At CNH Tours, we love hearing back from out guests.  We often do.  From time to time, we post some of those notes to share with others the vibes / energy that's conveyed in them. 

Here's a recent one from Ann (Montana) who, with a group of 14 friends, had booked the entire Samba before the pandemic struck.   She and her friends had been biding their time for a couple of years and finally embarked on the ship in late April.  We also helped them with a variety of extensions on the continent.  It's very satisfying when, after so much work and in this case so much time, our guests return, having had a wonderful time.

A special thanks is warranted for our colleague Kelsey Bradley.  She worked so hard and diligently to make sure that the 14 guests, several with distinct travel plans, all enjoyed a seamless trip despite so many pandemic-related difficulties.  

 

From: Ann 
Sent: June 11, 2022 5:43 PM
To: Kelsey Bradley <kbradley@cnhtours.com>; Heather Blenkiron <hblenkiron@cnhtours.com>
Subject: catching up after trip to Ecuador

"Dear Kelsey and Heather,

I've been meaning to write you since getting home a month ago but have been racing around, and finally I'm able to sit down. 

I wanted to thank CNH Tours for all you did to make our trip to the Galapagos fantastic.  The Samba was amazing, the crew and our guide, Jimmy, were stellar (20 on a scale of 1-10), and the group we put together worked so very well. 

There was so much about the trip that stood out.  The Galapagos is an amazing place on this planet, as are its non-human occupants.  The parts that took me a bit by surprise were how dry it was and that, though we were on the equator, the temps (particularly at night) were cooler than I expected.  Swimming with sea lions, fur seals, and dolphins was out-of-this world.  The land-based bird and tortoise life was other-worldly.  The marine and land iguanas - no words to describe them, except to say watching the marine iguanas under water was something outside any other experience I've ever had. 

I have done a fair amount of snorkeling over the years, but not for a while, so it was fantastic getting back to that.  I love that after disembarking the Samba, we remained land-based in the Galapagos for two more nights before heading back to Quito. That helped with transitions off the boat.  And our side-excursion to Espanola was fantastic.  Plus, we even got to go to the Darwin Foundation when we were on Santa Cruz for a few hours.  

I can't recommend enough to future travelers how great it was reading about the Galapagos before going there, which added important context to the trip.

My reading list included:  Beak of the Finch, Three Men of the Beagle, Floreana, Selkirk's Island.  There are many, many more, and I was sorry I didn't have time to read Song of the Dodo, by David Quammen. 

Again, many thanks to CNH Tours for putting this together, dealing with all our questions, struggling through the pandemic uncertainties, etc.  It was great working with you!  I will spread the word about CNH Tours to anyone I know who may be interested in traveling to the Galapagos in coming years!

Best to both of you,

Ann

Ann (right) and her good friend Tamara, both from Montana