Central American Journey (38 destinations)

Customer Reviews

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  Vasanthi

  · September 6th, 2024
  A rather quick journey through these 5 countries to get a glimpse of central American life. Somehow it didn’t feel rushed as there are 2 nights in all the places visited ( except start and finish ) . Lots of optional activities for those who want it. Nice hotels, great food and comfortable transport. Even the numerous border crossings went smoothly.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  We are so glad to hear that you had a great time on your trip through Central America Vasanthi! It is a lot to see over the course of this trip, and we are very happy to hear that despite the packed itinerary, you never felt rushed and were able to... Show more
  Trip date: August 2024
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  Pareen

  · August 24th, 2024
  Amazing well thought out trip. Felt we saw a lot over yhe 17 days .Tour guide Juan was amazing.
  

  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hello Pareen, thank you so much for your review! We're so glad you got to experience the most on your Central American Journey and enjoyed the local leader, Juan. Our local leaders are truly the heart of our trips! We hope to see you traveling again... Show more
  Trip date: August 2024
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  Jessica

  · April 19th, 2024
  This is a great trip if you want to see a lot of places in a short time! There was a good amount of travel time but I felt it was worth it to see everything we did including Mayan ruins, sandboarding on a volcano, old colonial towns, some of the local crafts and foods, the beach, etc.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for taking the time to share you experience with us, Jessica. We are delighted to hear that you found this trip to be a good balance of exploring lots of different places and enjoying the beaches. We hope to welcome you on another Intrepid... Show more
  Trip date: April 2024
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  Posta

  · November 23rd, 2023
  Everything went good, smooth and without incidents
  

  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Posta, Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We are delighted to hear that your trip ran smoothly and went well. We hope to welcome you on another adventure soon!
  Trip date: November 2023
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  GrantFeringa

  · November 9th, 2023
  Our Guide, Rafa, was exceptionally good and he sure helped to make this a tour I will not forget. Central America is a 100% safe place to visit. Saw amazing wildlife on this tour like macaws, monkeys, armadillos and toucans. Most of the accommodation was good, except for Copan. At some locations, the accommodation owners take advantage of the travelers and want large amounts like $15US per night for air conditioning - I think Intrepid should look for different accommodation in the future when owners unfairly take advantage of Intrepid travelers like this. Most of the optional extras are very expensive but if you don't do them, you miss out on a lot. Some of the border crossings can be messy taking a bit of time, but you always get there. Overall, clearly 5 stars
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for taking the time to share your experience on your Central American Journey with us, Grant. We are delighted to hear that you had such an enjoyable time whilst travelling through many different destinations, taking in all the wildlife.... Show more
  Trip date: July 2023
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  JAY

  · August 13th, 2023
  From a geography opinion I was expecting more outstanding mountains of this Great American Isthmus. I did enjoy traveling down the Trans Pacific Highway viewing the parkland forest along the way. Lake Cocibolca in Nicaragua was an interesting natural wonder as it has an island in the lake with 2 volcanos and it was a huge inland bay before it was land blocked by earthquake thousand of years ago. About the tour there was only one excursion that was included and that Copan Ruins National Monument, Honduras. All the other excursions were optional and were very expensive if you were to do it daily. The tour leader Leon was very helpful and knew a lot about the area that we traveled.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Jay, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. We're happy to hear about the stunning scenery in Central America and the wonderful feedback for Leon. Thank you again for sharing your experience, we hope to welcome you back on another... Show more
  Trip date: July 2023
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  Ron

  · June 13th, 2023
  Central America is such a marvelous place. But, ultimately, it is the guide and the co-travellers that make the trip. Our guide, Benjamin, was incredibly well prepared; as a Salvadorian, he knows the whole region well. His experience in crossing borders, especially, served us well. Beyond that, he was always available and went above and beyond to make us all get the most from the experience. As a former tour operator myself, I know what hard work a good guide puts into it, and Ben was among the best! The optional activities were well presented in their offering and did not disappoint, and Ben's recommendations were well appreciated. The hotels were all pretty good for a Basix trip, though a couple didn't have AC and a couple didn't provide drinking water. The drivers were all excellent, on time, and served us well. And the group, though rather unique (10 male, 6 female, aged 20 - 72) got along well and made the trip special for all. Thanks, Intrepid!
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Ron! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your comments with us. It is fantastic to learn that you had a wonderful experience, and that our tour offered you the best crew and tour leader to explore Central American. We look forward to... Show more
  Trip date: May 2023
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  Philip

  · June 2nd, 2023
  Overall I enjoyed the trip and there were very few unpleasant surprises. Some suggested improvements. 1) The tour leader introduced herself as a "guide" which led to expectations on my part that she would be able to provide information on the locations beyond which we could get something to eat. She was excellent as a logistical leader but disinterested in most of the places we visited. 2) Transportation was adequate in most cases but there were instances where in was difficult to accommodate all the passengers with luggage inside as occasionally happened. Sitting on a fold out seat for a long period of time is not acceptable, in my view. 3) The tour included the use of local buses and for one journey the group was requested to decide whether it would prefer to take a privately contracted bus (paying extra) rather than the potentially slower or less comfortable local buses. We were told the decision had to be unanimous. The majority preferred the private bus and ultimately it was a vote to determine the mode of transportation. This created some disharmony in the group that should have been avoided. 4) We often had limited choice on meals including eating breakfast in a petrol station with some microwaved food. I was not expecting gourmet but the options in some fast stops were no very good. 5) We were advised that the tour championed ecotourism. Few participants brought their own water bottles as suggested and we generated an enormous amount of rubbish on a daily basis partly because we stopped in many convenience stores and gas stations. No water was available on the bus which I understand would have been problematic since we changes buses for almost each leg but some way to improve this should be explored. 6) In one hotel (Antigua) I was accommodated in a room that had no window. In my view it was a storage room not a hotel room. I started the trip disappointed... Sadly I have no gotten around this until now and there may be other comments that would be useful but can't remember them now.
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  Trip date: April 2023
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  Selestina

  · May 16th, 2023
  Just some comments about the tour leader, particularly on communication. Though she was not a tour guide but only logistic coordinator, she claimed to have been working as tour leader for 20 years, so I had expected that she would at least share a little bit about each place we visited, if nothing else, about her own country, Costa Rica. The tour promised 6 leader-led walking tours. In addition, the website reads the following with regards to tour guide: “Your leader will provide information on the places you are travelling through, offer suggestions for things to do and see, recommend great local eating venues and introduce you to our local friends. While not being guides in the traditional sense, you can expect them to have a broad general knowledge of the places visited on the trip, including historical, cultural, religious, and social aspects. At Intrepid we aim to support local guides who have specialised knowledge of the regions we visit.”. We did not have these so called ‘tours’ or information about the places we visited at all. It was just she taking us to lunch place and nothing more. One of us did some research about Nicaragua and read it out loud to us in the van. The tour leader cut her off instead, saying “That is wrong!! The information was not updated!” Well, if she knew better, why didn’t she share it with us? When there was a change of plans, I wished I was informed in advance or as soon as she knew it, e.g.: Pupusa making was canceled at last minute and was moved to the next day. The next day, I had planned to do a boat tour at 4-7 pm but was told only by WhatsApp text that pupusa making will start at 5:30! We were told that we needed 10 dollar-bills to exit and enter borders only after we arrived in El Salvador. This could have been shared long time in advance, even be included in the pre-tour information so I could be prepared. Tour leader knew what’s available in the town we visited (tour options, what we can do alone, how much taxi costs, alternative places to visit or things to do, how much breakfast at the hotel costs, etc.) I wish she would share this information instead of leaving us relying on google search. She also knew what's coming up next, what time we leave the next day, etc. It’s always last-minute information sharing, unless I ask a specific question. I did not know that I needed the physical yellow vaccination booklet (not a scanned copy). This could have been shared in the pre-tour information. Use of WhatsApp: if this is Intrepid’s main mode of communication, I can’t recommend this tour to certain people. Not all of us have roaming services, not all of us are texter who check our phones regularly, some don’t use WhatsApp at all! Breakfast isn’t included, but Intrepid could negotiate with the hotels to provide at least coffee in the morning and a breakfast box when we had to leave at 3 am or 4 am in the morning.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review Selestina, we sincerely appreciate you taking the time to provide such detailed and constructive feedback. We're discouraged to hear of your less-than-ideal experience and would like to investigate... Show more
  Trip date: April 2023
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  Lídia

  · May 4th, 2023
  Irenerrary is lovely. I had a wonderful time. Also our guide Benjamin Melara has been extremely helpful, well prepared an authentic enciclopedia. Ben has been all times there for us arranging all times and transport in order for us to profit the most of America Central in local perspective. Interpid should review the inclusions specially breakfast in the price as well as some transportation that makes lose hours of such small vacations. Overall definitely recommend.
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  Trip date: April 2023