Reviews & Testimonials

A bespoke and responsive trip. An incredible experience!
We saw and did so much in a week, maximising the day with early starts to be first on the islands and ending with glorious sunsets. Reaching the islands from our beautiful boat by panga, we snorkeled and explored by foot. Stepping around iguanas, snorkeling with hammerhead sharks, swimming with penguins and sea lions, watching in wonder the turtles in the mangrove swamps, spending time with the giant tortoises and learning about their restoration initiative. It was incredible to be so close to nesting boobies and other native birds which were seemingly undisturbed by us. As well as the unique Galapagos flora and fauna, I found the geology fascinating and the local cuisine delicious!
It was good to be traveling with an organization which felt in tune with, and has genuine concern and respect for, the Galapagos National Park. Pete’s knowledge is phenomenal, built over years of living in Ecuador, in Galapagos and as a guide and wildlife photographer. Adding a different and unique dimension to that of our local guide. He has a great mix of knowledge and passion for the natural world whilst having an immense sense of fun and enjoyment of people. His sense of wonder and excitement at seeing flamingos return to one of the islands was infectious!

Pete and Renee are amazing tour leaders with an abundance of knowledge on flora and fauna, with a great sense of humor to boot! Would absolutely recommend traveling with them and hope to do it again soon myself!

It's always been a dream of mine to travel to the Galapagos. My husband kind of went along for the ride. The entire experience was more than I could have hoped for, literally the trip of a lifetime for both of us. Pete and Renee aim to please and never fell short. Each land and water experience was thrilling. Our guide was fabulous and I so appreciated how they all shared their love of this amazing place and the wildlife that reside within.

India was a big gap in my travels, and so I wanted an overview. This trip was perfect. We started full on with the cities: Delhi, rather briefly, Jaisalmer, the golden city with its exquisite stone carving, Jodphur, the blue city with the most wonderful fort, which we explored. Expert local guides, plus Pete and Renee, made sure we saw as much as possible, and, while the cities teemed with life, noise, colour - and holy cows - we stayed in lovely quiet hotels out of the busy centres. Travel was in "our" bus, which we colonised as our home on wheels, and decorated in Indian style. Rather few tourists, I am sure, get to the camel fair at Pushkar, and it was a real India experience watching camels being paraded and traded. All the time Pete was interacting with the locals, photographing them in their wonderful dress, and making sure we could, too.
Ranthambore is a beautiful national park: hills and plains, rivers, lakes and gullies with the most wonderful fort rising above, and other remains rising out of the vegetation, very like Raiders of the Lost Ark. Pete can sniff out an animal anywhere, and, together with the local guide, we found 8 different tigers! So exciting, not to mention all the other animals and birds. We finished with the Taj Mahal, Pete making sure we got to the best vantage points first, so some lovely photos, even if ethereal in the mist.
Altogether a great trip, a lovely fun group expertly led, and we saw more sights than I could possibly have imagined. A joy!

My wife and I generally travel independently but after experiencing the Galapagos Islands with Pete and Renee last year we decided to explore India with them. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the result. Pete and Renee work hard to provide the level of service, accommodations, local guides and itinerary that you would expect from a high-end tour operator. What separates Pete and Renee from other operators is their knowledge, enthusiasm and the level of effort they take to ensure you have a truly unique experience. For example, in Ranthambore National Park groups are assigned specific sections of the park for morning and afternoon game drives. If there are no tigers in your section, which happens more often than not, you don’t see tigers. But Pete and Renee arranged for our group to have a special pass that allowed us to pick the sections we entered and allowed us to stay in the park between the morning and afternoon sessions. The result was seeing eight individual tigers over two days, some of them so close I could count their teeth on my iPhone video. Also, because we were in the park when it was not generally open, we were the only vehicle present when we saw several of the tigers. Pete and Renee also planned the itinerary so we had enough time at our various stops such as Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and the Pushkar camel fair to really take in the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the area. Although we saw a lot and were always busy, we never felt rushed. Pete and Renee also made sure we left the main roads and saw the countryside of India. Our bus frequently took small roads, sometimes asking for directions along the way, that resulted in us seeing a side of India one misses on the main roads. We frequently made unscheduled stops and followed Pete into a village or camp along the road resulting in wonderful unscripted interactions with the locals and some of the best travel photos I’ve ever taken. Pete is an internationally-recognized photographer and is always willing to share his knowledge and improve your photos. Perhaps the strongest recommendation I can give is to say we have already booked Pete and Renee for an upcoming trip to Botswana along with eight of our friends. We can’t wait.