Argentina & Brazil Adventure

Customer Reviews

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  Lorrie

  · May 30th, 2023
  Guide got sick for 6 day trip on day 1 and then spent several days around us no masks no testing but sleeping in our tour van and we weren’t sure if we would get sick from him. The six day tour only had 2 half days of actual content, and they purposefully booked 2 hour flights with a stop over so it’s 2 hours each way to waste time during the 6 days to match check in times at the hotel instead of making the time more efficient and giving us time in the cities. Guide didn’t help us arrange anything and basically we paid $3000 for six nights at motel-level stays that were dirty and with non working bathroom fixtures and mold on the air conditioning but the tour was marked as a premium tour with 4 star accommodations. We literally got for $3000 transportation and s***** lodging and a few tickets here and there. It was extremely poor value and we didn’t get time in cities because it was extremely inefficient. Do not use this company because they also don’t respond and don’t care once they take your money. They claim to make arrangements but mostly keep information from you so you have no idea what you’re doing day to day. Every day was 6/7am start times but we only did one thing because of inefficient planning or travel. Pretty much the worst tour you can take in South America. I came home early because I ended up getting sick from this tour, and I tested positive for Covid which means the guide actually had covid but failed to test himself or inform us, and failed to quarantine! This is totally unacceptable.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hello Lorrie, Thank you for your feedback. We do apologize that your experience with us was not what you expected. We do have Covid policies in place for our travellers and guides. We have addressed your other concerns as well to our local operators.... Show more
  Trip date: May 2023
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  Paul D

  · September 18th, 2019
  The Trip fulfilled all our requirements (almost)
  Trip date: February 2019
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  Kirsten D

  · September 18th, 2019
  This was our first intrepid trip and we didn't really know what to expect but having a guide that was passionate and interesting the whole way through was brilliant. Diana was on hand 24/7 and made our experience extra special, she never tired of our company and made it fun and interesting. She used her local knowledge to recommend good local restaurants and went 'above and beyond' her role as guide to ensure we were all happy, which also took the pressure of us when trying to order food and communications.We really liked the ethos of intrepid supporting the locals and the community.
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  Trip date: February 2019
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  Susan S

  · September 18th, 2019
  small group of 8 people, comfortable accommodation, amazing places to visit, but mostly because of our guide Lorenzo Oviedo, who made our journey through Argentina and Brazil so seamless with his knowledge, ability to organise, helpfulness and caring attitude. Nothing was too difficult for Lorenzo. He also constantly made sure that all the different individual persons' needs throughout the trip were adequately satisfied - a multitasker! He also has a wonderful wit and humour. Thank you to Lorenzo and Intrepid.
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  Trip date: January 2019
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  Dinah L

  · September 18th, 2019
  The tour was well organised .The tour guide Lorenzo was knowledgeable and displayed a good balance of structure and flexibility.
  Trip date: January 2019
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  Paul S

  · September 18th, 2019
  Although the trip itinerary and Tour leader was excellent the accommodation was average as a mid tiered offering it felt more like the basic category. But the main problem with this particular tour, was Intrepid sent all customers to the wrong starting hotel, which is unacceptable, as it wasted a day of the holiday, as the hotel kept informing us we needed to come back every 2 hours to meet with the tour leader, who was obviously not going to turn up, as he was waiting at the right hotel for the trip start and had no idea we are sent to the wrong hotel.There was no email correspondence notifying us of the change, there was no way of contacting Intrepid, as it was the middle of the night in Australia and I was put on hold for 2 minutes, after which time I gave up, and worst of all there was no follow up call or email to customers from Intrepid management, which I feel was extremely poor! At the very least the company should provide us with the group leaders phone number for this type of issue, if so, it would have been sorted out on the spot and we wouldn't have wasted a day hanging around the wrong hotel waiting for answers.
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  Trip date: January 2019
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  Karen J

  · September 18th, 2019
  Regarding your question 'how likely are you to recommend Intrepid to others', my last trip with Intrepid to Japan was excellent and would recommend to others but would hesitate to recommend this trip. The trip documentation and e-mail on 4th January advised the initial accommodation was the Two Hotel but arrived to discover this was not the case and I had no idea which hotel had been booked to replace this.There was no information at the Two hotel reception, who advised they had previously had Intrepid tour customers stay there but had no booking on this occasion.My e-mail direct to Intrepid questioning which hotel had been booked instead that was sent to the UK took more than a day before I received a response, and which instead of resolving the issue from the UK, where I live and directly booked with Intrepid, directed me to the Peru or Australian offices rather than assisting me further.Our tour leader was aware there had been previous issues but no proactive action was taken and this wasted precious time on the first day. Day 3 of the itinerary clearly advises 'Enjoy one last morning in Buenos Aires before catching a short flight to Posadas', when in fact there wasn't really enough time for breakfast before leaving for the airport at 7.3am so missed a whole morning in Buenos Aires and the opportunity to visit some of the most important sites that I had planned to see. Having already experienced issues with the hotel on arrival, I e-mailed the UK office on Friday 18 January to check the airport transfer that I had booked and paid for would definitely arrive at the right hotel and asking the time, but did not receive a response until Saturday 26 January - 4 days after my return to the UK. Please be clear on the Intrepid website and in your brochures that assistance will not be provided by Intrepid in the UK in the event the hotel is changed, or other significant matters, to future customers booking escorted tours to ensure others are not disappointed with the lack of service.
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  Trip date: January 2019
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  Andrew C

  · September 18th, 2019
  The scores would have been higher, if it weren't for the disastrous start, due to Intrepid's errors.Intrepid sent us (and others) to the Two hotel, but it had no bookings for us. we arrived at 12 and planned to drop our bags and go sight seeing, but instead we had to hang around the hotel/local area while we tried to find out what to do.Intrepid did not respondto our emails and were not contactable. The hotel staff was helpful and kept telling us to come back in an hour (when the Intrepid rep should check in, or if Intrepid actually respond to their calls). Eventually, just before 6 pm (when the Welcome Meeting was supposed to start), the hotel receptionist received a message saying our reservations had been moved to another (cheaper) hotel in a different area but that no-one at Intrepid had bothered to tell us.We then had to get a taxi over there and had a late evening sorting things out.A really unpleasant first day and evening. We were also then told our flight to the Wetlands (on day 3) had been moved to the early morning (rather than the afternoon, stated in the Information Pack.The combined result of these two errors is that we all only had one day in Buenos Aires to sight see (rather that the option of 2 and 1/2). Apparently this error has happened a number of times before and travellers are repeatedly being sent to the wrong hotel, ruining the start of their holidays.The issue is worsened by the absence of any competent support/response from Intrepid to address problems that rise.I use Intrepid regularly but this experience has really worried me in my future travels to cities/countries that may not be as safe as Buenos Aires. What will happen when I go to Ethiopia with Intrepid in November, will I be left high and dry there on my own?With no answer to emails and being told to phone Australia in the middle of the night? None of this was the fault of the leader, Pablo, who did his best to lift spirits and repair damage when we finally met him at the cheaper hotel.
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  Trip date: January 2019
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  Jiaxin W

  · September 18th, 2019
  Fernando gave us the greatest experience and safest trip！he told us everything in detail. We don't need to worry at all!
  Trip date: December 2018
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  Renata

  · April 28th, 2018
  The trip was ok, definetely good the idea of the itinerary. I loved everything I saw. but it has rooms for improvement: - more days in Buenos Aires and Rio (we couldn’t see a lot in one day and half each city) - the day and half in Ituzaingo is definitely too much. Definitely interesting but it should have took less. - same comment for Iguaçu, must see both sides but 3 nights are too much. Our itinerary change cause the local guide was in vacantion and we waisted time. The visit to the Guarani community is totally useless: everywhere was dirty and plastic bottles all around, they have a solar panel (donated by a Swiss company) and they don’t care to clean or repair it, the guy was replying with few words and not interested to share any information, if not to sell his art craft. We didn’t see anything interesting. - in Rio not enough time and what is included is not even the 10% of the important sites to visit. The hotel was very bad, I can understand that it’s not easy to find a good hotel in Iguaçu or ituzaingo, but in Rio there are plenty of better options. - the leader was a nice guys but totally unprepared especially silly on the Brazilian side. He was very keen on asking tips for the local guides (who were more drivers than guides). - the group was nice more over 50 than under. There were two disabled people who slowed down a lot and I would have liked to be informed since it’s vacation for everyone. The ledear apparently didn’t know and he was not prepared. Especially my last two points should not happen in order to not ruin the vacation to the group. Happy to discuss it further in case of any questions. Thanks and kind regards
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  HI Renata, thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We are sorry to hear that you were disappointed in certain aspects of your trip. Please feel free to contact cusomterrelations@intrepidtravel.com if you would like to discuss... Show more
  Trip date: April 2018