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The stories and people below are close to our hearts. We share these stories to give you a glimpse of the Latin Excursions experience. Webelieve in travel experiences that expand our horizons and leave us feeling amazed, hopeful, a bit wiser, and more connected. Enjoy!

ECO.VISIONARIES

A favourite lodge owner and hero of tortoise habitat is redefining tourism in the Galapagos

meet VREYNA OLEAS
GALAPAGOS
TRAVEL WITH PURPOSE

Latin Excursions travellers can now be connected with NGOs in all our destination countries

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ECUADOR
WE’RE COMMITTED TO
Driving the Shift to Sustainable Travel and Wellness

We believe travel and tourism should be based on a commitment to people and planet. We treat locals as partners, we only work with travel operators who pay people a living wage or better, and we ally with travel innovators working to protect habitat.

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WHAT OUR CLIENTS ARE SAYING

The Galapagos Islands were amazing! It was truly a trip of a lifetime experience. We had a guide named Jose for the length of our stay. We could not have been in better hands. We were so impressed with his thorough knowledge of the Galapagos, and he took extra care to make sure each day exceeded our expectations. One example out of the many that I could list is when we decided to go surfing and I was very nervous about it. We had an instructor that was helping, but Jose took me aside and put my mind at complete ease and showed me what to do. He stayed with me the whole time and because of this, it was an amazing experience! I am a terrible surfer BUT I had a wonderful time trying because of Jose’s help and support.
~ Schwartz March 2018
The beauty and otherworldliness of Galapagos left me in another state of being that I am still enjoying. Steve and I want to thank you for all your kind and expert advice. You took what felt overwhelming and pulled it all together for us. Thank you for your patience. Maybe one day, the Amazon… What a fabulous adventure!! Everything you scheduled for us provided exactly what I was hoping for, and this was truly a wonderful experience. First, everyone was exactly where they needed to be when they were supposed to be. Guides and drivers were knowledgeable and delightful on our land excursions.
~ Mann May 2017
Our guides (Michaela and Angelina) were phenomenal. Their knowledge was unparalleled and they went out of their way to make sure our trip was excellent. We couldn’t go to the beach on one tour date due to rain, and when my husband expressed an interest in local coffee, Angelina ensured that we could stop by a local coffee farm-to-store retailer. The driver that day (unknown), who treated our daughter like his own, also went above and beyond to show us things. Nils was very kind to give us an anniversary gift. The driver who took us from the Quito airport to the Plaza Grande was a font of knowledge and was very glad to talk to us about the city.
~ Kelkar May 2017
Our family trip to the Galapagos Islands was fantastic. We decided to take this trip with little time to plan. Eric and his colleague Nils did a nice job of planning a diverse trip for our family of 5 (teenage boys ages 18, 16, and 13). The naturalists that were on our daily trips with us were fantastic. We loved the Galapagos Safari Camp on Santa Cruz. The food was unbelievable and staff very helpful. The Iguana Crossing on Isabella was a nice change of pace to be right on the beach. We enjoyed time to walk on the beach as well as into town. It is hard to pick our favorite day-trip. We were surprised with a last-minute surf lesson, which was such a treat! I highly recommend this trip.
~ Catherine Lippman Dec. 26. 2017
Just wanted to thank you and all the team for arranging a spectacular trip for the Koch and Doctoroff families. Patagonia is extraordinary (beyond expectations!) and we thoroughly enjoyed each location of our activities. Arakur and Explora are fantastic (particularly the latter) and Xelena, while clearly not on the same level, was totally adequate for our needs. All of many transfers and excursions were smooth (believe that Steve already noted the issue on transfer to Chile, but worked out fine). We loved the diversity of experiences and landscapes and the amount of time away was just right. Will treasure this experience for a long time to come!
~ Alisa Doctor Off Dec 2017
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A favourite lodge owner and hero of tortoise habitat is redefining tourism in the Galapagos

Partnering with Eco-visionaries
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Reyna Oleas arrived in the Galapagos Islands as a naturalist. And it wasn’t long before her vision touched both education and eco-tourism.

As soon as Latin Excursions’ founder Eric Sheets heard about Reyna, he was booking a flight to go meet her. In the video above, Eric is on Reyna’s Montemar eco-property talking with Reyna about her vision of how tourism and habitat protection can share a purpose.

Rewind though. When Reyna first arrived in the Galapagos she opened the island’s first environmentalism-focused elementary school named Tomas de Berlanga. The idea was to leave a sustainable education model aimed at educating young people about the conservation of the Galapagos Islands. Once Tomas de Berlanga was operating well, she shifted her focus to opening a boutique hotel named Montemar. The idea was to demonstrate a model of eco-sustainable building in fragile environments. 70% of the materials used in her construction are locally sourced, her property protects seasonal migration routes for the Galapagos Tortoise and the Montemar grounds are a working bio-farm. Reyna’s environmental building designs are meant to inspire business owners and policy-makers to benchmark and incorporate eco-sustainable design.

Montemar is a minimalist, luxury retreat on protected tortoise habitat in the Galapagos.

While visiting the Galapagos, your itinerary can include staying at Montemar. This is how we change the world: by using our travel dollars to support local visionaries who are protecting their country for future generations.

Talk to us about Montemar and similar eco-stays for your next journey.

The Amazon Amazes: river adventure, exotic birds and indigenous connection

Wisdom In The Jungle

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From Quito, Ecuador, a small plane takes us into the heart of the Amazon jungle.

Our story of adventure is about to begin. Here, on the Eastern edge of the great Andes Mountain range, the Amazon’s vastness expands seemingly in all directions. This is truly one of the world’s great ecosystems. If we are to feel truly refreshed, even changed, by our travel experiences, what better way to do it than to get off-grid, and paddle into otherworldly places. When we land we meet our river guide, Diego. He is a sinewy man with generous eyes. He smiles in our direction, with an easy confidence. You get the sense that he has done this many times before: taken adventurous souls into Ecuador’s Amazon.

While we have arranged a river houseboat for our journey (with comfortable sleeping quarters), it is the canoe portions on the river that seem to set the scene and tug at our hearts. Canoes are as old as civilization itself, dating back to around 8000 BC. There is something about plying one of the Amazon’s great rivers under manual power, led by guides whose families have lived here for 1000s of years. We are on the Rio Napo, one of the many tributaries that feeds the mighty Amazon River. Endlessly recharged by its source in the Andes, the Napo flows east, crossing through Peru and then into the Brazilian jungle.

Canoeing on Rio Napo at sunset

It is remarkably quiet here.

When no one is talking, you hear only the soothing sounds of paddles in water. But it is never long before a bird takes off from a branch and cuts high, or cuts low across the water. With over 1500 species of birds, Ecuador offers more bird diversity than any other country in the world. Before arriving, we talked much about Ecuador’s incredibly colorful macaws. The brilliant reds, greens and blues of their plumage, and how they like to fly in twos. It would seem even birds enjoy “the buddy system”.

Canoeing on Rio Napo at sunset

Diego points at some section of jungle. A rustling, low in the tropical branches. Is it a jaguar I ask? Could be, he says, but probably not. Historically, Ecuador’s jaguars lived in large numbers along Ecuador’s Pacific coast, but loss of habitat (coastal deforestation) has stressed these populations. With a hint of pride, Diego notes that efforts to protect jaguars on the Amazon side of the Andes mountains, as well as in the Cloud Forest, are working. Perhaps we will yet catch site of one of these majestic cats at water’s edge.

A journey to a place like this has become more desirable in the last couple of decades, as we seek out untouched places. But still, it doesn’t get the numbers that, say, Costa Rica does. Perhaps the longer flight and the “exoticism” of South America are perceptual barriers. This place though. It’s the real deal. It’s about as remote as you can get in the Amazon. It transports you to planet Earth millions of years ago. Before Twitter. Before the wheel. Before language.

The Amazon has over 1100 tributaries; 17 are over 1,500 kilometres long.

One thing is for sure, without our guides, we wouldn’t last a week. But this serves to heighten the magic of it all. From the moment we hopped into the small plane that spirited us from Quito, over the Andes, we have been trusting others. And at the heart of this trust, lies the very best of us all. It has a way re-orienting your soul. We are being welcomed and shown around. And this is a special honour, a new bond. Which … foreshadows an amazing thing that will happen in the days ahead. An indigenous community will host us in the jungle. The Huaroani people. We will get to meet and spend time with a great story teller whose family has lived here for thousands of years.

The Huaroani people in ceremonial garb

How will it begin? A casual meeting and an exchanging of sacred words?

Will we eat meals together? Will kids be running about and perhaps show us their jungle backyard? Will we share in some daily tasks? How do the Huaroani maintain their way of life, despite the vigorous encroachment of industry? Perhaps above all, how to orient our minds so that we are being respectful.

All of these questions go to the heart of why we are here. To reckon with the modern world and reconnect with the needs of the planet. This delicate balance that so many of us walk – being both part of the modern world with our devices AND trying to be better citizens of the world – this balance has so much to do with kind of stories we tell ourselves.

If the future health of our planet hangs in the balance, then perhaps we ought to be listening to those who have found a way to respect and care for the natural world.

This is why we have come here. To rediscover what ails and heals us. Behold …. The Amazon.

Talk to us about incorporating The Amazon into your journey to Ecuador or Peru.