Our sales team (Heather and Kelsey in Ottawa, Mercedes in Quito and Valeria in Galapagos) really do get a thrill helping people plan their Galapagos holidays.  But it's when there are problems to solve that they really get into high gear. 

Here's the feedback from a guest who travelled with us just last week. She called Heather saying "𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁!" the day before her flight back home... This is what she wrote:

"We booked our trip on the Samba through a Canadian outfit, CNH Tours. Although we were pleased with the booking process, they really shined at the end of the trip when I left my passport on the airplane coming back to the Ecuadoran mainland. Three of us spent about 45 minutes with little to show for our calls to the hotel, airline, and US embassy. Feeling overwhelmed, I called Heather at CNH Tours, hoping for some guidance on how to get a new passport and a timeframe for rebooking my flight home. Heather’s advice, “Sit tight. We’re going to get your passport to you!” 

I was instantly reassured, as Heather began tapping into her network. Our fellow travelers Jo-Anne and Gordon helped by retrieving the passport in Quito and getting it to our “courier.” Five hours later I was at the Guayaquil airport picking up my passport from one of Samba owner Juan Salcedo’s cousins. I don’t know how many people Heather contacted to make it all happen, but I sure felt like I was part of the Samba family when it was over. I would never expect anyone at a travel agency to go to such lengths for me, but that’s Heather, CNH and the Samba Way!"

We’ve had to step in a number of times in the past, when things go wrong.  We once managed to spring a guest out of a Galapagos prison after the sniffer dogs found a joint in his bags… When COVID hit, we put in several 18-hour days ensuring all of our guests were safely out of Ecuador and back home before things completely shut down.   While Heather and Kelsey are “full-on” during regular times, I get the impression that they go “turbo” whenever a problem arises,  pulling out all the stops to make sure our guests are taken care of.

We’re currently helping a traveller (not even one of our guests!) who was looking for help getting a hotel key back to the Galapagos Suites hotel in Galapagos.  She accidentally brought it back to New York with her.   She checked the price of a couriered package (over $120) and turned to social media to see if anyone could help.  CNH Tours stepped in – we have guests in New York leaving shortly, and we’re arranging to have them bring the key back. 

Though Kelsey and Heather have managed to “pull a rabbit out of a hat” on many occasions – please don’t assume that they can do anything… we still encourage our guests to do all they can to avoid having to rely on our “super travel agents” in the first place…   😉