cristo Redentor in some sunshine and was open for any call from us day and night. He suggested fantastic restaurants, cute artsy walks, and was right there for us when we needed him at 10pm to help get medicine for my husband from a pharmacy. We are still keeping in touch.

There are 3 events that are special for us. The first is the Tango Show at at El Viejo Almacen in Buenos Aires. The atmosphere of the show, the music, dance, and traditional songs were magnificent. We felt quite enchanted.

The second moment is rather visiting a place. Our family have seen many times the movie Bossa Nova over the last 5 years. Arena Ipanema Hotel was about a 10-minute walk from The Rock that is an important site in the movie. It is like a special park and offers beautiful views all around and one can watch the surfers too.

The third and most wonderful moment was when close to sunset on our last full day in Rio we realized that we might be able to see Cristo Rendentor and the magnificent view of the bay that afternoon. Marcelo, our guide, and Carlos, our driver, raced us up to the visitor center where we purchased our tickets and just in time for a fantastic sunset we reached the iconic statue. It was unforgettable!

Thank you Vaya, we'll go with you guys again in a couple of years!

Paula K.

Our trip was in a nutshell, AMAZING. Jack McCabe was a pleasure to work with, not only over the phone but through our numerous emails. He worked tirelessly to customize our adventure to fit our needs. From the moment we landed in Peru, we were treated wonderfully.

I am a person who pays close attention to details and Jack was up to the challenge to make me comfortable with all our plans. I contacted him numerous times with a myriad of questions about our trip and he never made me feel like I was a bother. During our planning time, he referred me to Gabrielle to assist with some food/restaurant questions that he felt she had better knowledge of. I would definitely work with him and VAYA again and suggest others to do so.

Tomas, our guide in the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Cusco was the BEST!!!!! He MADE this a trip to be remembered for a lifetime. He was not only so knowledgeable about all things in the region, you could tell he was passionate about it as well. I felt that he truly cared about us the days we were with him and he is my new hero.

The mountain biking day in the Sacred Valley was superb and the fabulous lunch we were served along the way was a wonderful surprise. Hiking the Inca Trail Express and Wayna Picchu were two things that I will remember my entire lifetime. Although, at times quite strenuous, the feeling of accomplishment after doing so made it all the more worth it. That first peek of Machu Picchu after reaching the Sun Gate is a thing of beauty.

Do not hesitate to work with Vaya when planning your trip to Peru or others places in South America. They definitely exceeded any expectations we had and helped us have a trip of a lifetime!!!

Allison A.

Guides were super friendly, wanted to make us feel our trip was all up to us, very knowledgeable. When you cry when you say goodbye to your guide, you know they were amazing (Angela). She was patient with all my questions, laughed with us, encouraged us to get all we could from our time in Peru. She really made our trip!!!

Drivers & guides all on time and easy to locate.. Vehicles were super clean. Drivers were professional & drove safely. Cruise on the Delfin was incredible, food, crew, accommodations all great.

Champagne delivered to our hotel was an unexpected treat!
Angela was just so wonderful, her passion was infectious. Visiting the little native community to learn about how they made the textiles (Amaru) was so very special. We have such an appreciation for Peruvian history, culture, and beliefs because of Angela.
2 visits to Machu Picchu was perfect, any less would not have been enough. The train ride up there was just spectacular.

Emily Green was very responsive to my many questions! She listened to our vacation wants and gave us great, honest suggestions.