GUEST TRAVEL REVIEWS

A couple we are friends with went with my wife and myself on a four person tour of areas in Peru in May, 2017. We went with Kuoda Travel. They are a small company that is based in Cusco and does small tours (family, small groups of two or three couples, etc). We worked with a woman Celine de Visser and she was extremely accommodating. She recommended sites and visits and let us customize our trip. All logistics, hotels, luggage transfer, train and bus tickets, museum tickets, lunches were handled by Kuoda. They listened to what we were expecting and provided us with an incredible itinerary. Their guides were fantastic, Bart in Lima and Ofelia Ayala for the rest of the trip. They were like walking encyclopedias; they knew the history, the culture, the language, the architecture, pretty much everything we wanted know. We were never rushed, we spent as much time at the sites we wanted. They treated us like friends, not clients. The drivers (you really don’t want to drive in Peru if you don’t have to and I like to drive) were superb, we felt very safe and confident with their driving. At the end of the trip the owner, Mery Calderon, met us in Lima. Talk about hands on treatment! I would recommend Kuoda Travel with the highest possible rating. It was literally the trip of a lifetime.

My wife and I had the great pleasure to travel 18 days in Peru. We selected Kuoda Travel to organize our trip after contacting many several other agencies because they were amazing from day 1, long before we paid even one dollar. We had long discussions about almost everything before we sign the contract: the itinerary, the hotels, the cost and more. While all other agencies got tired (some asked us to sign and pay before they continue to invest in us), our wonderful trip designer, Urpi, continue to work with us until we felt it is time to sign and pay. All in all, the process took more than two months.

Before the trip we got detailed instructions regarding any preparation we should make. We used it to build a perfect check list for this trip.

And than came execution. Everything was well organized, the guides were good to excellent, the itinerary we had built together with Urpi came out to be great. We felt most of the time like we are the royal family enjoying a real VIP treatment. We’ve traveled a lot last years and this is one of our best trips ever.

I would warmly recommend Kuoda Travel for those who want to travel to Peru.

Jesus Ramos was fantastic as our trip planner representing Kuoda Travel. I appreciate how he was quick to return any email,had suggestions and answers to all my many questions and how he was able to plan a beautiful vacation for our family with members from ages 21-88 years old. An impossible task? Not for Jesus.
Percy, our guide, was exceptional. We celebrated my daughter in law’s birthday while in Peru and Percy arranged for the staff at our hotel to bring her a cake, sing Happy Birthday and Kuoda Travel gave her a beautiful bouquet of chocolate roses..what a fun and pleasant surprise!!
Unexpected events happen, but it’s how they are dealt with that makes a travel experience delightful or a nightmare. While trying to get to Machu Picchu, the country had a strike that made travel difficult in that area. Kuoda Travel and Percy arranged a seamless alternative and we were able to enjoy Machu Picchu with no problem.
Our driver Edwin was beyond amazing. I am still in awe of his driving abilities. We always felt 100% safe with him.
Liseth, our transfer guide ,was also delightful,informative and a real joy to be around as was Harry.
It was fun to be able to meet Mery on our last day as she came to check on how things went with our stay.
Thank you to the Kuoda Travel team for an exceptional experience. We will always remember our stay in beautiful Peru. You get our highest recommendation.

Just returned from an 8 day trip to Peru organized by Kuoda. They group didn’t miss a beat. Our guides were well informed and we were taken care of every step of the way. They rolled with the punches as we tweaked our itinerary. We felt like they couldn’t do enough for us. Would highly recommend them.

We made a return trip to Peru and again booked all our travel plans through Kuoda! We visited Iquitos, stayed 3 days in the Amazon at the Muyuna Lodge, 2 days in Cusco, traveled to Lake Titicaca for 2 days, then headed into Bolivia. The founder and director of Kuoda, Mery Calderon, is just amazing! She pays such attention to all the details, like which room we receive at each and every hotel, plane seats near the front for easy disembarking, restaurants that are the best in town! Each and every place is reviewed by her and her staff so there is a full understanding of what we will be experiencing! In addition, both of us celebrated our birthdays on this trip and we were treated to flowers and champagne in our room. Lunch at a local restaurant that was excellent. But the real treat was the next day when we received a home cooked meal complete with cake and Happy Birthday wishes at Mery’s home! How very special she made us feel and we will never forget this trip!! I can’t say enough about how hard working and genuinely wonderful this company is!!

Just back from a 12 day trip to Peru completely planned and organized by Kuoda…visiting Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, it was the trip of a lifetime and Kuoda made it perfect. Excellent on the ground arrangements, safe comfortable ground transportation, personable and knowledgeable guides, plus superb travel planners make this the agency to use…a special shout out to our travel planner, Tom Carroll for designing a perfect trip, to Renato our guide in Lima, to Edward our guide in the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu for such a fun, informative program and especially to Kuoda’s founder and President, Mery Calderon for putting together such an extraordinary team and for taking time out of her busy schedule to meet us while we where in Cusco…I am already thinking about my next adventure with the Kuoda team…

This trip (Jungle, Sacred Valley, Machu, and Lake Titicaca) was one of the top three experiences we have ever had on vacation.
Kuoda really out did themselves in getting us ready, to the right places and ensuring that our trip was extra special.
The places we stayed were wonderful, the people we encountered friendly and the activities were extraordinary.
Jason was wonderful and very helpful and of course we loved being with Santiago touring around the country!!
We enjoyed and were really surprised in meeting with Mery and the gift was just another one of the “Kuoda” above and beyond touches.
Again, thanks so much for all Kuoda did and be sure that if/when we come back to South America or they expand to other areas, we will be contacting them for our trip.

We had an excellent experience from start to finish. My husband and I were working on booking our honeymoon to Europe, but on a whim, we decided to go to Peru instead after we saw an interesting documentary about it. I contacted Kuoda the next day, I received a return message from the travel designer, Jesus, who said he’d get back to me. Never in a million years did I imagine that I’d have an entire trip proposal that same day. Within 2 days of the original message everything was set up. There were little changes, but other than that, we were all set. Jesus is a machine- so fast! And by the way, we booked the trip less than 90 days prior to our departure date.

He asked a few questions about what sort of hotels we were interested in (we chose boutique hotels) and what pace we would like for our trip. He sent back a detailed itinerary. Everything was with a private bus and guide. Our guides were experts at avoiding crowds and taking us to less well-traveled places.

Fast forward to the trip. It was everything we could hope for and more, all while being completely in our budget. The hotels were excellent- we will review them separate. Especially loved the Hatun Inti hotel in Aguas Calientes (the town below machu picchu) and La Lune One Suite Hotel. They were both quaint and absolutely lovely. In addition, the grounds at the Sonesta Hotel in the Sacred Valley were just stunning. Kuoda left us a nice honeymoon surprise there, as well. Very cute.

The excursions that Jesus booked were great. Of course we saw Machu Picchu, but he also booked us for Huayna Picchu without me even asking (great, because it books up very far in advance). Our favorite excursions, though, were the little places off the beaten path. For instance, going to lunch in this couple’s house in Maras, where they serve vegetables that they grow in a lovely garden in their backyard. Pachamanca done just for us in Ollantaytambo, right next to the organic farm where all of the animals are raised and the vegetables are grown? Check! Or one of my other favorites- meeting the women in a small town that still live the Inca lifestyle. They showed us how they farm, how they spin yarn, wash it, and dye it, using all natural processes. We were both really touched by this experience.

We asked for restaurant recommendations and received a big list. Jesus booked everything for us, which was a huge help. All of the restaurants were smaller places that weren’t crowded, and every single one was delicious. We are big foodies and really enjoyed this.

We only had one slight problem- one of our tours was not quite right- the places we were supposed to visit were not open. However, when we contacted Kuoda via email to ask what happened, we received a very quick response and they quickly corrected the problem. We definitely don’t expect everything to be perfect, but it meant a lot to us that they were so responsive to fix everything. I actually wouldn’t even mention it, but I think it is useful to know that in the rare event that something does not go as expected, they are right on it.

Everything from start to finish was perfect. Jesus did an excellent job, planned an amazing honeymoon for us, and was very responsive anytime we had a question. I will definitely book a future trip with Kuoda. They are truly the best!

… many thanks to Kuoda for making the experience so wonderful.
Right from curating a personalised itinerary answering all our queries and accommodating our requests at even short notice, Tom was patient but prompt in responding and designed a nice relaxed trip for us. Closer to departure we were sent all the key details and contacts. Tom even booked us in at a couple of restaurants for dinner on request.
The best part was having the same guide for the duration of our stay at any one place. Carlos at Sacred Valley/MP was very knowledgable and Antonio at Quito was a good laugh. We had a wonderful time at both places.
The hotel selection was great and we loved the wonderful hosts Patricio@Lima and Tatiana@Cusco.
Liseth who was our 24h contact for the trip checked in on us frequently and ensured everything worked like clockwork.
We really want to thank Tom for recommending a cruise over island hopping for Galapagos. Natural Paradise was great … from planned activities to the guide and food to the crew.. superb…We loved every bit of it.
Flying back from Quito our long stop over was made less painful as Antonio even drove us back to the city for dinner and chocolate shopping
It was also great to meet Mery in Cusco and hear how she started and chose the name Kuoda…
Not only was the entire trip very well organised and managed but the entire team’s passion to ensure we had a great time also shone through.
Highly recommend Kuoda for your travels to Peru, Ecuador and beyond.

My wife and I just returned from a two week vacation to the sacred valley/Machu Picchu in Peru and the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. Kuoda did an excellent job creating an iternarary and we were greeted at the airport by a guide at every locale. We had a personal guide and driver throughout our trip. In the sacred valley Machu Picchu portion of the trip our guide Julio was very knowledgeable and tailored the trip to our interests as he got to know us which was awesome.

Our driver in Peru was Luis and he was top notch, it is not easy to drive there and my wife and I felt safe in his hands. Not only did we see the typical tourist sites that one goes to Peru to see but we had a few excursions that were off the beaten path which really set this trip apart. One of our favorites was to a small village of maras where the women are expert weavers and they greeted us warmly into their homes as well. That was a special memory for us. We also ate lunch at private residences on two occasions, not only where these some of the best meals of the trip, it was nice to get to know and talk to people who live in the region. Our trip to the Galapagos was incredible as well. The only critique I have on this portion was I would have done some more research about the islands and told kuoda of our interest so they could have tailored the trip to what we wanted to see. The snorkeling in the Galapagos was amazing as well. All in all it was a wonderful experience. The trip can be tailored to your interests and all the guides and drivers we encountered were wonderful. Kuoda gives excellent customer service and the owner of the company, Mery Calderon, came to meet us personally at the airport in cusco and gave my wife and I parting gifts. How many other travel companies do that!

Our Kuoda journey was even more enjoyable than we had expected. Peru is a beautiful country and the people we met were always warm and kind. Our tour coordinator Celine created a wonderful itinerary and everyone on the Kuoda team went over and above to make our tour an extraordinary experience. The hotels were outstanding and the local cuisine was impressive!

The experienced guides, especially Santiago (Sacred Valley, Cusco and Machu Picchu), were both knowledgeable and personable. As an ‘over 60’ group, he made sure that all our needs and preferences were addressed and dealt with a few altitude sickness problems in an expedient and professional manner. Kuoda not only provided walking sticks but also an assistant guide for the more strenuous portion of the tour so there was always someone there to provide a much needed ‘helping hand.’

We were all concerned when one of our group members became seriously ill. Again, the owner Mery and her capable staff were there to insure that he was able to get the care required.

My only suggestion to Kuoda might be to reinforce to travelers of any age that portions of this tour are strenuous, especially given the high altitudes.

Bravo, Kuoda Travel! We thank you for a wonderful experience and wholeheartedly recommend your company to discerning travelers.

The slogan says it all! Kuoda was fantastic! From the very beginning to the very end, there was not a single worry or concern.
Celine (our travel designer) was very responsive and professional. I chose Kuoda over another tour company because Celine always had a faster and more professional response. She was patient in selecting a trip that was truly personalized to our preferences while adjusting it to our budget.
Our guide, Edwin, was extremely knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. He was always willing to go above and beyond for us, even taking our picture at the most opportunistic places.
Our driver, Luis, also had a great sense of humor and safely navigated us around.
Mery, the owner of Kuoda even greeted us at the airport!
This company is stellar. If you are considering a trip to Peru (or Bolivia or Ecuador), you should travel with Kuoda! You will not be disappointed. We would definitely use them again when visiting South America.

I would like to recommend Kuoda Travel to anyone who is traveling to Peru. My husband and I recently completed an 18 day travel to Peru and Iguazu and want to say that our trip was perfect due to the highly personalised service we received from Kuoda.
There was really no hiccup. From planning to execution, Kuoda tried to cater to all our demands as best they could. As a result, Peru was amazing and we got to enjoy it the way we wanted.
All the guides were knowledgeable, flexible and the icing on the cake was a visit by Mary – the owner of the agency – who came to meet us in person to hear about our experience and get real time feedback. Truly exceeded all expectations.
Thank you Kuoda.

I’m a travel writer for Huff Post, been to over 100 countries, and I’m on the road more often than I’m home. Mery at Kuoda Travel runs an amazing business, and she cares so much about people. In the macho world of travel agents in Peru, Mery is a breath of fresh air as one of the few female agency owners. She deserves your business, and you will be delighted with your choice!

My wife and I did a 17 night tour of Peru and Bolivia with Kuoda. We chose them based on TripAdvisor reports which we trust and also from a friend to had traveled with them before. We worked with Celine who did an amazing job to plan our entire trip to suit our preferences and tastes. Great details in execution and delivery of the plan itinerary really impressed us. We decided to opt for the higher end hotels and we were truly blown away at the places we stayed in. Our meals that were included were a delight – two of them in the beautiful homes of chefs in the Sacred Valley. The meals on the Uyuni Salt flats were elegant with white linen and china with homely Bolivian food like Pico macho served warm and with great care. It was not a picnic – more like fine dining in the middle of nowhere!! The visit with an eminent Bolivian artist and jeweler was another highlight in La Paz. Every guide we had were fantastic and they became friends. They did more than we expected in showing us their cities and sights ( La Paz, Cusco, Uyuni and Lima ) Every transportation detail and the meeting and greeting as well as departures were handled literally door to door. Faultless, seamless and and very attentive service. Moreover Jason form Kuoda was calling us in our hotel every 2 or 3 days to ensure we were well and everything was moving smoothly. I strongly recommend Kuoda if youre heading for Peru, Bolivia or Ecuador.

We had the most amazing time in Peru in Dec 2016 for 10 days. We were 2 families, 4 adults & 3 kids (ages 11,11 & 9).
From the first email correspondence with Celine at Kuodo Travels to every step of the way, it was just perfect. I worked with Celine for 2 months, going back and forth, changing my itinerary and the different options so many times. She was very patient all along the way, not at all pushy. At the end of the day, we realized this was the company we wanted to work with and I am so glad we id.

Our guide Ruben was really very nice. I can’t thank him enough for patiently dealing with all of us. From helping me get over my altitude sickness to making sure, the kids were well entertained, he made it so memorable. He has such a passion for Peru history and culture and explained everything so beautifully to us. Not only did we get to see the amazing landscape of Peru, we actually learned so much about its history from Ruben.
Not to forget our driver, Speedy Miguel. He was always cordial and ever smiling. A very careful & attentive driver.

Kuodo Travels truly felt like family. They meticulously planned out our itinerary, so it catered to the different age groups and varied interests in our group. It’s been 5 months since our trip and we still talk about the best vacation we have had till date.

The icing on the cake was meeting the owner of Kuodo, Mery. It was Christmas weekend when we were flying out to Puerto Maldonado. Mery was still kind enough to visit us at the airport and gift us a beautiful Peruvian souvenir.

Kuoda were a delight to deal with supporting us every step of the way on our trip to Peru with their very personal service. Everyone we dealt with was friendly, very responsive and knowledgeable.

Customising and locking in our itinerary was easy with speedy confirmation of our trip. We always had someone to meet us and give us the help we needed right through our trip. Their guides were excellent giving us a real feel for the culture and history of the area.
Thank you for making it a great holiday.

My husband and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Peru with Kuoda and could not have had a better experience. I was completely against using an agency at first because I plan all of our trips, but Peru can get quite tricky and in the end I am so happy we went with Kuoda-otherwise I think our trip could have been a nightmare logistically. Celine put together a perfect trip based on our desires and was responsive each step of the process. We learned so much from our wonderful guide, Edward. Our driver, Frederick was outstanding and always safe. Kuoda went out of their way to ensure our trip was exactly what we wanted. We even got to meet the lovely Mery-twice! She is something special and instantly loveable. She truly cares about her clients and it was much appreciated. We dealt with lost luggage on flights we booked ourselves, but they took it upon themselves to help when they surely did not need to get involved. They were always on time, explained what would be happening each step of the way and were just so knowledgeable. Our expectations for Peru were high, but once there our experience surpassed all expectations. It is a beautiful country with the warmest people and the best food ever! Do not hesitate to book with Kuoda. Your trip will be exceptional!!! We definitely left feeling like family and that’s a tall order in today’s customer service standards. We cannot wait to come back to South America and will most definitely use Kuoda again. Thank you for a trip of a lifetime!!!!

My husband and I used Kuoda Travel for our 14 day trip to Lima, Machu Pichu, Sacred Valley, Cusco, Quito and the Galapagos Islands and we couldn’t have been happier. Jesus organized our itinerary and everything went off without a hitch. The trip was 5 stars start to finish. At the end of our Peru leg, Mary, the owner of Kuoda, met us at a local restaurant and spent 30 minutes asking about our experience. She was warm, engaging and completely invested in our experience. I would recommend anyone traveling to Peru to work with Kuoda. We plan to return to Peru in 2019 and will use Kuoda to plan our trip. We have high expectations and Kuoda was awesome!!!

Our group of 4 spent 2 weeks in southern Peru choosing just the places we wanted. The accomodations were surprisingly first class and well appointed. The local guides spoke good English and made all of the arrangements and transitions so smooth. It was the first time we had traveled using an agent and it was well worth it.

I’m the type of person that does tons of research.. if your reading this no need for more research you found the perfect tour guides, people to make your itinerary and everything else ! This was amazing and stress free!

We had a great 8 day tour with the Kuoda travel group. My wife uses a wheelchair for most of the day although she can walk and climb short distances, Kuodas guides and drivers were excellent and provided the personal service that we needed and then some.
The small private experiences that Kuoda arranged including the weaving collective and several in home lunches were particularly enjoyable. Alex modified our trip on the fly to better accommodate my wife’s abilities including arranging a couple of porters to help her get up to Machu Picchu. Communications and attention were excellent throughout our trip. The accommodations were beautiful.
When we met Mery the owner in Cusco it was obvious why the company has such good employees and is so successful.

I am not the type of person who schedules tours. My wife discovered Kuoda when searching for a surprise trip to Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail. I could not have asked for better. Every aspect was taken care of, no matter what odd request or question I had Molly was able to address and adjust the itinerary and allay my concerns around details. The guide we had for Cuzco and the Incan sites (Valentine) not only knew Quechuen, Spanish and English but his grasp of the history was amazing. I had read and studied Incan history extensively for a few years prior to the visit, he really took it to another level. Every aspect of what Kuoda prepared for us was well thought out and managed, from getting us through airport check-in and walking us to the security line in Lima for our departure flight to Cuzco, to exceptional meals (even on the all-day hikes) and fantastic accommodations in each town. They managed us like children but treated us like adults, meaning we had nothing to worry about, no matter how small the detail. We saw sites I had never heard of just as amazing as Machu Picchu. They structured the trip around our physical capabilities. I will use Kuoda again and I am very excited they are growing to other Central and South American countries. I was also pleased to meet the owner at our hotel prior to departure the last day; it showed me she was focused on the details of how her clients felt.

I had the good fortune to discover Kuoda Travel via Trip Advisor. I could not have wished for a better company to assist me with my tour. They planned the most amazing hike for me and sadly 10 days before my trip I had an injury and could not hike. In a matter of hours they re-planned my entire trip. The owner of the company met me

We visited Peru at the end of March. Kuoda Travel spent 5 days with us in Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Lima. We had excellent drivers and well-educated, knowledgeable guides. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Peru thanks to the excellent service we received from everyone at Kuoda Travel.

My mom and I traveled to Peru just last week (Apr 8-15) and have nothing but good things to report about Kuoda. Tom helped us with our planning and he came up with a wonderful itinerary that we barely had to adjust, but any changes we proposed were easily and happily accommodated.

We flew into Lima late at night (we booked international flights) and took a midday flight to Cusco (booked by Kuoda). Liseth met us at the airport, helped us with baggage, and we jumped in a waiting car to start our visit to Cusco. She helped us check in to our hotel (the beautiful Casona Antigua San Blas) and made sure everything was set before leaving us the rest of the evening to get used to the altitude and explore.

The next day, we met our tour guide, Elliacin (hopefully we got the spelling correct!) who stayed with us the rest of the week. He was extremely knowledgeable and answered all of our questions. We learned many new facts (and were never bored!). All our tickets to sites were purchased ahead of time, so we never had to wait in lines nor worry about which tickets corresponded to which attraction. The included meals were fabulous and we learned a lot about Peruvian cuisine along the way.

Luis was our driver for the week and was very friendly and always made us feel safe. Our drive to the Sacred Valley was beautiful and we got to stop and pet some llamas (my mom’s dream come true). We were provided with the option to shop wherever we wanted and were given guidance on how to spot real vs fake merchandise — this was very helpful!

Our hotel in the Sacred Valley – Sonesta Posada – was absolutely beautiful and had lots of stuff to check out, including a great happy hour with live music. The only thing we might alter was to plan in advance some activities in the evenings while staying in Sacred Valley — we tried to book a spa appointment at a neighboring hotel one late afternoon, but there were not appointments by the time we got there. We ended up having dinner at Tres Keros one night, which was very tasty and only a short taxi cab ride away.

We opted for the day hike to Machu Picchu, which was absolutely amazing and Elliacin provided the perfect amount of guidance while letting us explore the sights on our own for a bit. Seeing MP for the first time was everything we expected and more. We did not explore MP that day, but instead headed down to Aguas Calientes to rest after our hike. The buses were very backed up that day (due to rain), so we opted to walk down. Warning – your knees must be in very good shape if you decide to do this because it involves going down steep steps for 45 min straight!

Aguas Calientes was quite a bustling and interesting town — we very much enjoyed the people watching and the energy of the place! After our long day hike, we booked (same day) an 80-min massage at our hotel, El Mapi, which was just what we needed! The next morning, we decided not to do the hike up the mountain and instead explore MP a little later in the day, which Elliacin easily accommodated.

Our last full day in Cusco consisted in touring some of the sites surrounding the city as well as a cooking class, which was so much fun! Recommend adding this to your itinerary so you learn some skills to impress your family with upon your return. Warning that you should not eat before this class as you will be provided with lots and lots and lots of snacks!

On our last day in Cusco, Liseth met us to take us to the airport and helped us figure out what to do during out layover in Lima. Then, as a pleasant surprise, Mery, the Director, met us at the airport and gave us a sweet gift upon departure. We had such a great time with all of our Kuoda guides and drivers – they truly treat you like family! We will be recommending the company (and already have) to all our friends and family.

personally at the airport and took me to my hotel. Nothing was ever too much trouble for them. Mery and her team are the best. If you are going to Peru, look no further for the ultimate tour company – Kuoda Travel!

BEST. TRAVEL SERVICE.EVER. We have traveled extensively but the folks at Kuoda did an amazing job hosting my husband and his buddy as they hiked to sites all around the country. Their guide was fabulous and extremely knowledgeable, and all of the arrangements were spot on and seamless. Even the owner stopped by to say “hello” at the end of the trip before their driver took them to the airport. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

This was my first time in Peru, we were very pleased with the trip, it was and excellent experience, the tour guide Rosabeth was very friendly and knowledgeable, everybody from the driver Fausto to Mery the head of the agency were very kind and efficient, a true personalized service that make you feel like traveling with friends, I would highly recommend Kuoda to anyone looking for a unique top of the line travel service

Last week we five adults, family and friends, completed a well organized 10 day visit to Peru. Kuoda travel handled nearly all arrangements (we arrived and departed Peru on our own). Our trip included visits with/to interesting local people and places, as well well as the famous sites we had heard so much about. The pace allowed for rest and relaxation as well as plenty of time to absorb and learn about the tourist sites we had come to see. The 3-4 star hotels chosen for us were comfortable and well located. Those meals which were included, were tasty and well presented. Our guides and drivers (as well as the other Kuoda personnel we encountered) were polite, friendly and professional, and unfailingly interested in our satisfaction.
In short, I feel that Kuoda travel’s personal touch and adaptability made for an excellent time, as well as great value for money.

I picked Kuoda to organize my trip to Sacred Valley & Cusco solely from the rave reviews here, and I am so glad I did.

The guides were knowledgeable, drivers were kind, and the itinerary included wonderful visit to a local artist’s home, lunch at an upscale restaurant, chic museums in Lima, etc.

When I got sick from altitude, their response was very reassuring and efficient. I felt completely safe in their hands the entire time.

Kuoda is not just another tour company. They are so caring and their services so personalized you feel like you are with good friends.

The founder and owner Mery cares enough to even come see you at your hotel and she’s just wonderful.

I can not recommend Kuoda enough to anyone who wants top notch services and an amazing travel experience.

We recently completed our Peru visit with Kuoda travel and while I had done my research and a broad plan of where to go and how many days, I still needed to book hotels, organize travels etc and that’s when I contacted Kuoda.

We had a memorable visit with experienced guides, stayed in boutique hotels with character and enjoyed unique experiences (Pachamanka meal in Ollayamtambe) and a lovely lunch at a private house in Maras.

Travel agents including Kuoda will send you a standard package and iterinary but if you do your homework, you should have a strong view on what your choices would be.

Kuoda is an upmarket travel agent I would venture – they can provide you experiences which will be a bit more expensive but memorable and unique in my view. Our guides were not only experienced but also passionate and really knowledgeable which helped to make it a conversation. And with all the driving in the Sacred valley, it was really good to have a high quality driver of our vehicle.

Just back from a very lengthy trip around South America, having entrusted our itinerary for Cusco, Sacred valley and Machu Pichu to Celine at Kuoda Travel.

I have only praise for the complete professionalism with which our trip was organized and executed. From our first contact with Kuoda, we felt that they understood what we expected from our trip and worked closely with us to produce an itinerary that fit out our budget.

As we arrived in Cusco we were met at the airport and began a wonderful part of our South American adventure. Our guide and driver were with us for the five days of our trip and attended to all our needs, adjusting timings and visits to suit us. Jimmy was absolutely amazing, always looking out for us and ensuring that we were comfortable with his pace; he was also a great companion and conversationalist with a lovely sense of humour.

All our accomodation was at least as good, if not better, than expected throughout our trip and we were contacted regulary by Kuoda to ensure were happy and to see if anything needed to be organized to make our trip easier or more comfortable.

A huge thanks to the whole team.

We booked a week-long tour with Kuoda to visit both Lima and the Sacred Valley. Our contact, Urpi, worked with us to build a plan that gave us an overview of the history, ruins, food, and hospitality of the area. We hit every major spot, including Machu Picchu of course, and stayed at some lovely hotels. We had a tour guide and driver who accompanied us throughout the week.

Our guide was wonderful, so passionate about the history and culture of the area. Extra touches included lunch at a hidden B&B, private city tours in both Lima and Cusco, and a personalized gift (for my birthday). Kuoda was always accessible in case of problems (like our 18.5 hour delayed flight) and they were able to get us rebooked and rearranged as needed. I can’t say enough good things about the tour company and their employees. We have used multiple different local companies in the past when we traveled and certainly Kuoda stands above the rest. Highly recommend!

My husband and I and our 16 year old niece just returned from a 15 day journey to Peru. During our 15 days in Peru we visited so many interesting places (Lima, the Nazca Lines, Paracas, Ica, Arequipa, the Colco Canyon, Puno and Lake Titicaca, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu), stayed in some very special hotels and had many amazing experiences. Our private trip was all arranged by Kuoda Travel. Molly was a pleasure to deal with in organizing our adventure and members of the Kuoda team stayed in touch with us the entire time that we were in Peru. The owner, Mery, even paid us a personal visit in Cusco to ask about our experience in Peru.

From the moment that we arrived at the Lima Airport until the time we were dropped off at the Cusco Airport every driver and guide met us on time. All of our guides were extremely knowledgeable, informative, friendly and caring and spoke excellent English–Vanessa in Lima, Eduardo in Paracas and Ica, Emma in Arequipa and the Colco Canyon, Jose-Luis in Puno and Lake Titicaca, Ofelia in Cusco and Julio at Machu Picchu. Our drivers–Cesar, Miguel and Juan– were all very careful in often difficult conditions and we always felt safe with them. Our entire trip was seamless from start to finish. We would all highly recommend Kuoda Travel. They are an exceptional company.

We used Kouda for the Peru leg of a three week trip to South America and the entire experience with Kouda, was exceptional.

From the moment we arrived in Lima, until the time we left we were very well taken care of by their team at every step of the trip. Airport meetings and transfers were seamless at every stop.

Our guide and driver for three days in the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu (Ofelia and Mr. Juan) were both exceptional. Ofelia got us on and off buses and trains seamlessly with the right seating and views.

Her commentary was knowledgeable, insightful, informative and delightful. Mr. Juan knows all the short-cuts and tricks that got us where we needed to be when we needed to be there.

Every question we asked Ofelia had a clear answer and when “eavesdropping” on other guides we knew we were getting much better information.

All hotels they selected were 5 star with excellent room selection and staffs who clearly knew Kouda had booked for us and provided an extra level of service based on that knowledge. The “included lunch” in Cusco after our arrival wasn’t a “basic” lunch at a restaurant, but rather a 5 star lunch at the exclusive Inkaterra Hotel in Cusco; an, exceptional welcome to the city.

Other notable highlights were the personally prepared “in-home” lunch at with the Aida family in their beautiful Sacred Valley home. The departure visit in Cusco from Kouda’s Founder/Director for a personal assessment of our trip with them was unexpected, very nice and much appreciated personal touch.

We highly recommend this team to who’s traveling to Peru, and if we’re returning in the future our agency selection will be certainly Kouda Travel.

For personal reasons, my husband, 2 adult children and I decided on very short notice to take a trip to Peru. My first contact with Kuoda was in late December, and we were on board a plane in late February. Despite the very tight timeline, our Kuoda Travel Designer, Celine, made every effort to plan a trip that would meet our specific desires and needs, as well as coming up with very helpful suggestions of her own. The planning stage was very smooth–Celine was always fabulously prompt, courteous and friendly–so right from the beginning I began to realize I had stumbled upon a uniquely caring and lovely team. Sure enough, things only got better. We received a detailed itinerary, as well as helpful tips and extremely useful answers to questions it would not have occurred to me to ask. Then the trip! We arrived in Lima in the evening and we were to spend our first night in a hotel at the airport because we were taking a plane to Arequipa the next morning. Nevertheless, we were still met at the airport by a lovely Kuoda representative who literally walked us across the street to our hotel! Throughout our two weeks in Peru, during which time we toured Arequipa & the Colca Canyon, Cusco, the Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu, the Tambopata rainforest, and, finally a bit of Lima, we had the absolute joy of not only having expert, knowledgeable and friendly guides with skilled, punctual and safe drivers, but also of feeling that we were being welcomed into a wonderful family that we had never known we had. Two key points that illustrate that you can’t do better than Kuoda:

1) The whole Kuoda team makes every effort to discover exactly who you are and what your particular interests are. Our first guide, Roberto, incorporated as much extra hiking as possible into our very full sightseeing days, and those were the highlights of our time with him. Our second guide, Rosa, climbed Huayna Picchu with us, and knew all the best places to take family photos for us. On the train back from Aguas Calientes she and my daughter sat together comparing photos and chatting like sisters.

2) The true test of a company is when things go wrong. Our whole family got sick with a stomach bug–we had brought antibiotics (Cipro) with us just in case, but only enough for 3 people (dumb mistake).

Rosa took us to a pharmacy and made sure we got another course of antibiotics, and we knew that the team was standing by, ready to take us to hospital if our conditions did not respond to medication (they did). We were happy and carefree, and the guides walked the fine line of taking excellent care of us without being overbearing or controlling. On our drive to the Colca Canyon, Roberto made sure we had plenty of coca tea and plenty of stops on our way up to the highest mountain pass, and then when we got there, we blissfully hopped around taking photos while he and the driver (we found out later) stayed by the van on high alert, oxygen tank at the ready, just in case the altitude might prove too much for us! We had the trip of a lifetime, in no small part thanks to the Kuoda team. We feel so blessed to have met the owner, Mery, as well as our Travel Designer, Celine, and to have been welcomed into the Kuoda family.

I literally only have good things to say about Kuoda. My family travels every Christmas, and booking our Peru trip through Kuoda created the most seamless traveling experience that we’ve ever had. Even my mom had no regrets by the end of our 10-day experience, and that’s saying something!

My parents worked with Kuoda to tailor our trip to our personal needs. We are a very outdoorsy family and greatly enjoy hiking and other activities on the physical side of things, so Kuoda agents readily picked out the best types of attractions that fit this profile, giving us many options and locations to choose from, but always certified by their very high standards. All my parents really knew was that they wanted to see Machu Picchu, but Kuoda developed an entire week+ itinerary for us filled with incredible attractions that we probably never could have found out about on our own. It was so nice to have such painstakingly thought-out and well-researched options presented to us – I know that it gave my family, and especially my parents and youngest brother, a huge confidence boost to know that we would be well-scheduled because they had never experienced a trip outside of a traditionally “Western” environment before, and are sometimes more reserved when we travel.

Also, you really should look no further for the most top-notch, professional, and reliable service possible for a trip to Peru. Every single Kuoda staff member that we interacted with was more helpful than the last. We never for a second felt left to fend for ourselves about anything. All of our needs were immediately accommodated – for example, my mom is a vegan for health reasons, and our guides/drivers ensured that we would only eat at restaurants where she could find food (which you should also know was always AMAZINGLY delicious – the Kuoda staff really knows how to pick a good restaurant, and Peruvian food has a great reputation for being very tasty in general) – and if we ran into any snags, they were almost immediately resolved. For example, one of my brother’s suitcases went missing after my family’s Latam flight, and there were multiple Kuoda staff members who were on the case recovering it in just seconds after we notified them.

In short, everyone we worked with was just so good at what they did. The owner of the company even paid us a personal visit in Cuzco on one of the last days of our trip to ask us how we had enjoyed the experience, and she brought us gifts to see us off! I’ve never encountered that type of kindness/hospitality on a trip before. I know that my parents are definitely thinking about working with them again next time they travel south, and although I’ve lived in Ecuador on my own before, next time I return, I would be totally fine with Kuoda creating my entire experience for me! Just kidding. But I really feel like no one knows luxury, yet very authentic and real, experiences in South America like Kuoda does. I can’t recommend them enough. It was just such an incredible ten days.

I can’t say enough about the Kuoda folks, they were top notch, professional, reliable and flexible. They have excellent guides and we had a most outstanding trip. Arequipa with it’s white walled Basilica Cathedral and the monastery of Santa Catalina, Coy for dinner at Chicas, on to Chivay in Colca Canyon sitting in the hot springs then going to watch the condors fly, back and forth across the high planes of the Altiplano up to 4900 meters, where llamas, vicunas and alpacas live in the game reserve, we were so lucky to pet a baby vicuna! At Puno and Lake Titicaca, floating islands, the island of Taquile with the best trout lunch I’d had in many a year and native crafts people weaving and knitting, the clear blue water of the lake and the island reminded me of the Mediterranean.

From Puno to Cusco (I would have like to have ridden the train, but it didn’t fit to our schedule) we stopped along the way at various points of interest. Interesting to see the conditions change from high desert to fertile agriculture as we passed through the Andes mountains to Cusco. Touring the ruins at Pisac, OIlantaytambo, and then on the train up to Macchu Picchu. Spent the day with our expert guide at Macchu Picchu, and then the next day exploring on our own and climbing Wayna Picchu to look down through the clouds on Macchu Picchu. Back to Cusco for a free day to watch the last day of Festival before Lent. It was wild in the streets in Cusco. Off to Lima for one half a day of exploring the Larco Museum and the main plaza.

All of the accommodations and travel were excellent. No complaints about hotels or transportation.

Wow, we didn’t want to go home. The drivers were great, the food was excellent, the time went by too fast. The guides were super knowledgable and were accommodating to our needs and we changed plans a number of times, deciding with the guides what was the best thing to do at that point in time. In Cusco, Mery the owner of Kuodo met with us to make sure that we were being treated correctly and asked us about the trip and if we had any concerns. Traveling off peak was also helpful. We got bumped up in a couple of hotels because they weren’t busy. It rained in Macchu Picchu, but being from Seattle, it didn’t slow us down a bit.

Concerns? Hmm, it was expensive to travel with Kuodo, but I would pay it again in a minute because everything was taken care of for us. We both got a little sick from something we ate. Have your doctor prescribe Azithromycin 500 MG, it fixed both my wife and me right up. Altitude wasn’t much of a problem for either of us. We took diamox from the start, drank lots and lots of water and gatorade, ate smaller meals and moved slowly. Be careful of the high altitude sun! it was Feb and the height of summer, but it wouldn’t matter much as Peru is in the tropics. Sunblock and long sleeve shirts and hats are an absolute must.

I’d go back to Peru and travel with Kuoda in a second. it was a great trip.

We looked into a number of travel companies to arrange our week long trip to Peru. Kuoda Travel was the most responsive and offered great advice. They arranged for all of our hotels, flights, ground transportation, guides, tours and many meals. We wanted to be “well taken care of” and Kuoda exceeded our expectations.

By the end of our trip, the guides and drivers were like friends. Kuoda is a little more expensive than the group travel companies since it arranges for a personal tour with quality accommodation and meals. Our tour was one of the best we have taken and was worth every penny we spent. There is not one thing we would have changed about this trip except it was too short.

We should have stayed one more day in Lima, one more day in Cusco, and one more day in Aqua Calientes. Our itinerary included two nights in Lima at the beginning of the trip, two nights in Cusco, one night in Aqua Calientes (Machu Picchu), and one night in Cusco and one night in Lima on the return.

Kuoda Travel booked our visit to Peru. They were referred by friends. Mery’s team’s attention to detail was outstanding. As other travellers have stated, I too, have many great things to say. I have travelled extensively all over the world, and this was the best travel agency that I have worked with.

We had a hand-held trip that added to safety, enhanced the many things we saw and experienced and answered every question that we had.The itinerary, guides and drivers were fantastic. The highlight of our trip was Machu Picchu, but we enjoyed our stops in Pisac, Olletaytamo, Aguas Calientes and Cusco. The hotels were excellent. If you’re going to Peru, this is the agency! We too had challenges when my friend got very ill when we got to Cusco.

Mery, the owner of Kuoda Travel, took care of getting the required medical assistance, and looking after my friend and me. She stayed at the medical clinic to make sure everything would be ok. Dealing with this situation would have been very complicated without her assistance. She even gave up time with her young family the next day to make sure that my friend was ok. Her assistance enabled us to continue with our trip. This is a great team to work with. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a wonderful time in Peru. I highly recommend Kuoda.

My wife and I booked a private tour with Kuoda, and had a spectacular time! We visited Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and the Nazca Lines. We did get lucky with the weather, and had only two mornings and one afternoon of rain on an 11 day trip. Every detail of the trip was immaculately planned, and the pace was just right for us. We’d get an early start to each day, see a number of impressive sites, and be back to our hotel in plenty of time to rest up for the next day.

The private guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and very informative. The sites we visited were fantastic and problems free. The hotels were all wonderful and modern. We traveled by car, minivan, bus, train, plane, and boat, and there were no issues. The tour included lunches at fantastic restaurants and we were able to enjoy the wonderful and underrated Peruvian cuisine. The price was also competitive with comparable group tours we looked at. The owner, Mery, even payed a visit while we lunched in Cusco. This company gets my highest recommendation.

We have never booked a completely guided and “hand held” trip like this one, and Kuoda could not have been better to work with. From the pre-trip planning process to airport and hotel greetings to the transportation to our guide (Holger was a great guide–pleasant and informative–to spend our week with) we could not have been more pleased. When there was a mishap with our passports (our own fault!) they handled it swiftly and without complaint. We plan on touring with Kuoda again in the future (perhaps Galapagos next!!). Would highly recommend booking with Kuoda without reservation.

I can’t say enough good things about Kuoda Travel. We typically travel independently but decided to use an agency because of some of the complexities of planning a trip to Peru and Machu Picchu. We wanted things to go smoothly and to make the most of our time there. We worked with Tom, who very quickly put together a plan for us. Everything we wanted was covered, plus many thing we hadn’t thought of. The hotels were good and the prices reasonable.

Our visit to Peru was planned perfectly, and from the moment we arrived in Lima we were well taken care of. But you really get the measure of a tour company when things go wrong. A protest and strike shut down the train service to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu village) on the morning we were supposed to travel there. There is no road to Aguas Calientes, so our schedule had to be re-worked. Everything had to be changed within a few hours – train tickets, bus tickets, hotel reservations, Machu Picchu tickets … everything. It all happened behind the scenes, while we continued to enjoy our trip (on a slightly different schedule). Had we been there on our own, I honestly don’t know how we would have managed it.

I would especially like to recommend our guide Holger, who was extremely knowledgable and personable. I expected to see a lot of beautiful scenery and learn a little about the Incas. I didn’t expect to experience so much of the unique culture of modern-day Peru. It is a truly unique place, and Holger brought it all together for us. Also, our driver, Juan, who got us everywhere we needed to go, safely and on time. And of course, Jason, who worked behind the scenes and made it possible for us to go to Machu Picchu in spite of the strike.

I highly recommend Kuoda Travel to anyone planning a trip to Peru.

I should start saying I have all possible restrictions to travel with travel agencies and tour operators. I truly enjoy planning trips by myself and coming to places exploring by my own. Sometimes a local day trip.
Here and there, very seldom I decide for a tour operator, and given the fact I was a bit unsure about moving from one location to the next in Peru, and all I read was not so clear, I decided to take a tour. But no groups or ready defined things. So I went ot TripAdvisor and searched for some of the higher ranked agents.

Among all offers I got, Kuoda´s called immediately my attention. Precise and open to my requests. At this moment their travel designer started contacts with me (always very prompt and clear answers), allowing me defining my needs, at the same time giving valuable suggestions based on their knowledge. And most important, never tried to push things I didn´t want. With that I decided to be by myself in Lima, and to book hotels also myself. Good recommendations but no inconvenient commercial push.

Valid to mention that Kuoda has not been the cheapest offer I got. But after having travelled with them, I could understand why, given the cars/vans, guides just for the 4 of us in the family, quality of restaurants where included and so on. If you want something more exclusive than big groups, higher level restaurants and professional guides, consider somehow higher prices, it worth.
Once we finished the travel definitions, payment and bureaucratic issues went very simple and smooth.

From the moment we arrived Peru till the last moment, Kuoda team has been present, guiding, supporting, being interested but never getting too much that we´d feel annoyed. Perfect balance.
Guides, drivers, operational support and management were all very, very good, service oriented and making us feeling home in Peru.
I´m here on purpose not mentioning any names, as I´m sure there were many other Kuoda team members that I didn´t know, but were behind the scenes making our trip unforgettable. So not to fall into trap of not mentioning important people, I prefer to thank all Kuoda family.
Wonderful trip, truly nice people.

We recently returned from a two week trip to Peru planned by Kuoda Travel, and it was fantastic down to each detail. They booked our internal flights, arranged all of our transportation including drivers and train travel, arranged all of our guides and tours, booked all of our hotels, and even booked all of the dinner reservations I requested based on their recommendations. We particularly liked the local guides in each area of the country. Miguel was a great guide in Arequipa and the Colca Valley. Jose Luis was a great guide of the islands on Lake Titicaca.

Yieber was fabulous during our horseback ride up to the community in the Andes, and Luis was a great guide on Machu Picchu. What we especially liked about each guide is that they were very knowledgeable and passionate about the area they were showing us, and each of them came from families who had a long history in the particular area. They each made sure we were always comfortable and getting the most out of the experience. Kuoda was in constant contact with us during the tour and Mery, the owner, met us in Cusco. We would highly recommend Kuoda Travel to anyone wanting a seamless experience in Peru!

All the rave reviews are true…Kuoda really is the best! My husband and I traveled to Peru in October 2016, and we had the trip of a lifetime. After reading their stellar reviews, we decided to do all of our booking through Kuoda and we were not disappointed. They worked with us to book hotels within our budget and made sure our itinerary was packed full so that we made the most of our time. All of our tours were private so we were able to move at our own pace.

Ask for tour guide Jimmy, he is so knowledgeable and enthusiastic, we feel like we made a new friend. Everything was planned in detail, including transportation, meals, and tours. The owner, Meri, really goes out of her way to make you feel welcome. If you want to enjoy Peru without any worries, book with Kuoda!

My daughter and I traveled to Arequipa,Colca Canyon ,Puno, The Uros Islands, Cusco, Machu Piccu and Lima with Kuoda. The guides and drivers provided a worry free vacation. They made us feel safe and secure and they were extremely professional. When the airlines lost my daughter’s luggage Kouda located it and arranged to have it delivered to us.
Our private tours were tailored made for us. The guides were flexible if we wanted to make changes to our schedule. There were lunches in private homes which we loved. The vehicles were large and comfortable for travel. We booked our own hotels but Kuoda was there to check us in and out, helping us with any language issues. Mery, the owner and her team are outstanding. We fell in love with Peru and hope to return with the help of Kuoda

We just returned from the Galapagos and Quito–our second Kuoda experience. Mery and her team of extraordinary professionals go above and beyond to ensure an A+ travel experience–from fine-tuning the itinerary to problem-solving when in country. We have traveled with Kuoda to Peru and Ecuador and are grateful to be part of the Kuoda family. Thank you Mery, Alex, and colleagues.

We absolutely loved Peru and it was all thanks to Kuoda. They were so organized and thorough. Extremely sweet people who made us feel welcome and comfortable. The hotels we were put in were absolutely amazing and the tour guides were all so well educated and knowledgeable about everything. There wasn’t a question they didn’t know how to answer!! Absolutely amazing. If you’re coming to Peru, Kuoda is definitely the agency you want to use!!! We specially recommend Karina. She is the sweetest and was so enthusiastic the entire trip which made our experience even better!

There is much more to Peru than Machu Picchu. We did an 18 day tour made-up of 5 days in each of the jungle (Heath River Wildlife Centre), the sacred valley including Cusco and northern Peru. Our itinerary was compiled by Tom Adams our Kuoda travel designer. He gave us several options for the jungle experience and managed to find us excellent accommodation even though we booked quite late.

Throughout our holiday Kuoda took excellent care of us. Peru is a big country so our itinerary included several domestic flights some of which were delayed but there was always a representative from Kuoda at the airport to meet us.

We had a different guide in each of the three parts of our holiday. The guides that Kuoda used were superb: knowledgeable, friendly, easy to understand and well organised.
I must also mention our drivers. The drivers that Kuoda used were excellent, safe and punctual. We were very impressed with the way they took responsibility for our safety.
We’ve done several personal tours around the world with different travel companies and rate Kuoda as the best we’ve dealt with. Representatives from Kuoda, including Mery Calderon the company founder, visited us during our stay to get feed-back and suggestions for improvement. We were very impressed by this level of attention which appears to be a hallmark of Kuoda Travel.
If you want a stress-free, well organised Peru travel experience, then Kuoda are certainly very capable of providing it.

Perhaps one of the best travel agencies! They are very friendly and really go out of their way to make sure we are comfortable and enjoy our trip. Evelyn our guide was amazing!!! Alex called us and checked on us. Honestly, I am probably going to travel with them again. Loved my trip!! Thank you kuoda for making my trip a great experience.

This is one of the best personalized tour agency that I have used and I have been travelling for over thirty years, both as an independent traveler and sometimes with a small group tour or a private tour. They offered me a very customized schedule down to fine detail. I want 5 stars hotel and they gave me the best if not one of the best for the area. All the hotels are small boutique hotel with great service. I traveled with my wife only and the personal service enhanced the trip. Kuoda specialty is Peru since their head office is in Cusco and they know the country well. Some of the places that I visited were specially arranged by Kuoda and did not appear to be widely available.

My contact person called me in every hotel to make sure all things are satisfactory. The cost for all these was not cheap but I certainly got what I paid for. I was especially impressed with the two included lunches in Sacred Valley area. Usually included lunches in a tour means a quick bite in a local restaurant. These were gourmet lunches arranged in a private home and a hacienda. One was a six courses lunch prepared by a real great chef. A great touch and a good relax time between exhaustive tours hiking along the Andes. The owner of the agency, Mary, met us in the Cusco hotel to thank us and asked us about the tour. It really shows the company cares. If you go to Peru as a couple, family or very small group, use them. You will not be disapponted

We have traveled to many places around the world using different tour companies, including Tauck, Asia Transpacific and Kensington. Whilebthe other operators are quite good, none of them are up to the standards set by Kuoda

We completed a nine day trip to Peru in mid October. Every aspect of the trip was well planned and executed The itinerary was outstanding, and go to work with us to make sure it what is tailored to our interest – this included lots of day hikes and focus on Andean civilization. The guides were universally outstanding – incredibly knowledgeable about what they were showing us, as well as being lovely people. The hotels were all excellent. The meals provided on the tour were also excellent, and even where a meal was not included, we got terrific recommendations for restaurants. The cuisine in Peru is world-class

Throughout the trip, we felt well cared for. The owner of Kuoda visited with us twice to make sure that everything was going well. Amazing service! There was not a single logistical glitch during nine days of travel Pretty incredible, given the nature of the trip!

Peru is a beautiful and welcoming nation. Any US traveler interested in the world should put this on his or her bucket list. And I cannot imagine a better way to do it than with Kuoda The icing on the cake was what a great value proposition this trip was. Kuoda is far less expensive than Tauck or Abercrombie and Kent. You just cannot go wrong choosing this fine tour company

My parents gifted me a trip to Peru for my 30th birthday, and after doing a lot of research I knew that Kuoda was a perfect fit! My Mom and I couldn’t have asked for a better guide throughout our week in Peru. Ofelia was a great fit for our personalities, and traveled with us on our adventures to Machu Picchu, and villages surrounding. We really wanted a cultural experience, off the beaten path…which is exactly what Kuoda offered, along with wonderful drivers and VIP treatment along the way! The Umasbama school and village were highlights of our trip, and we really enjoyed the local lunch at our hosts house. Everything was spectacular and customized just for us. You can’t go wrong with Kuoda!

We just got back from 5 weeks in South America. Kuoda planned our Peru and Bolivia adventure. They personalized a 16 day trip for 4 of us. We worked together to plan a trip that suited our budget and what we wanted to see. Their professionalism is outstanding! Any questions I had were answered very quickly (sometimes the same day) and I could even talk to them by an 800 number. Our tours were very well planned. The guides were passionate about their country. The accommodation far exceeded our expectations! I highly recommend Kuoda to plan a trip!!

Overall it was a wonderful trip, you did a great job and all the sites we saw were really interesting. Both guides and drivers were terrific. Betsy in particular. She knew her stuff and had plenty of patience. Thank you for all your help with the many many interactions we requested of you.

We worked with the Kuoda team literally over 3 years to make our trip to Peru a reality. With challenging health concerns for our family, they went above and beyond to make sure our trip and experience were pleasant and meaningful. From the planning to the trip itself, the staff’s focus on our needs and making the trip as memorable as possible was exactly what we needed. Many thanks to Tom, Alex, Mery, and especially our guide Edwin who carefully and expertly ushered us through the trip. Amazing experience, and we look forward to working with the Kuoda team again the next time we travel to Peru (or anywhere else they service).

I asked a quote for personalised trip from Kouda travel. The answer was promt, friendly, professional, considering all my requests, plus adding local attractions that I would not have thought of.
In spite that we could not manage the offered personalised tour due to budget reasons, our advisor (Celine) helped us to find tour operator who could help us to manage the tour by joining groups. I call it really professional attitude, and very greatful for this to Celine.

The knowledge and service made this a trip of a lifetime. They personalized our trip from city tours to trekking flawlessly. The staff loves what they do and it shows.

I booked my 3 week trip across peru thru the internet with kuoda travel. After many e mails we worked together and came up with a very exciting and adventurous trip. From the moment we arrived in lima we were taken excellent care of. Our guides and drivers were excellent. Guides spoke excellent English and were so knowledgeable about peru and the world.We felt so safe in their hands. The hotels we stayed in were excellent and the recommendations they gave me for restaurants were excellent(being from nyc area we are foodies).

When we had a few glitches ,Mery(the owner) and her team took care of them immed and did everything needed to make it right. In cusco we meet Mery to discuss the 2nd part of our trip at our suite( the single suite hotel). Nothing was too much for her to do and we became friends. Again everyone we came across on this trip was so friendly and professional. The activities that we planned(zip line, white water rafting and cooking class in a local home) were amazing.

The companies and people that Kuoda deals with are A plus. Mery even surprised us with a goodbye gift. We have a friend for life. We would not go any where else to book a trip to peru and will recommend Kuoda to everyone and are planning to use them for other trips to south America . I do not work for this company and have no affiliation with them but am giving a true and honest review of our experience. I am sure there are other good travel companies out there but this is the best and were in line with other companies a was quoted prices by. thanks again Mery and the team for making our trip so so great.

It’s been taking me some time to write a review for this tour agency because it is difficult to find the right words to describe their love and enthusiasm they have for their services.
I have been to Peru with them in 2008 and 2015. I have to say they were consistent both times in their commitment to serve starting from the creation of your custom itinerary right to the end completion of your tour.

All of the guides are super personable, highly educated and speak clear English.
The execution and timing of activities were perfect. The drivers were also always on time. Both trips were flawless. Even if there is a request that cannot be fulfilled, they try their hardest to come up with something similar.

On top of all the impeccable service from beginning to end, Mery, the owner of the company does her very best to connect with you and stay in contact with you after the journey ends. There is SO much love that goes into her company. She is a perfect example of many big hearted people I have met from Peru. LOVE this company. I will be back……

We are a small group of friends who like to travel outside the bigger groups. Kuoda was just the thing we needed for our trip to Peru. They made plans, booked hotels, and made us feel like royalties the way we were taken care of by guides and drivers.

If you plan to visit Peru, use Kuoda.
Kuoad’s speciality is small groups, and we could not have been happier.
In Lima we were picked up at the airport by Cesar. A great guide who introduced us to the hotel Kuoda had chosen and gave us good advice for our stay. The same thing happend in every new town – we were met by an English speaking guide who took good care of us and showed us both tourist things, and other visits which were explisit for small groups. A great thank you to Cesar, to Jorge in Arequipa, to Henry in Puno and most to Eyner in Cusco who also followed us to Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. We did not walk the Inka path so manyothers walk, but Eyner took us several other Inka paths.

After all this we went to Maldonado where we were taken well care of by our tourguide Albert. Great stay before we continiued to Mancora to relax. Kuoda followed us every step of our travel and made sure we had what we needed. Once we sent a small worry to Urpi by mail. It took her less than half an hour to sort it out.
Thanks also to Mery, the boss, who came to meet us to ensure all was well.

Kuoda is the BEST! They took care of every detail and made the trip effortless and pleasurable. They added so much personal touch to the trip that it felt like we were traveling with family. The hosts were gracious and extremely helpful, the guides were knowledgeable and patient and the drivers were prompt and courteous. I would recommend Kuoda to everyone!

We chose Kuoda because good friends had used them several years ago. They exceeded our expectations. In planning our trip and identifying where we needed their services, we had several email exchanges and one lengthy phone conversation. They can do as much or as little as you like. For our 2 weeks in Peru, we ended up using Kuoda for 2 days–a guided trip through the Sacred Valley and a guided tour to Machu Picchu.

They also helped identify hotels in Cusco since I was having trouble finding a place for 3 people. They emailed an itinerary and a contract and we sent them a check; a bit of a leap of faith. But when we arrived in Cusco, Jason met us at the bus station with Marco, the driver, and we realized then that we were in competent hands.

Ofelia, our guide to the Sacred Valley and MP, was excellent. Her English was excellent and she knew her Peruvian history and current events. She was also fun person to hangout with for a couple of days. I happened to mention that it was our 30th wedding anniversary and she quietly arranged to have Jason send a fruit basket and champagne sent to our hotel back in Cusco. Clearly, the staff are all working together cohesively.

On our last day to the airport, the founder of Kuoda, Mery, stopped by to thank us and ask for feedback from our experience. She also gave us each a gift. Kuoda does an exceptional job of paying attention to detail. Without hesitation, would recommend them to anyone considering hiring a private tour guide. It is money well spent.

We planned our 3 week South American holiday on our own and needed transportation to get from Lake Titicaca, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia and everywhere we looked at how to get from A to B proved to be a bit on the sketchy side…..or at least for us doing it on our own it did. Trip Advisor and Kuoda to the rescue!

Through many Trip Adivsor reviews (thank you to the community) we lucked into Kuoda Travel and contacted them to find out if they could get this job done for us as travelling over the border was not easy to do on our own. Celine was our contact person and agent from Kuoda who responded quickly and competently to all of our questions and concerns – over and over again! Although our itinerary with them was quite short (only 2 nights and 3 days) every single aspect of our tour was perfect. The guides, hotels and transportation they arranged couldn’t have been better and I would highly recommend them to help plan any part of your holiday.

How to choose your Peru travel agent? Ask friends, check online, compare prices…but it’s still a leap of faith when you put your trust in an agency. There’s no hesitation in my recommending Mery and her team at Kuoda. Planning the trip with an expert helps. Where to go, how much time to spend, how much to spend on accommodations, guidelines for dealing with the climate, food, tipping for guides and drivers, Kuoda covers it all for you. Logistically, you will find Kuoda meeting you at airports, train and bus stations, and providing you with excellent guides and drivers. We never felt nervous in our travels with Kuoda, we always moved at a comfortable pace, and there was a personal touch involved. Have a look at the glowing compliments in the other reviews. You will feel special with Kuoda. They will exceed your expectations.

We used Kuoda for our recent trip to Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu and they were just great. Our tour guides and drivers were knowledgeable and articulate and showed us so much of the interesting things about this picturesque country. Every place we went, we were so very well cared for. It was really a great time and Kuoda made it a great trip.

Throughout this glorious two-week trip, Kuoda’s staff-guides and drivers gave us sharply intelligent and well informed introductions to Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, especially Ollantaytambo, and the markets and towns and archeological sites of that valley. So much to tell. Our Cuzco to Sacred Valley guide Edwin and driver Fausto were ever cordial, funny and thoughtful.

Our Lake Titicaca guide Henry accompanied us to a home stay on an island that allowed us to met a Quechua family of several generations. We learned a lot about the region, nearby Bolivia and the Andean life in the present. That’s not the half of it — a terrific museum guide for a day in Lima, time given us, as we had asked, to wander.,Meeting and listening to a Peruvian musician and ethnologist of Andean instruments and musical styles– Accommodations were at the level we asked for and all were great. Kuoda is a company to trust, to travel with more than once or twice in the High Andes.

We had a great time with our Kuoda travel team! They made everything so easy and all of the places we stayed in were amazing. Our tour guide Karina was excellent and we loved having her in Machu Picchu. They went the extra mile to make our trip even more special. We can’t wait to travel again with Kuoda!

Mery and her employees at Kuodo are the best. they planned our 8 day trip as to our requests–no more than one museum or church! They were there to pick us up and get us through every hotel, train and airport. All hotels were first class. Doing a trip with your own guide and driver is the way to go, we two couples were spoiled! Kuodo was available for anything we needed, any time. Highly recommend.

Kuoda Travel is a wonderful, trustworthy tour company that provides excellent quality that will meet your budget requirements. They are local to Peru, and are therefore experts in their country. But, they and their owner Mery, believe so strongly in the business that the company also has offices in Miami in the USA. This says a lot about their company in terms of building trust with clients from all over the world.

We had private guides who were wonderful, knowledgable, and were so helpful with translations anytime we needed help. They worked with our schedule and what we wanted to see and do. We were never rushed and could do things at our own pace. This is exactly the kind of flexibility that you want and need when planning a tour.

Next time in Peru, Kuoda will be my first point of contact!

We choose our holidays carefully and don’t like to travel as part of a crowd. Over the years we have chosen to travel with a British based, high end, award winning travel company to many parts of the undeveloped world. On this occasion we chose to test their offer with one or two locally based companies (ie Peru).

I searched TA for recommended companies and Kuoda was identified as a company with very good reviews. Contact was made to the Kuoda (and others) but this company stood out – responsive, very good value for money and very clear proposals. Urpi (our fantastic travel consultant) responded within 24 hours of my initial contact and came up with ideas that ticked many boxes for us. Our plans continued to develop over the next month until all their competitors were kicked into the long grass. Friends had travelled to Peru with a tour group 12 months previously and their cost, together with our British based company offered cost comparators.

Our agreed plan involved escorted travel throughout Peru, high end accommodation, and individual touches/experiences that others could not match- lunch in private homes, community based weavers not some tourist location, flexibility in our plans and a commitment to ensure we had the best holiday possible. Urpi assured us throughout our email exchange and we decided to book through Kuoda. Urpi continued to keep us informed until and throughout our travels through Peru via email – eventually meeting her in Cusco – which was a delight. On arrival at each airport/train station – we were clearly met by our friendly and knowledgeable guides. Arrangements were smooth and very professional.

When I was taken ill in Arequipa (our second day) with altitude sickness – we could not have asked for a more helpful, responsive and caring support – medical support and advice within 20 minutes, translator, genuine concern for my wellbeing and regular medical check ups over the holiday. I could not have asked for better support anywhere in the world.
I would highly recommend this company and I genuinely feel like an extended member of the Kuoda family.

I just want to say thank you thank you thank you to Kuoda travel. This travel agency was absolutely for me. And thank you to tripadvisor because I booked with them because of all the past reviews I have read. Sometimes I do not agree occasionaly with the good reviews on some of the attractions and restaurants on tripadvisor but this was one a real gem found on the Peru section. I had been in discussion with Kuoda over a span of year from the time I was interested in going to finally deciding on a trip and all the details of the trip.

I usually never book with a travel agency. I am an avid researcher and very good organizer and also I work in production and travel all over the world so I work in a very similar kind of business to travel agency work. I normally organize all of my trips, but realized very quickly that I would need help once I was reading information on how to get to here and there. and all the things I wanted to do, esp the shopping. I hate big groups and I am a very my own pace kind of person, so we were so happy we had our own private guide and driver.

And the gorgeous thing was Mery comes to meet you (the owner of Kuoda) when you arrive to Cusco and she checks your intinerary that was made for you, and she re adjusted details to suit what I wanted on our trip when we arrived. She knew our budget was tight so she was so helpful to make things possible for us, and also she re arranged the schedule so I could have more time at the Pisac market and do things that were more appropriate for me. She was even so kind enough to give us the guide an extra morning to help us shop in Cusco!And our Guide Ofelia was an angel. We absolutely fell in love with her. We were so lucky because my fiance is Italian speaking and does not understand english so great. We had originally asked if there was someone that spoke italian which they said they didnt have.

But we were so lucky that Ofelia actually also speaks Italian! It was so amazing. And Ofelia also further re adjusted our itinerary to match what we wanted to do on our trip. I never felt they were counting the hours, or that I paid for a certain time frame and thats all you get. They were so flexible according to the feeling of the day. It was really made for us. I am sure and also have heard of other people struggling because they had to follow a certain schedule and because they were with a group they had to follow the herd. But we were so lucky to have such a personalized and tailored trip for us. Esp for me, since I wanted to re decorate my apartment in a peruvian style, so I had a lot of shopping to do in the Pisac market and also the Cusco market. Finally ofelia realized the style I loved and she re adjusted the intinerary so we could go buy rugs and blankets in chinchero, where she also took us to one of the most amazing churches I ever saw in my life. And also the type of blankets I wanted were from this town, so the price was much better here.

Also, Kouoda really helped to work with me with my budget, and I feel like their service is very well worth the money you pay to them. It was luxurious to have a private driver, and private guide amongst all the people that were there on their own and trying to listen in to what our guide was explaining. And also the big groups did not look like any fun at all. Anyway, I really feel lucky we bit the bullet and decided to go and pay for a travel agency to organize everything. It was money more than well spent. I would have been stressed trying to organize transport from one place to the other and would not have been able to sit back and enjoy the places. I also like the fact that Kuoda is a Peruvian company. Mery is from Cusco so I really felt comfortable being welcomed by people from the place I am visiting. We had 12 amazing days and we will never forget it. I would definitely Use Kuoda travel again. They really care, and they really help with all the details. Even when i was leaving and had tons of over baggage, they helped me deal with the airlines and advised me how to handle the situation. Really top class! thank you so much Kuoda!

So my wife booked our “bucket list” trip with Kuoda based on a colleague’s recommendation from work.

Her colleague said “all you have to do is show up and enjoy your trip”. Kuoda will take you “by the hand, and deal with ground transportation, check in, and the minutia so that you can enjoy the sights and trip”.

Well that was true, but did not exactly capture the amazing job Meri and her wonderful team accomplished. Celine planned our trip. We saw everything that the tourist would see BUT we did it on our terms. When we were finished seeing a particular ruin, our personal guide would call our driver so that he would appear JUST as we exited this or that location.

The real magic is the disasters/unexpected. We had booked our Machu Picchu in January (4 day walk) for Monday Sept 12/16 to Thurs Sep 16/16. Only 100 people are allowed on the trail per day. On our orientation meeting on Sunday, the guide explained everything, with a catch: there was an anticipated municipal worker strike in Cusco that would LIKELY impede our bus Monday morning at 4 am from Cusco to the start of the Inca trail. Soooo, we were leaving at 10 pm from Cusco Sunday night. Our Kuoda guide in Cusco, took us from the orientation by car at 6:30 pm back to our hotel so that we could pack and grab a bite. Jason and the driver then collected us at 9:45 pm for delivery to the tour bus at 9:55 pm. Amazing customer service.

The tours around Cusco (including a semi-private cooking class) and later in the rain forest in Puerto Maldonado were amazing.

It is the unanticipated where you see the wonders of Kuoda shine. On our 4 day walk, camp to Machu Picchu, I contracted a bit (a lot) of traveller’s diarrhea. It was severe enough, that my wife and I decided to NOT do our scheduled activities on day following Machu Picchu when we arrived back in Cusco. Our handler (Jason) was concerned. When we called him to cancel our planned activities, he asked if I might want to see a doctor. I agreed and went to breakfast in the hotel. Exactly 41 minutes later, while at breakfast, Jason called to say he was in the hotel lobby. WITH the Dr. Julio! Dr. Julio did full examination, wrote prescriptions for both bacteria and parasites (4 in total) and advised to cease IMMODIUM (it is counter productive to ridding the body of the toxins) AND about 30-40 minutes later a nurse arrived with all the medication!!! Within 24 hours, I was 80% back to normal and 99% back to normal the following day.

The guides in each city (LIMA, CUSCO, Inca Trail and PUERTO MALDONADO) were excellent (Michael, Jason/Edward, Roger/Gary, Victor) as well as our drivers (mostly Augusto but 3 or 4 others) were all excellent.

Meri (the owner) took time to meet us on our 2nd to last day and gave us 2 wonderful hand made/painted coffee mugs. She was appreciative and listened for suggestions (the only one I had was to tell us that Kuoda offers free walking sticks for the Inca trail… We have our own but may have decided to avoid the expense and hassle of bringing them on the flight). VERY small suggestion.

One more thing: We were also invited into PRIVATE homes for lunches. NOT something big tours can offer. It was simply amazing. The vetting and quality that was conceived was also achieved every step of the way.

Another great story. On our last day (Monday), we awoke in the jungle, flew to LIMA via Cusco, and had about 8 hours layover before flying home to Toronto. My wife had booked a surprise dinner at MAIDO (#5 ranked in the world) for 7 pm. Turns out we arrived in rush hour in Lima. The airport was about 2 hours (in traffic) from the restaurant. Our driver and guide, got us there with ample extra time so that I could get a haircut and view some of the city before dinner and pick us up at 11 pm so as to easily get us back to the airport for our flight home today.

Would we use Kuoda again? You betcha.

What an amazing two week trip to the Amazon Basin, Sacred Valley, Cusco and Puno. Kuoda did a wonderful job from the very start. My initial contact was with Céline who was always there to quickly get back to me whenever I had any questions or requests. She asked and listened to our wants and wishes and found us the type of accommodations we hoped for and put together a great itinerary.

We were fortunate to have the best guide, Alvin, who was so knowledgeable, funny and personable throughout our trip as well as our driver, Jaime, who was amazingly skilled at driving in and around the narrow streets of Cusco. Their lunches served at a family home helped to make things much more personal. The owners were gracious and the food delicious!The Amazon Jungle was all I dreamt of and the lodge and our guide provided us the very best of all things.

We were very surprised when Mery herself came to visit us one morning before we were going out for the day to come and meet us and ask us personally how everything was and what they could do to make the trip better. A nice personal touch and outstanding customer service!! I would book another vacation with them in a heartbeat. Thank you Mery and staff for making our vacation one we will remember for a lifetime!

Thank you so much Mery! Without you this trip of a lifetime would not have been possible. With our other tour cancelling at last minute, you helped get us a private car who got us from the airport to the train station in time to make our train to Aguas Calientes! The driver even took our bags to the hostel! Getting tickets and advice while Internet was limited for us was the icing on the cake of a sweet trip. And now helping me with a Galápagos Island trip! ❤️✈️

Kuoda Travel planned an amazing 4 day trip They made sure we saw absolutely everything, were very well taken care of, and had a great time. Our guide and driver were fantastic! Dimas (our guide)was so knowledgable, funny and polite. He was the best. He and Marco (our driver) both made us feel so comfortable and always taken care of. Everyone associated with Kuoda was great and welcomed us each step of the way. I highly recommend Kuoda Travel!

Kudos was amazing from preplanning till they said goodbye to us at the Lima airport. They did not miss a detail. We only had 4 days/3 nights and they made the most of it. Jesus planned every detail to a tee. If possible, the trip exceeded our expectations (which were very high). Omar from Kuoda met us in the airport in Lima and helped us get to our gate for the flight to Cusco. Our amazing guide (Dimas) and wonderful driver(Marco) met us in Cusco and our adventure began. They really did not miss a detail and were there every step of the way. The hotels they booked were exceptional(Belmond Rio Sagrado, Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Belmond Hotel Monastery). Our guide was so knowledgeable, warm, funny, a true gentleman and very proud of his country and heritage. He was a 10+. Mery, the owner met us at our hotel in Cusco and escorted us back to the airport which was wonderful as we got to tell her how exceptional every minute of the trip was and that her staff was too. I truly cannot thank Kuoda enough for the trip of a lifetime.

I have always done all trip planning myself and felt quite weird about turning it all over to an agency, but after a friend’s wonderful experience with Kuoda Travel, I gave them a try 3 years ago. Mery, the owner, and her staff, helped us to plan a fantastic 3 week visit that included all of our interests. Unfortunately, my husband got sick and we couldn’t go. Kuoda was extremely helpful and empathetic and returned as much of our deposit as possible. They were wonderful.
Now, we are in Peru, on a terrific trip that was planned and arranged with Kuoda, and I have to say that having them attend to the details has been wonderful. We have been able to visit places and meet people that we never would have found without Kuoda. The guides and drivers have been incredible! Many thanks to Carlos and Fausto! Kuoda has made the trip exceptional and ever so simple for us!!
Many thanks to Mery and all of her staff!

My family had a wonderful trip to Peru thanks to Kuoda. Our guides were uniformly wonderful, with a special thanks to Jeremy, who was enthusiastic, full of knowledge, and wonderful with our kids. Kuoda especially shines in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. This is where they are based and it shows–we enjoyed a special surprise farmhouse lunch tremendously and meeting Mery even more.

I am giving Kuoda four stars because we did experience a few problems during the planning stages. A few times we experienced significant delays in getting responses to our e-mails. Also, the location of my daughter’s birthday dinner celebration (a main reason for our overnight stay in Lima and something we had requested multiple times, well in advance) was changed without us being notified.

Upon discussing this with Mery I feel very confident that this was not in keeping with Kuoda’s very high standards and that these problems will not creep up in the future. I would not hesitate to book with Kuoda again!

We had a wonderful trip to Peru with Kuoda organizing all the details for us. From the beginning planning to the actual travel logistics, we couldn’t be happier with the service. We had Celine as our trip designer. She is great to work with, always very responsive and always has the welfare of our family in mind (we were traveling with 3 generations: kids (age 11 and 9), parents, and grandparents). When the initial quote was out of our budget, she suggested very practical ways to help lower the price. She listened to my requests and designed an itinerary that worked perfect for us. There was enough communication and travel details before our departure and Celine is always available to answer questions. Normally I organize and plan everything myself, but with Kuoda I felt comfortable knowing that everything is taken care of.

When we arrived, we were greeted by different host in each city we stayed. All of them were very nice, friendly, and resourceful. We had Boris as our guide for the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu and he was the best! Not only was he knowledgeable and passionate about showing us the culture, he was very good with the kids and really care about our family. And he didn’t mind our various requests to bathrooms during the day We felt like we gained a life long friend in Peru.

Another detail that impressed me was our transportation. After the first day in Pisac, we got dirt and dust in our bus. But I was pleasantly surprised to see the bus all cleaned and washed the next morning! Also we were given bottled water during our stay. The day we left Cusco, the owner Mery personally came to greet us and asked about our stay. It is all the details and personal touches that set Kuoda apart, and I highly, highly recommend them for your travel to Peru!

My husband I just finished a two week stay in Peru for our 10th wedding anniversary. I usually like to plan everything myself and we both really dislike tour groups. But I started to have trouble with the logistics of getting around to see the all sights.

I emailed Kuoda and gave them a general outline of what I wanted. Kuoda made everything so easy and it made the vacation so much more relaxing. They organized all logistics like tickets and transportation. All you have to do is show up when they tell you to and enjoy.

Our tour guides were incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. We had a great time with them and learned a ton. Knowing the history of what we were visiting just made it that much more enjoyable.

It also seems like they have great communication. They are always checking in to see how you are doing and are just so helpful and friendly. I emailed in some questions during the trip and they were super quick to respond.

From start to finish, working with Kuoda Travel was a dream. We have never taken an ‘organized’ tour, as I don’t travel well in groups, so Kuoda’s customized, private tours are what got my attention. With-in hours of sending an inquiry, Celine reached out and did an amazing job of putting together details that would help to structure the perfect itinerary for our once in a lifetime trip.

We had decided we wanted to go 5 stars all the way, and Kuoda did not disappoint. Having said that, they were kind to point out that they did offer other alternatives, and there were many ways we could cut costs but still receive a top quality tour. No detail was left unturned, and the personal one on one service, was unmatched by anything I have ever experienced.

We started our trip in the Scared Valley with several day trips to villages and ruins such as Ollantaytambo and Pisac. Our tour guide, Eliacin was amazing. We were with him for a total of five days, and his knowledge of the sites, cities, and customs, were unmatched. He was also able to answer many questions that we had do give us a good idea of local customs and culture. Our hotel in the Sacred Valley was the Aranwa, which was fantastic. The staff, restaurants, and spa more than met our expectations.

One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Machu Picchu. Due to logistics we took the VistaDome train up, visited the site, and then retired to our hotel, the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. We were given an upgrade to a suite, complete with our own private hot tub/pool. Machu Picchu….what can I say….It was the experience of a lifetime. Again, Eliacin did not disappoint. Having spent a great deal of his childhood at the site, Eliacin knows the ins, outs, and findings that government has yet to release to the public.

Our return to Cusco was via the Hiram Bingham train, which is a throwback to yesteryear, when luxury train travel was an event. Again, we were not disappointed. In Cusco, Eliacin introduced us to the colorful central market, then on to the Temple of the Sun. Cusco is an amazing, colonial town, with cobble stone streets, and colorful locals, with welcoming friendly smiles.

From Cusco, we took the Andean Explore train down to Puno to explore Lake Titicaca, where we were met by Antonio, who was our expert guide, showing us the wonders of the lake, starting with the floating islands of the Uros. Talk about a unique and amazing culture. From there we continued to the island of Taquile. Same lake, completely different culture. I cannot have imagined doing this tour without Antonio’s expert guidance.

Our final days were spent in Lima, where Omar, showed us the highlights of the city. Again, the knowledge that Omar shared about his city, was unmatched. We also had a free day in the city, were we walked around Miraflores and Barranco, where we discovered a wonderful little cobblers shop (Zapateria), that makes great quality, one of a kind shoes, on site!

Liseth, our host and coordinator for our trip, was based in Cusco, and ‘followed’ our trip, following up every evening to make sure everything had met our expectations. I had a small illness, and Liseth and the staff were on top of everything. We also had a small issue with our TAM immigration card and passport stamps that got wet and no longer legible. Liseth and Elician arranged everything and all we had to do was sign a few papers at the immigration office.

There are not enough words to express how amazing our experience was in Peru. I am quite sure the main reason for that experience was due to the quality of service we received from Kuoda Travel. They have taken customer service to the next level!

I had four days of vacation following a business meeting in Lima. I didn’t have time to plan my trip, and so I told Kuoda what type of experience I was looking for, and they planned every thing (planes, trains, buses, hotels, meals, itineraries). Everything was well planned, and the quality of the services was excellent. I spent two days in the Sacred Valley, one day in Machu Picchu, and one day in Cusco.

My tour guides, Ulisis, Ophelia, Victor and Marco, were amazing! They were knowledgeable and passionate about their work and eager to please. I didn’t want for anything on this trip – Kuoda foresaw my every need. Many thanks to Victor for getting me up and down 145 flights of stairs (according to my fitbit) at Machu Picchu. I will definitely use them again. I fell in love with the Sacred Valley and the Inca culture, and I must go back

I had been looking into coordinating a trip to Peru for my husband and me with a U.S. based travel agent when I came upon Kuoda. Lucky I did! From the first contact with the travel coordinator Tom, a Brit living in Cusco, I knew I had chosen well. I had wanted to see some “off the beaten track” locations such as Tipon and Caral, and Tom was incredibly patient in working with me and fine tuning all of the details to make sure that they were well thought out. He recommended a variety of hotels and itineraries, until we had found the right mix. His expertise helped us make the best decisions while figuring out the best approach to scheduling our trip.

Upon arriving in Lima, a friendly Kuoda agent met us and accompanied us to our hotel in Miraflores. With all of the airport transfers and excursions, we had both a driver and a tour guide. The drivers were excellent and very conscientious, which is critical in a country where driving is almost a contact sport.

The transfer to Cusco was seamless. We were pleasantly surprised that Mery, the owner of Kuoda, met us at the airport. There was a two day strike in the Sacred Valley region (which we were not even aware of). Some of the roads to the sites we were to see were likely to be blocked off. Mery and her team (twice!) rescheduled us so that we were able to see everything and not get stranded or need to sit in a car for hours during a roadblock. A special thank you to Liseth who called us daily to check in and made sure all of the reservations and travel plans were perfect.

The highlight of the trip, hands down, were the tour guides. We spent the majority of our time in the Cusco area and Macchu Picchu with Holger Davalos. He was not only a knowledgable tour guide, but also had an incredible depth of insight regarding Peruvian archaeology, anthropology, history, economy and current events. He was really more like a private professor and renaissance man. There was no question (and I tend to ask many) which he could not answer. His many stories and lovely demeanor really made our trip. He is very much a Peruvian and an Andean and is proud of his amazing heritage and fascinating country, and is able to convey this. He really made the stones of the Inca empire and the hard working and pragmatic nature of the warm Peruvians come to life. We left with a much greater understanding of Peru and its people than we ever imagined possible.

We also were fortunate to spend a day with Ofelia, and her lovely personality and desire to share her knowledge came shining through.

Kuoda arranged the most amazing hotels, and we were treated like royalty. We stayed at the JW Marriott in Lima, Monasterio in Cusco, Sumaq in Macchu Picchu and Inkaterra in Urubamba. Many of the meals were included, of which two memorable lunches were in the homes of local Peruvians.

I can not recommend Kuoda and Holger Davalos enough. I will recommend them to my friends, and if ever I have the good fortune to return to Peru, my first email will be to Kuoda.

We contacted Kuoda Travel Company to assist in planning our travel from Lima to the Sacred Valley. The Company Representative met us at the Port and from then on, our drivers and guides could not have been any more accommodating. They were excellent and always on time. The guides and drivers love of their Country was amazing. Santiago was with us most of the time. He followed through with every site we asked to visit plus more. He guided us through every turn with ease. I highly recommend Kuoda, Mery and her Staff.

From the minute I first emailed this company about planning a trip, I was amazed by their efficiency and incredible attention to detail. Our travel planner, Tom, paid attention to our requests and made sure everything we asked for was included. Another person was added to our trip about three months prior to our departure, and they did not hesitate to make changes for that person. The planning stage could not have gone smoother.

The trip itself was amazing. They met us at the airport (about 1am by the time we got through Customs and Immigration) and took us to our hotel. When we arrived in Cusco the next morning, another Kuoda staff member met us there with a smile. Our tour guide while in Cusco (Alvin), was incredible! He was extremely knowledgable and gave us information we would not have found in any travel books. The hike on the Inca Trail was difficult, but Alvin made sure we rested when needed and never rushed us. Once we got to Machu Picchu, Alvin showed us the best locations for photos. Machu Picchu was beyond incredible, and the stories/history behind the location made it that much more impressive. When we left Cusco, Mery (the owner) met us at the airport to make sure that we were happy with our trip and to ask for any suggestions or recommendations. She was eager to hear our feedback.

Overall, Kuoda is a very professional company that truly cares about customer service. I felt very safe during our trip. A driver and guide was provided every step of the way (important in hectic Peruvian traffic!!). The hotels that were chosen were safe and beautiful. The tour guides were attentive and met all our requests (like to find baby alpaca yarn in Cusco). I could not have been more pleased with my choice to pick Kuoda. I plan to return to Peru in the near future and will not hesitate one bit to use this company again.

I was reluctant to use a travel agency to organize my holiday in Peru at first but I am so glad I did it as my holiday was just perfect!
First of all the entire team is really professional, flexible and most of all they try to understand the kind of trip that you and your family want and then they taylor made it to your needs. Secondly they can get the best hotel rooms for less then the listed prices so the final package not only makes economical sense but it would be very difficult to replicate it on your own jf you wanted to.
The guides, the drivers are all very profesional and take great care of you.
I would reccomend using Kuoda to anyone traveling to Peru or other parts of S America.

I have traveled a fair amount to foreign countries using travel companies to plan private tours for my husband and myself. Kuoda was absolutely Top Notch in planning our 3 weeks in Peru. Kuoda planned our trip around our wishes and added extras i had not thought of. Guides, services and accommodations were all amazing!

Every step of the way we were taken care of by a driver and an English speaking guide. We were never left to struggle on our own and we felt extremely safe. On our free time we were given recommendations of what to do and where to eat. All of our guides were extremely knowledgeable and provided so much information about the history, customs and people of Peru.

From Lima to Amazon Manu Jungle, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Mancora Beaches our trip was fabulous thanks to Kuoda. I only wish I had used them for our 3 weeks in Ecuador as that trip turned out to be not so good.

I highly recommend this company to anyone traveling to Peru, you will have no regrets!

Thank you Mery for developing a wonderful company with such personalized service.

We want to add our voices to the many others who gave wonderful reviews to Kuoda Travel. From our very first email contact (with Thomas) to our final airport sendoff (by Merry, Thomas, and Liseth), we experienced absolutely first-rate personalized care, flawless hotel and travel arrangements, and an overall experience in Peru that far exceeded our expectations. Our Kuoda guides, Boris for Cusco and Machu Picchu, and Bartholomew in Lima, were simply outstanding, and our drivers (special shout out to quiet, calm Marcos) were superb.

The hotels chosen for us were among the best we have experienced anywhere in the world, and the local hosts for lunches provided outstanding food and hospitality — truly 5* meals! Kuoda took care of every single detail so well that we didn’t have to worry about a single thing other than how to take the best possible photographs of the wonders we saw daily in Peru. We really can’t say enough great things about this company. In fact, we’re already thinking about our next trip to South America, and contacting Kuoda will be our first step in the planning.

Hi Jesus,
Thanks for your note. What an amazing trip.
My daughter and I were so happy. I put a nice review on TravelAdvisor and will continue to refer customers to you all.
It’s a great company!
Special thanks to Edwin!

As I was unpacking from our trip, I came across your business card which you handed me at the airport in Cusco. It was a hectic scene there, and I was having trouble focusing on what to do next. I didn’t look at your card until I got home and realized that you are the Founder and President of Kuoda Travel. I want to thank you for coming by the airport to say hello, and ask for our opinion of the trip and the service we received from Kuoda.
We were extremely pleased with all points of contact we had with your staff. Urpi was very efficient, courteous and responsive. She also has a sense of humor, which I appreciated. Jimmy, our guide, was incredible. Very knowledgeable, caring and thoughtful. It was clear that he felt his mission was to make sure that we had a great time, and we did. His knowledge of the Incas and Peruvian history was impressive, as were his communication skills. We learned so much from him.
Everyone else from Kuoda with whom we dealt were great as well, the drivers, handlers, etc. The hotels where we stayed were perfect, and were exactly what we had requested.

I wish there were some constructive suggestions I could give to you so you could improve the product and service you deliver. However, there is not. Our expectations were met, and exceeded.
Please express our thanks and gratitude to everyone who worked with us, as they made our trip a very memorable one.

I wish we had a chance to see you and thank you in person for the outstanding job you have done in organizing everything. We were truly happy with every single thing that was included in our trip. From the beautiful places, delicious foods, very nice hotels, and basically everything.
We were very pleased with Kouda Travel and we believe you all are doing an amazing job. We were very delighted to be able to meet the local Peruvian families and getting to know their culture more.
I am sharing with you a few of our favorite photos from our trip. To be honest we have more than 2000 photos and it is very hard to pick only a few. Hope you enjoy them.
Once again, thank you very much for everything. We would be happy to stay in touch and I hope we will travel in one of the other destinations that Kuoda Travel organize.

Best regards,

Thank you for an amazing trip!  I want to send you a few of their employees for training so they can learn what customer service is supposed to be like.  We cannot say enough about the quality of service y’all provided as a company.  It truly was a team effort, seamless, and perfect.  I have several friends whom I will be sending your way….All of which are waiting for our report.  I will be happy to put together a ‘full report’ for you, with photos that you can use as you wish.  If you use them for any advertisements, all I ask is you to give me credit (name) for their use.

I will be speaking with you soon!

Pura Vida,

Dennis

We are very happy about the whole trip. Here are a few details to help you in the future:

– Lima: all was good for a first day in Peru: itinerary, driver and guide.

– Cusco: wonderful! We loved the area, even though we had lots of rain the first day at Machu Pichu. All very well coordinated by Pilar, very knowledgeable tour guide. We learned a lot about the history of the Incas and she adjusted very well to the age of our children and the needs of our family. The driver Juan was very friendly and our girls had fun practicing their Spanish with him. They loved the visit to the local community and the picnic in the nature. The food was excellent and the setting very nice.

The host Liseth called us every day to check on everything, even after we left Cusco; we felt very well taken care of.

The visit of the islands was very nice and we enjoyed being on a private boat. The guide Manuel was not as good as the previous guides : he didn’t really explain much of the history of the area, and wasn’t as knowledgable in English and in History.

We had a great trip overall, and this is just to help you to improve.

We did appreciate a lot all the attention given to us all along the trip and will be happy to recommend your company.

A special thanks to you for the great itinerary.

Nadine

No words are enough to describe the fantastic experience we had in Peru thanks to Kuoda. A few things that rush to mind are the promptness and attention during the booking process, the methodical details provided before the trip, the welcome and attention to details during the trip, the access to special places like the home of the Aliaga family, the picnic at Moray and the list goes on.  On top of that we have presence of ever smiling group of Kuoda folks and the special attention by Mary Calderon. It was like living a dream which ended when we left Peru. It will be difficult to forget folks like Boris, Juan, Liseth, Bartolomew (Lima), Mary and you.

I will update Tripadvisor with my comments about Kuoda and also tell my friends about it.

Regards,

Sudipta, Anjan & Rohin Sen

Thank you; we had a fantastic time in Peru.  We appreciate you organising our itinerary, it suited us very well and enjoyed our time traveling.

Cheers

Karlene

Thanks to your flawless planning and the great Kuoda team that executed it, it was truly our most delightful, fun, informative travel ever!  Roy and I are truly grateful to everyone involved…we could not have had a better experience.

With appreciation,

Susan Graham

We had a wonderful time! I will recommend Kuoda to anyone coming to South America.  We enjoyed Peru.  Our guides were brilliant! Edwin is fantastic and a genius!
Edwin showed us around Cuzco and the Sacred Valley.  I fell in love with Peru because of his passion and love for every place he showed us.  If I did not have a family to return home to I would have stayed in Peru.

Thank you for organizing the most remarkable trip of my lifetime.

Definitely a wonderful journey for us.

I appreciate all that you have done to assist me in our travels.

Best,

Nick

Hi Jesus,

Thank you so much for checking back in with me after our trip to Peru.  It was absolutely amazing and I left a little piece of my heart in your beautiful country.

Thank you for all your help in booking such a magical trip to Peru, and for checking back in with us once it was over.

Best,

Andrea

We very much enjoyed the trip and were fully content with Kuoda.

We generally do not have many suggestions, as we found the trip to be very near optimal.

We would be very happy to recommend Kuoda to anyone – and if you would like a quote or for us to post a recommendation anywhere, we will be happy to.

We may very well speak again in future. We are discussing to do Columbia, Equador and the northern part of Peru.

BR

Jens

We had a wonderful trip to Peru. All the services and arrangements by Kuoda were great. In future, we would definitely recommend Kuoda to our friends and family

Sangeeta Elhence

Had a great time and appreciated the personal attention from your team. It was great meeting Mary on our last day in Cusco.

We would especially like to thank our Cusco/Machu Picchu guide Santiago. Do you have his email address? That portion was the highlight of our trip.

Thanks again, will recommend your company to all our friends.

Regards

Erik & Gloria

We had a marvelous trip thank you. It was incredibly well organized, all of your guides were great fun, very knowledgable and always punctual and helpful. A special mention to Jimmy who we throughly enjoyed spending time with and the lady in Lima who was brilliant in with the kids and keeping them interested on the city tour.

We were glad of the odd free days as the early starts got exhausting but that was the nature of the trip. The hotel in the sacred valley was just amazing and it was a shame we only had one night there as it was perfect.

Thank you for all your assistance in the planning, we will recommend you to all our friends!! We loved Peru!!!

Louise, Andy, India and Madeleine

We all loved our time in Peru.  The schedule was perfectly coordinated and the guides Bart and Boris were absolutely terrific.  Boris showed a tremendous depth of knowledge regarding Incan history and culture.  He helped to greatly enrich our time in the sacred valley and Macchu Pichu.

Thank you and all of the Kuoda team for making this a most memorable travel experience.

Best wishes,

Dr. Ringel

Hi there!

Thank you so much for planning our perfect vacation to Peru! I will soon be completing a review for my trip on tripadvisor. I have attached some pictures for you, our favorite ones! I will definitely contact when I decide to travel to South America again. For next trip I was thinking Brazil or Bolivia or Argentina! Please send our warmest wishes to everyone who has helped us, we appreciate them all!

Jaylynn

Te puedo decir que quedamos muy satisfechos con Kuoda, Los guías fueron excelentes y todas las experiencias muy positivas.

Muchas gracias por todo,

Saludos

Paulina Reyes

I have nothing but positive things to say about Kuoda Travel Agency. Our guide, Ofelia, was excellent and we enjoyed our time with her. We also thought everyone we came in contact with was very kind and most accommodating. We appreciated the return trip ride to the airport.

Say thank you to all the people at your agency who helped us while we were in Cusco.

Diane and Ken Huffman

Hi Urpi!

Thanks so much for following up with us – it’s been a whirlwind as we’ve returned home, so apologies for the delayed response!

We will absolutely be rating Kuoda with 5 stars on Trip Advisor and writing an excellent review of the amazing services we received from yourself and the whole Kuoda staff before and during our magical stay in Peru! We took lots of great photos, so we’re happy to share those with you as well – I will try my best to send them and write the review by this upcoming weekend.

Again, many, many thanks for the fantastic service, as we will most definitely be using you all again for our future trips to Peru and throughout South America!

Take care!

May and Christian

Hi Celine,

Thank you so much for everything. We had an amazing trip! Everything went so smoothly and we enjoyed every minute of it. Our tour guides, drivers, and other Kuoda representatives who met us were so warm, friendly, informative, and helpful. We couldn’t have asked for more. Thanks again for everything. We hope to visit again in the future and will definitely use Kuoda when we do.

Ami and Aman

Hi Celine,

We had a wonderful trip with you.  Lisa, Karina and Marcos were great and attended to us with great care. Katrina was a great guide; I can’t say enough in praise.  Marcos was a terrific driver & helpful always.

The hotels in Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu were wonderful.  The one in the sacred valley was exquisite as a setting and I would recommend it as very special to anyone. Climbing to the top of Machu Picchu Mountain while challenging was truly a great experience.  Karina was encouraging about doing it and we were both happy that she did.

You did a great job putting the trip together.  We were both very appreciative.  I have already recommended Kuoda to someone who is planning a trip.

We loved the experience with Kuoda.  We felt it was superb.  We have traveled to many places and the service that Kuoda provides is superior.

I will be happy to send you some photos when I get through editing them.  You can use them as you wish.  I expect that will not happen till next week.

Once again, my thanks to you and to all of the people at Kuoda for making this a very special experience.

Sincerely,

Sal

Jesus,

We had an absolutely fabulous time in Peru and Kuoda Travel was exceptional.  Thank you so much for organizing our tour.  Our guide, Eliacin was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, adaptable and interesting.  Our driver Wesley was always prompt and the other employees were just great.  I will highly recommend Kuoda to any of our friends traveling to Peru.  Thank you for everything!

Sincerely,

Kathy

Hi Celine,

Sorry for the delayed response! I have been working on compiling photos; I wanted to pick a few good ones! I am having trouble; we are at 27 GB of photos and videos! ​

We had the best time! Our trip was so much more than we could have ever dreamed! Everything was so great, the food, the hotels, the transportation and especially our guides. We learned so much, it was so fantastic!

Everything was so wonderful; I really cannot say enough good things! Also, the mug from Mery was so thoughtful. I already have it at my desk and have been showing it to everyone.

Thank you so much for all of your planning and help in our trip! We can’t wait to visit again!

Stacey Cooper

Hey Urpi!

We had a wonderful time in Peru over the last two weeks.  Our time in the Sacred Valley was especially good, and Karina and Jaime were fantastic as they brought us around to all the sights.  The Amazon was extraordinary, and Rainforest Expeditions and our guide Fernando took great care of us the entire time- a truly life changing experience.  We also really enjoyed our food tour throughout Lima, and being there during the presidential election was really interesting as well.  Thank you for all of your hard work on our behalf!  Our time in Peru was mostly seamless, and it was great not to have to worry about planning hotels and transportation on our own.

I attached a few pictures of our trip- obviously we have tons, but we haven’t had a chance to organize all of them.  We had a blast!

Thanks again,

Kendall

Dear Urpi,

After our wonderful trip, it has taken several days to return our household to normal.

Jim and I rate this vacation as one of our top trips ever!  We have raved about our experience traveling with Kuoda to all of our friends, family, and Jim’s patients.  We greatly appreciate the wonderful guides and drivers who made our trip so easy and enjoyable. We especially enjoyed Pilar and Efraim who so kindly accommodated our needs and desires.  And it was especially nice to meet Mery during our stay in Cusco!

All of our hotels were lovely, the food exceptional, and the trips memorable.  It’s hard to believe that we did so much in such a short time!

We are seriously considering returning to Peru next year and will certainly contact you for assistance.

Thank you for making our trip so perfect!

Sincerely,

Pat and Jim

Hi Jesús,

Thank you for your email.  I’m sorry I’ve been very busy trying to get caught back up at work.  We had a wonderful trip, everything was perfect.  All of our guides were great and made our trip exceptional.  All of our accommodations and transportation were great as well.  We really appreciated Kuoda providing a hotel room for our use in Lima when we weren’t able to make our flight connection.  As you know, we were so happy with our trip.

We appreciate everything you did for us and we pasted our favorite picture from the trip below.

Thanks again!!

Sarah.

I had the great time in Peru! All the guides are terrific. Carlos in Cusco in particular.

Everything was arranged in a way so I felt welcomed and safe and happy my entire trip, that is hard to do no matter where you are.

I took ton of pictures and in the process of organizing them, will share when that is done!

Again thank you for an unforgettable time in Peru.

Dave

We got back from our fabulous trip to Peru and were ready to relax!  I can’t tell how much we appreciated how you and the Kuoda Travel team handled our stay in Peru.  Every aspect of the trip was incredible and fabulous.  The guides were wonderful and so very helpful and knowledgeable – they love they homeland.  We would recommend Kuoda travel to anyone traveling to Peru.  Fantastic trip!!

The taste of Peru, with its natural wonders, the marvelous food and of course the local micro-brewed beer, the local flair with the unique Alpaca clothing and handmade Retablo’s added to our enjoyment of traveling in Peru.

Again, thank you for putting a fantastic trip together.  Both Brenda and I loved every minute of our travels.

Richard and Brenda

Thank you for arranging such a marvelous vacation.  We had a magnificent time.  The details and personal touches made this very special.  We felt as though we were your only guests.  Each of the guides and drivers seemed to be hand-picked for us.  I can’t say enough about Evelyn, who was with us for most of the trip.  Her vast knowledge of the sites and Peru were just amazing.  The entire time, we felt as though we were guests in her home.  Rolando, our primary driver, was the happiest and kindest person that we met along the way.  He was there for us whenever we needed anything.  The car door was always open and waiting and there was always a bottle of water for the ride.

I fear that we did so much that I am bound to leave someone out, so please do not take that the wrong way.  Daniel, who picked us up at the airport from our initial flight, couldn’t have been more accommodating.  He wouldn’t leave until we were checked in and on our way to our hotel rooms.  Bart started our trip perfectly with the tour of Lima.  Larcos Herrera was simply amazing.  Jaime, who took us on the culinary tour of Lima was very special.  The Pisco Sour lesson on the beach was a great way to start!  Lillian who dropped us at the airport and then picked us up again, couldn’t have been more accommodating.  Our flight being late on the last day didn’t deter her from making all of the right choices for what we should do.

Jason was the man who kept it all moving and kept us on time and on track.  We couldn’t have gotten so much done without him.

We will never forget the meals in people’s homes, straight from their gardens or the trip to meet the highlands family who showed us each stage of creating Alpaca scarves, sweaters and bags.  The tea, potatoes and cheese in their home was very special.

Kuoda did everything right and made this the most special trip.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Michael and Lori Ross

We are back at home after a wonderful trip to beautiful Peru. We were blown away by the beauty of the country, the warmth of its people, and their culture.

We like to sincerely thank you and your team for an amazing trip; it exceeded our expectations in every way.

Special thanks to Jennifer for putting together this amazing trip, to Edward for going the extra mile to please us, to Liseth for her professionalism & eagerness to make sure we were enjoying ourselves & making sure everything went well, to Jason for running to our rescue when our reservation was messed up in the hotel & all the other guides & drivers. And lastly to you, for having the vision to create a company that makes people’s dream come true in an unforgettable way & the knowledge to put together a team of professionals with highly customer service skills.

Kudos to all……

We wish you continue success, and all the best to you and your team and we hope to come back in the near future to continue exploring this beautiful country.

Best regards,

Marilyn & Ramon

We did get to see Machu Picchu on the 20th as planned; it was so wonderful for my mumma to get to see her dream.  I have taken a lot of photos and will make her a photo book.

The trip would not have been possible without Eyner, he is the most marvellous guide.  Mum needed so much attention, especially with steps, and moving around.

We are so very grateful that you picked him to be our guide, nothing was too much trouble, and his suggestions of different ways of doing things showed he cared that we were there and wanted us to see all that we could.  Eyner has the most wonderful way of making you feel important and his knowledge of Peru and passion for Machu Picchu is amazing.  Many grateful thanks.

Thank you too for the flowers and birthday cake, I was missing my family so so much and these two acts of kindness we very much appreciated.

Thank you so much.

Alyse.

We had a wonderful trip. Kuoda was excellent and made everything go so smoothly. Guides and drivers were outstanding. We will get back with you soon with specific feedback and some pictures. The mugs Mery gave us made it home in our checked luggage in one piece. Such a thoughtful gift!

Jane

We enjoyed our trip very much. The hotels, guide and locations were all excellent.
The accommodations more than met our expectations, the food was excellent and Boris did a great job.

We had a great trip, saw lots of Peru and appreciate your service.

Shaya

We had a wonderful trip and everything went perfectly.  We loved our guides Wilmer (Huaraz), Antionette (Ariquipa and Colca Valley), Evelyn (Cusco) and Renato (Lima).  Mountain Lodges of Peru was great, especially the guides Antonio and Henry.  We also got to meet Mery and she was so nice.

Thanks again for all your hard work in planning an excellent trip.

Regards,

Bill

Sorry for not responding sooner. We are having an amazing time! All of our drivers and tour guides have been helpful and knowledgeable. I’ll be sure to write about our experience on Trip Advisor once I can get back to my computer at home. Peru is beautiful.

Your service has been excellent so far.

Thanks again!

Becca Halstead

Unfortunately, getting bronchitis certainly ruined the rest of our trip, but your agency, the guides, and everyone’s concern for me was wonderful. Ofelia and Lisa were exceptionally kind, as was Mery. I would definitely recommend your agency. Luckily I didn’t get sick until after MP, because that was the highlight of the trip. I just don’t understand how someone like you, from very flat Holland, can deal with the altitude in Cusco!  We were able to breathe so much better when back in Lima.

By the way, the hotels were wonderful. The hotel in Cusco even sent flowers to the clinic when I was there! You did a great job planning the trip I requested. You should keep the Aliagra home on your itinerary for future quests – it was amazing and we got to meet the family.

All the best,

Laurel

We had a wonderful trip, the highlight being the Inca trail. It was challenging, but well within our capabilities and the scenery was incredible.  We really enjoyed the food tour in Lima.  Sylvia was a wonderful guide and the food was amazing. All of our excursions were very enjoyable as well as educational.  We loved our guides. Thank you again for putting it all together.

Jan

We had a great trip.   Kuoda did a wonderful job, Jimmy and Hernando were terrific guides/driver for the week.

Everything ran like clockwork and we enjoyed all the activities and tours.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about the client service, attention to detail and all the arrangements being so well coordinated.

We enjoyed it all

Thanks again, Liliane

Overall, it was really great and we so enjoyed being in Peru. I plan to give Kuoda Travels the highest ranking on the internet (TripAdvisor, etc.). All of our guides and drivers were punctual, friendly and very helpful. Obviously, we spent the most time with Percy and he was amazing! And, Liseth in Cusco was also very helpful. All others were great too. We enjoyed the balance of tours and free time. And as discussed, we appreciated your clear, simple, visual and organized presentation of our trip. We referenced your itinerary suggestions when we had free time and very much appreciated your restaurant recommendations.

Ok, here goes:

-Lima: Casa Inca Hotel, loved. Perfect location near the ocean in Miraflores.

-Sacred Valley/Urubamba: Monasterio de la Recoleta Boutique Hotel, loved this hotel. Very special and beautiful. We also liked the location being in the middle of the Sacred Valley – close to Pisac and close to Ollantaytambo.

-Cusco: Loved our stay at the Casa Blas Boutique Hotel. Perfect location and cozy, special rooms with views of the hills.

-Cusco: Loved our stay at the Casa Cartagena. Thank you for this upgrade!!!

-Puerto Maldonado/The Jungle: Loved the Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion Lodge.

Very special place! All the tours were amazing.

Food, guides, experience was over the top! Would highly recommend to other travelers.

Thank you so much Celine and to the team at Kuoda!

Gretchen (and Family)

It was great working with you. Everybody is back home safe and sound and enjoyed themselves. I have written a detailed review on trip advisor that is where i had found you please read that as I had told Mery your director, we were very happy how you handled Siddiqua’s illness.

Jeremy was top notch, Raul was funny and effective, Jason worked hard and one in Buenos Aires was good hotels were all very good food was excellent. Tango was delightful transport everywhere was comfortable. I recommend you very highly as i put in tripadvisor.

Thanks again

Riaz

We are so happy we chose your company. The hotels were all very nice. The staff is just wonderful. Full of information which was informative and interesting. We ate at some great restaurants, too. Pucallana was very nice. I’m afraid the altitude did me in!  By the time we got to Machu Picchu, Elias and Stephen were both helping me up the steps. Elias and Fausto were so very kind. But I did get to see it and Stephen was able to go around with Elias and the next day I slept in and Stephen climbed to the Sun gate. He filmed himself going up and besides sucking air he started to call it the Sun House!! Guess he had a little altitude problem too!

Coming back to Lima, I was starting to fade. We went through the The Larco museum which I enjoyed. I had to get a nap before dinner!  We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Peru.

We never would have had such a great experience without you all. Thank you so much.

Audrey and Stephen

Thank you for assisting us with our Peru trip, it certainly exceeded my expectations. Kuoda to your entire staff. Boris and Fausto were excellent as were Omar and our driver in Lima. Appreciated Jason checking in to be sure we were kept informed of who was doing what, where when and how. All were on time and ensured we were well taken care of. Very nice of Mery to personally visit with us at the airport for our return flight home.

Using a travel service and guides was a first for Kathleen and I as we usually do the planning and leg work on our own or in combination with co-travelers. Kuoda impressed us on every count and allowed us to relax leaving the details and transportation to your team. Really appreciate the timely communication, willingness to work with us on our itinerary and working in the accommodations we arranged on our own.

I would not hesitate recommending Kuoda to anyone interested in using travel services or guides in Peru.

Mucho Mahalo!

We had a great time in Peru in major part due to the excellent care given us by Ofelia, Juan, Jason and Omar.  They are super people and we appreciated all the attention to us during our visit.  Ofelia is a wonderful guide with outstanding knowledge of Peru and Inca history and educated us a lot on those subjects.  Juan, our driver, took excellent care of us too.  As you probably know, I had a few days with some health problems and we didn’t get to do all that was planned for us but again your people took care of making even this problem more tolerable.
I haven’t started looking at photos and stuff from our visit yet but if we see something of interest we will send it to you.

One other thing.  You provided walking sticks to us for our visit and there were some small connectors that we inadvertently brought home with us.  So, we would like to send them to you in Cusco but at the moment can’t find a Cusco address for Kuoda.  Would you give us an address where we can send these items.

The itinerary satisfied our desires for visiting Peru and Machu Picchu and Ofelia, Juan and all the other Kuoda People made it a wonderful experience.  Thank you.

Regards,
Gary and Carol Beasley

Hi Urpi. All was excellent and I posted a 5* review on TripAdvisor. We loved the guides and the accommodations, and all the helpful transfers.

Lee

My family and I had an excellent time in Peru, thanks in large part to the Kuoda staff. We thought you designed an excellent trip, with good accommodations, in desirable locations and that the sites were well coordinated, fun and interesting. Our favorite meal was outside of Chinchero at the home of Jeremy and his wife who is the chef on Friday, after we went to Moray. I will also always remember the visit to the Andean village where we saw a demonstration of how textiles were made.
We appreciate your request for constructive comments as well — this shows how deeply your company cares about your customers and is another reason why we are big fans of your company. Our chief comment is related to our guide, Jeremy As an initial matter; please know that we found him to be extremely pleasant, knowledgeable and polite. He did his job well in making us comfortable and giving us information about the sites, but as newcomers to Peru, we needed help and information about other things, like restaurants, recommendations about where to buy gifts, etc., and in this regard, he wasn’t very helpful. Generally, when we asked for specific recommendations for restaurants or stores to visit, we received incomplete and/or vague information, or unfulfilled promises that we would find something “at the next store” (which would later would not be followed up on).

The bottom line is we would return to Kuoda for more trips and recommend Kuoda to our friends.

All the best,

John and Simona

We absolutely loved the trip and everyone we met was incredible.  Everything was set up so well and everything was perfect in terms of hotels, food, etc.

We will highly recommend Kuoda to our friends and will be glad to write up something for you on TripAdvisor or other sites you may need a reference for.

Greg

We truly appreciate all the planning you did to make our trip special. It truly was a great experience. My daughter, son-in-law and son suffered a couple days each from altitude or bad food or drink, but they each trooped on throughout the journey. We saw some amazing places, tried some different food and drinks, made it to the top to Huayna Picchu (all of us- hooray!), and thoroughly enjoyed the sights and bing together. It was truly an experience none of us will ever forget.
Our guide, Santiago, and driver, Juan, were both great and all the hosts and other drivers as well. Santiago related well to all in our group and educated us much about the culture and country. We got to practice our Spanish with the drivers and others as we traveled, too, which was a lot of fun.
I would definitely recommend and have already recommend Kuoda Travel to others in the future.
The driver there (Jorge) went above and beyond also to take us from El Centro to Miraflores and then to our restaurant (Huaca Pucllana) that last day in Lima so we didn’t have to get taxi(s).

Thanks again so much for everything.

Cindy

It was great to meet you at the airport in Cusco and thanks again for all that you did.  I did feel a little distracted then after Vince had been up all night sick, but thankfully it cleared up later that afternoon in Lima.  We really did have a great trip, and it will be one the family and I remember for a long time.

We will get around to writing a review on Trip Adviser as well – I know how valuable those are since I used them. Machu Picchu, the local visits, the llamas, and cooking classes were highlights.  And then the support from you, Eyner, and Samuel made the trip very personalized and authentic.

Thanks.

Mike

We did have a very nice time and loved Peru. Our guide, driver, and the people in general were great. My mom was good most of the trip until the last two days in Cusco where I think she had some trouble with the altitude.

Everything was organized well and it was nice for me to not have to worry about any planning for the trip. I am one of those travellers who usually does things myself but with my mom thought this would be better. I was able to enjoy the trip with no stress.

The accommodations were great especially Soy y Luna. Also, I really enjoyed the two dinners at private homes. They were excellent.

Definitely returning with my wife in a few years when I get done paying for 3 kids colleges.

Thanks for the great trip.

Cheers,

Adam

Dear Kuoda Team:

As we depart Lima tonight, I wanted to share with you our appreciation for all your efforts in making our trip a flawless experience. A trip to Peru has always been a personal dream that I had very high expectations of. We wanted to savor each moment and take in the culture of the Peruvian people in luxury and style.

From the moment we landed in Lima we have been treated with the utmost professionalism. Urpi and Mery both worked tireless hours to plan a trip of our liking. Each driver and guide provided enthusiasm and knowledge. Rafael has been very accommodating with our schedules in Lima.

During our stay in Cusco; Karina and Juancito spent many hours with Leon and I providing comfort and a wealth of knowledge. It is not usual one comes in contact with someone like Karina; fluent in many languages and so proud of her heritage in so many levels. Jason overlooked our journey by keeping in close contact with the guides, restaurants and us at every step of the way.

Every time we had a special request Jason made it happen.  Kuoda Travel over exceeded our expectations every day with every experience. And thats not easy. Kuoda Travel went above and beyond. Thanks Mery for meeting us at the airport and your gift.

We will be recommending your company to our friends that plan a trip to Peru.

Thanks again,

Lilly & Leon Tejidor

We had a fantastic time thanks to the Kuoda team!

The things that made our trip to Peru superb are:

– Our guide, Jimmy.  He was extremely knowledgeable and went out of his way to make sure that our days were tailored to our travel preferences.  On several occasions, he rearranged the timing of our visits to the Incan sites so that we would avoid the crowds – we had Machu Picchu almost to ourselves! He also went out of his way to be sure that our hikes were well-paced and pointed out flora and fauna along the way, which was much appreciated. Marco, our driver, was very careful and an excellent complement to Jimmy.

– The hotels.  Urpi, you did a fantastic job of matching our hotels to our preferences.  Both Sol y Luna and Casa Cartagena were perfect.

– The overall itinerary.  Urpi, again, you did a great job of providing us with really interesting and fun activities that were tailored to our preferences. With Jimmy adjusting the timing of some of our tours to take advantage of quiet times at the sites, it was clear that we would not have gotten so much out of our trip without the careful planning by Kuoda.

-Transfers were seamless.  Getting from place to place can cause a lot of stress while traveling. The Kuoda team made all our transfers and the logistics very easy and stress-free.

Thanks again to you and the Kuoda staff for an absolutely fantastic vacation.

Ellen.

It was a great trip and I am so very pleased with Kuoda. I had thought about organizing it all myself but really appreciated having someone on the ground to do it all, especially when things did not go according to plan like when my daughter fell ill or when our flight to Cuzco was delayed and we had to change  our itinerary. Also have to mention that all the hotels chosen were fantastic especially the one in Lima.

I provided some feedback to Mery before we left for the rain forest. Highlights for us up till then we’re the trek to MP, tough but oh so exhilarating when we arrived at MP and so pleased with the hotel in MP expensive but worth every penny. Another highlight was the lunch in Sacred Valley at Casa de Aida! Will not forget that!

Btw, we really enjoyed the inkaterra Reserva and pleased we chose it over the the other Lodge as we preferred having the river views. Thought the facilities were great as were the guides. Only negative was one of the excursions was tough as we had to slog through and back a 3 km trail in the mud! Glad we only stayed for 2 nights which was perfect. We were ready to leave by the 3rd day!

As I mentioned we absolutely adored staying at the Miraflores Park. Fabulous location and great service.  Also the visit to the private home in Lima was great! In Lima we added on our own a visit to the Larco museum which we would not have done if we had not been to their museum in Cuzco which we really enjoyed.

Again, we were so pleased to have chosen Kuoda for what was for us a magical experience.

We definitely want to return to South America. I think Ecuador and Galapagos are next!

Thanks again for all your help and advice,

John

Thank you so much for putting together our trip. It was wonderful and we enjoyed everything that we had been planned.

So, our time in Quito was terrific. La Rabida was a very nice and comfortable place to stay. Gonzalo was an excellent guide– we really enjoyed him and he was perfect for kids teens and grow ups.

We very much liked the Hacienda Porvenir— very nice riding– and we had perfect weather that day too. Even thought that first day was busy and full–we were able to see everything we wanted with the evening left to relax.

We were very happy with the Coral for the Galapagos– we had terrific guides and the boat was very nice. We wished we had had more time there since the first and last days were just travel days—-those 2 days were very good days of seeing many things–

My husband loved the Amazon the best– and we all enjoyed the motorboat and dugout boat we took to get to Nano. Our guide Lena was just fantastic– she was the perfect combination of enthusiastic/knowledgeable. She taught us a lot about the jungle and we saw a great deal of wildlife. We even enjoyed birding!

Papallacta was the perfect way to end our time there– I wish the weather had been cooperative to see how beautiful it was there– but it mostly rained. It was still a very good place to go to spend our last day.

Please let me know if you have any other questions! Thank you again for your help

Take care–

Leslie

We are home safe and sound.

I will never be able to thank you enough for staying with us after the airport closure and making sure we were taken care of with hotels and additional flights.  You and your team definitely went above and beyond what you were required to do.  I don’t know what we would have done without your help.

I will definitely recommend Kuoda Travel to all my friends and if we are ever down that way again, we will have you make our travel arrangements.

Thanks again,

Teresa O’Neil

Good Morning Urpi,

As Milton and I prepare to leave Cusco for Lima, we wanted to once again say how pleased we are with the service that we have received from Kuoda.  Kathy was outstanding as our guide.  She was so informative and responsive to our needs. Best of all, she made us laugh.  She really made our stay in this part of Peru a great success!

We’re looking forward to exploring Lima for our last few days in Peru.

Kind regards,

Myrna

Everything is going great. Our send off from Lima was perfect and Omar made sure we got to our gate on time. The hotels are wonderful and so is our guide Alvin and driver Walter.  And we had  2 wonderful gourmet lunches, in Cusco yesterday and today at 3 keros in ollantaytambo – incredible food and the owner was so nice and accommodating. He had made a special -also delicious- meal for Aly who had some stomach/altitude issues. And I didn’t even mention the sights yet. Really enjoyed both yesterday’s and today’s tour. Getting ready for tomorrow now. And Aly is fine so we are all great. Thanks.

Shelley

Our trip to Peru was really great and we enjoyed it very much. All guides were really perfect and knowledgeable, starting with Wilfredo in Hacienda Concepcion, Carina in Cuzco, Jose in Puno and the best one was Willy in Huaraz. Also Joana helped us much in Lima. In general I have to say that everything was well prepared from your side and we had no issues during all trip.

Thank you Urpi, please greet all our guides and Mery on behalf of us.

Best regards,

Valer

We are sorry we’ve taken so long replying to them as we got home and then went away and now back home again. We seem to be on the go the whole time. When we retired 18 months ago one of our patients said to us, keep moving, when the grim reaper comes looking for you he won’t know where to find you. We seem to have taken him literally.

It seems such a long time ago since we were in Peru. It all seems a distant memory and a dream.

Truly a dream. All the arrangements made by Kuoda were excellent. After the first slight hiccup everything else was perfect. We can’t find anything to complain about. All the arrangements went off extremely well, we were picked up dropped off and then picked up dropped off etc etc.

Thank you so much.

The journey to Machu Picchu was most enjoyable, especially the train journey.  The staff and the General Manager were very efficient and friendly. Once we got to the site we were met by a wonderful guide (George) who was extremely knowledgeable, pleasant and fun. Barry arrived to Cusco with a bad chest which turned into bronchitis. So when we got to Machu Picchu, Barry’s lung capacity was greatly reduced. We got to the site; we didn’t think we would be able to the climb and the walk around. We did how ever have foresight to bring with us walking poles. They were a godsend as we able to walk the whole site. The guide was very understanding so he was a great help in taking things at our pace. He also took a camera from us and took great photos of the both of us, which is unusual as Barry is always behind the camera.

We had the same driver throughout our stay in Cusco who was excellent as he was always there on time. He had a very long day when we went to Machu Picchu as he drove us to the Hiram Bingham train and when we arrived back there he was on the platform waiting for us. Great service. Great guy.

We loved all that you did for us. We greatly appreciated all your help. Thank you to all the team.

Love and best wishes to you all.

Randir and Barry

P.S.

The teddy bear belongs to a school in Fort Lauderdale.  We take him all over the world and send back photos of him to the school.  The teacher then teaches the kids about each place.

We had a great trip to Peru and you and the whole Kouda team were wonderful!  Edward was a fantastic guide and everybody truly made our time in Peru fun and interesting.  I am catching up on work today, but will try to write more specifics tonight.  We will also email some photos.  We were working on downloading them last night; still have more to go.  It was great to meet your staff in person and I will write more details a bit later.

My best,

Janet Murphy

First of all, thank you so much for planning such a wonderful trip for us to Peru.  I know I went back and forth with you a lot and made many changes.  Thanks so much for your patience!  I really appreciated your non-pressure approach while I was planning and changing things.  Even though it took me a month to finalize everything, you were always so helpful and never made me feel pressure to book.  I also really appreciated the USA phone number and your quick responses.

Everything was organized so well and it was so stress-free for the entire family!  I really appreciated the constant communication and in-person contacts with Kuoda on a daily basis while we were in Peru.  Our Guide and Driver, Edward and Miguel, were awesome!  They were very knowledgeable and respectful.  I wish we could have met you, but it was so great to meet Mery on our final day in Cusco. As I told Mery, I honestly have no complaints of the entire experience and will happily refer our friends to Kuoda if they are planning a trip. Everything was delightful!

I will also happily write a review on TripAdvisor for the Company.  Keep up the great work!

Best regards,

Rashmi

Shaman was fabulously authentic.. fabulous lifetime memorable experience… seared into the soul… just great..

helaine thankfully rebounded fully for our last day in Lima. Bartholomew addressed our interest in a quick city tour and that was great..

Hotel was beyond amazing… if you can get me the name/email of the general manger of the Lima Belmond. They allowed us to stay till 6 so generous..

The transfer from lima airport to hotel to fancy restaurant was super-duper rushed. Didn’t realize the timing… that wasn’t so great.

We should have made a later time to eat or an earlier flight (but we needed the time in Cuzco).. but it all worked out but was stressful…FYI if someone else wants to do what we did…

We cancelled IK for Sat night.. at 730 not enough time to do a tasting and then make the flight..but that was fine…too much food and money.  Ate at Rosario or something great on the water sunset memorable.

Dimas was amazing as was Jaime.. We feel so fortunate.. we loved them.. And Dimas did take some pictures of us with the shaman and said he would send them to you and our would send to us?

Great to meet Mary on Friday and love the frame.. Very generous and considerate.

Can’t recommend you enough.. Will remind the family to get on TripAdvisor and give you a gold star rating.

it was fabulous. Thank you Jenny for all.. and so many blessings in your next steps.. You have a sweet loving tender genuine heart.. I know you will serve well in whatever direction you go.

Much gratitude love and blessings sending to you…

Shoshana Susan Mitrani KNapp

The entire trip was excellent.  No problems and completely stress free.  All the meals were excellent which a great bonus was.  I put a review on Trip Advisor.  I know he is a busy guy but try to remind him if you can.  Again had a great time and look forward to setting up another trip in the future.

Dax

We are back and except for Helen being ill, everything was great.  We were having dinner the evening after seeing you and we wished we had asked to see if you could have joined us for dinner or lunch while we were there as it was so nice meeting with you, and my girls were asking questions about why you were in Peru.  My daughter Louise loved it so much, I am sure she will be coming back sometime in the near future.

Really, your preparation for our trip and everything you booked was perfect.  We loved every hotel, the food was fabulous, you had tickets to everything we wanted to go to and more, and everything that Kuoda did was truly done exceptionally.

The only thing on the trip that we really would have changed was our time in Machu Pichu to make it shorter, and I know I asked for the time there so only blame myself, but didn’t know it would be so hard to leave the area.  However with Helen being ill, I am not sure it would have made a difference anyway.

Our favorite was the Sacred Valley and our hikes there as well as our one day hike to Machu Picchu.  We also loved walking through Ollantaytambo and Cuzco which was so beautiful too.

Jeremy was a great guide, and Carlos a wonderful and lovely driver.

I will recommend your company and you with huge enthusiasm to anyone I know who may want to go to Peru, and let me know if you want me to go to a website to give a review.

Thanks again for all your work.  I think Kuoda is truly exceptional.

Best to you,

Nirvani

Thank you for all of you efforts to make our trip to Peru wonderful!  We will definitely recommend you to any friends or family who are thinking of traveling to Peru.

It was wonderful to meet you in Cusco.  And we absolutely love the coffee mugs!  Thank you so very much!  They are almost too beautiful to use, but we are using them and thinking of you and Peru when we have our coffee!

I would really like to see more of South American in the future.  Where else does Kuoda plan travel?

If you ever make a trip to the US, please let us know.  Louisville, KY is a great place to visit, but it is definitely not as high on the USA list as other cities.  You are welcome at our home anytime, but if you don’t make it to Louisville, maybe we could meet you in another city.

Again, thanks for everything.  And if you do have a great recipe for Pisco Sours, I would love to have it.  I did buy Pisco and brought it home with us.

Susan

First of all, I want to say that we were overall very very happy with the trip.  We loved Peru and had a special experience.

The highlights for us were, of course, Jimmy and Hernan.  They were just terrific.  Very informative while being relaxed and easy going.

Their insight and sense of fun were really terrific.  And they acclimated to our needs easily.

Getting teenagers up early to explore presents its own set of challenges and Jimmy was just so good with them!

Even when Jimmy wasn’t with us, he gave us great recos which made exploring on our own quite fun.  We followed every reco (in Cusco and Lima) he provided and enjoyed them all.

I am happy to sing his praises any time.

We loved Machu Picchu, the time with the Andean family and the fun experiences in Cusco.

We want to thank you all for a great experience and a lot of great memories.  Peru is a beautiful country and we will be back.

All the best,

Alison

Hello Mery,

We got back last night from the Ecuador/Galapagos portion of our trip.  Just as the Peru/Machu Picchu portion, it was wonderful even though there were a few problems which Metropolitan Touring did not handle as well as you/Kuoda handled the problems we encountered because of the cancelled flight from Lima to Cusco.  We’d like to thank you again for your support.  We will definitely recommend Kuoda to friends and others who plan a trip to Peru.

We had our first coffee this morning in the coffee mugs you gave us; it was a wonderful reminder of our stay in Peru.

Best regards,

Jean-Yves & Carmen

Jesus – thanks again for all your help!  We had a great time.  Just wish I had some time to rest before starting work again – we got back to the US pretty tired after everything we did.

Saludos,

Claudio Knizek.

Finally, I have found time to thank Kuoda for the organization and the great help to us on an unforgettable trip. We know that we had the right partner for travelling in Peru and Bolivia.

Tomorrow we start our cruise around northern part of South America to Belem.

Best regards,

Benno

Thank you! It was another great trip with Kuoda. I felt the tour guides were much better than last time. The whole planning process and the execution of the trip was all very good. I always appreciate the flexibility.

Warm regards, Dennis

Dear Thomas:

First my apologies for taking so long to drop a line (and of course a picture) but upon our return from Peru we have been inundated with company (5 different sets!) and then we spent a week in Massachusetts. We are finally settling back into our routine and I am getting around to viewing pictures and writing my long overdue notes.

We had a wonderful trip to Peru and thank you for all your work on making that happen. We were absolutely delighted to put a face to an email voice upon meeting you. I am sure that you know that no one met us in Lima but by assuring that we made the earlier flight there was no problem with our connections.

Should you ever find yourself in the Tampa area, please do not hesitate in calling us and perhaps we can return the favor……….

Thanks again,

Rhea

We all made it home safe and sound from our amazing trip and I wanted to take a moment to let you know that we all had a wonderful time.  I appreciate all of your hard work to make our trip unforgettable.  I look forward to the next time I can make a trip to Peru.  Of course, when that time comes, I will be sure to contact Kuoda.  I felt like we were in good hands at all times and that everything was taken care of!  Everyone I worked with was dedicated to making sure Dad, Alex, and I had a safe and memorable adventure.

Thank you, again!

Amanda Holmes

We all had a wonderful time on our trip into the Amazon. The Treehouse was the perfect recommendation for us and we truly enjoyed our time there. Thank you for your hard work to make it work for us!

The Treehouse accommodations were quite nice and the staff was very attentive. I would definitely recommend it for your future clients. The beds were comfortable, very few bugs and although there is no hot water, a cool shower felt good at the end of the day. We also met the owner, Vance, who happened to be there for a couple of days and he was very nice and wants the customer to be happy. He seems to be constantly striving to improve the lodge from the comforts to the staff. Our guide and boat driver were really good. Ronnie, our guide, has 9 years as a guide and was so good at finding wildlife that we would have not have seen otherwise. He spoke very good english. He was always concerned that we were having a good time and seeing everything we hoped to see. He was friendly and enjoyable to spend the time with. We saw so many birds! Macaws, parakeets, hawks, kingfisher and many others! Also, lots of monkeys, sloth, caiman, tarantula, giant ants (the biggest in the world) and the largest frog in the Amazon. We spent everyday on the boat, went piranha fishing, saw pink & grey dolphins, visited two villages, and a small monkey island (even had one of the monkeys come on to the boat). We did two jungle walks too – one during the day and one at night. We were up for anything although Ronnie would gladly adjust the schedule if we had wanted to do something different. Our boat driver was from a local village and I was so impressed that every time I lifted my camera, he would slow the boat to make sure I got a good shot.

All the best to you. If I return to Peru for travel, I will be in touch.

Merry Christmas!

Best

Sharon

Thank you Jennifer!  Everything was AMAZING as usual.  Everything went smooth and Percy and Jaime were the greatest!  We had a blast!  Thank you for checking in and for all the communication <3 I’m sure I’ll be back 😉

Virginia

Thank you so much for your welcome home note and many thanks to your entire team for making us feel so welcome in Peru. Just getting back to reality after the holidays so apologies for the delay, but I did want to make sure you received some feedback.

Traveling with Kuoda made our experience in Peru seamless, comfortable and personal. We loved getting to know Juan, Alex and Corina. Everyone was very professional, informative, and genuinely interested in being a part of our travel experience – paying attention to the types of activities we were seeking, what we were interested in learning, and any questions we might have.

While the trip was planned on very short notice, I couldn’t have felt more prepared while I was there – all thanks to your team.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again in a future journey to Peru!

Kristine

The trip was amazing; truly one of the best we’ve taken. Astrid & Gaston lived up to (and possibly exceeded) the expectations and the jungle was a great experience (especially after the high altitude in the Andes).

We were extremely pleased with the service we received from Kuoda and will be recommending you to Nael’s mom, who wants to plan a trip to Peru for later this year. Once we have the pictures downloaded, we will send you a couple.

After talking about it, there were a few items that we would change on our itinerary if we were to do it again. None are criticisms of Kuoda, but I thought I’d share anyway as they may be helpful insights for future visitors that you are assisting.

– Spend more than one day in Cuzco. We loved the city and wish we would have had another day to explore, especially since we were there on a Sunday when much was closed.

– Spend only 2 nights in the jungle rather than 3. While the jungle excursions were excellent, many were very similar, so we felt like we really only needed 1 full day to get the most out of the experience.

– Stay in the Barranco neighborhood in Lima. Miraflores was very nice, but after visiting Barranco one night, we really enjoyed the more local and historic feel of that neighborhood and preferred exploring Barranco over Miraflores.

– We should have opted for the private trek on the Inca Trail (as you recommended). We were the slower members of the group and felt like we were constantly holding our group up. Additionally, the assistant guide had to leave on Day 1 due to a family emergency and no replacement guide was provided, so we were often left without a guide nearby since our group was generally well ahead of us on the trek.

– Lima Gourmet Company provided an excellent tour, but I wish there would have been a culinary tour available that provided more of a “locals” experience. We tried a lot of the local cuisine on our own, but it would have been great if this would have been included on a tour. For example, we had the most incredible churros near Iglesia de San Francisco, anticuchos and picarones in Barranco and cuy in Cusco, but none of this was covered or mentioned in the tour.

Thanks again for all your help in making this an unforgettable vacation!

Heather

Our trip was fabulous and we told Mary as much when she stopped by to see us at the end of our trip!

Thanks for all your help and GREAT to meet you!

Our volunteer day with kids was actually excellent.

The whole trip amazing!

Believe me…we will definitely recommend Kuoda to all our friends here!

All the best for a Happy new year!

Julie

Reflecting on the wonderful trip we had aboard the ship for 17 days and especially the 6 days we spent in the care of your company’s expert hands!

We can not say enough about how well all the Kuoda staff treated us from all the transportation, ticket handling, baggage handling, etc. But we want to particularly mention how great it was to have Jimmy accompanying us and providing all his expert information throughout our visit. He really was a joy to have as our guide!!

We will also be writing a review of your company on Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic, as both of these sites are what I used to locate and choose Kuoda as our tour provider! We will not hesitate to contact you again when and if we plan another trip to South America.

Sincerely,
Carole and Barney

Thanks again for planning such an incredible trip for us. Michelle and I LOVED the jungle (we got lucky and saw tons of wildlife–birds beyond numbering, hundreds of monkeys above us, a sloth, caiman, etc etc) and already can’t wait for a trip to Manaus for one of our upcoming anniversaries! The trip was perfect from start to finish, and we can’t imagine a better honeymoon.

We’ll definitely be back in Peru again and undoubtedly need some more trip planning advice.
Saludos,

Kyle

Hola from the UK!! Thank you very much Mery & Jesus for your continued interest!

We have now been home a week and have only just got back in to the swing of things! We had a truly memorable holiday in Peru and would like to thank everybody at Kuoda who was involved with it. As you know, we particularly enjoyed being shown around The Sacred Valley & Cusco by Ofelia and your number one driver, Ephraim, who were both superb!!! Equally, we were both impressed by meeting you Mery, at the Casa San Blas.

We are really grateful that we chose Kuoda to make all our ground arrangements. We were a bit apprehensive before coming out about using a “foreign” agency to make arrangements with, but we need not have worried, everything that you provided us with was meticulously done. We appreciated the gestures such as, the bottles of water in the cars, the forward facing seats on the train and the front seats on The Inca Express!

So Mery, can you please thank everybody on our behalf. To name just a few, from The Inkaterra Team @ The Hacienda Concepción, to Ofelia & Efraim, our favourite pair from Cusco, to Victor @ Machu Picchu, to Henry @ Puno and finally Jesus, who was very patient and kept “tweeking” our itinerary to get it right!!

It goes without saying that we would always recommend Kuoda to anyone visiting the countries that you operate in and will be making entries on trip advisor shortly, we are so pleased we chose you!!!!

Happy Christmas to you all, Alan & Sheryel Lidbetter, Burgess Hill, UK

PS, Thank you for the birthday wishes!!!!!! (The minions hats are just to remind Ofelia of us. We hope she enjoyed the poor old Guinea Pig, with her sister!!!!!!!!)

Overall, we felt Kuoda made our trip extra memorable. From my initial communication with you, all the way to the end, we felt extremely comfortable. I am not sure if I mentioned this to you, but I had contacted Kuoda in 2011 about a trip to Peru. I narrowed down on Kouda after extensive research online and although we had a good response from Kuoda in 2011 (I exchanged emails with Tom Carrol), we were unable to travel then. But when we finally decided to do the trip, I immediately came back to Kuoda, based on my past responses!

We were particularly impressed with the quick responses from you and the highly professional, yet personalized tour planning process. We also felt that the information you sent about last minute preparations was very useful and thoughtful. We loved our guides, Holger and Erica, our driver Marco and our host Alex. We also liked the fact that the guides were local, which made them very experienced and knowledgeable. Also, I thank you personally for creating a schedule that eliminated the altitude issues. We were very concerned about myself because I have had issues in the past, but I had no trouble at all!

The icing on the cake was when we were met by you and Mery at the airport! That was very unique and person touch that we very much appreciated!  Positive feedback is good but I am sure you want to hear about some things we didn’t like. Although I tried hard, I could not really think of anything bad!!!! You guys did such an amazing job! We would highly recommend Kuoda to any of our friends and family and will come back to you for our future trips to Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia! Thank you to you and your team for creating this special memory for us. I apologize for not including photos.

Arthi

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Peru.  Holgar was a perfect guide and you arranged a great trip for us.  We’ll send pictures soon.

All the best,

Ellen & Scott

Overall we had an amazing experience and found your team great to work with as well as reliable and service oriented, not to mention attention to detail (like a Bday cake!).  The guides were all great and Ophelia along with Orlando made things enjoyable.  Our favorite accommodations would have to be Sol y Luna Lodge in the sacred valley.  Wow what an amazing place, I think we could have spent a week in our little “bungalow”. The service and food were great there as well, and the setting speaks for itself.  The Sumaq in Machu Picchu was very nice and very service oriented, dinner there was lovely.  Our accommodations in Cusco at Manco Capac were unique and lovely.

The cooking class was a wonderful experience and we would highly recommend it to others.  Thanks for the recommendation.

The guide in Lima was wonderful and the lunch and museum visit lovely.  Your team certainly put us at ease regarding transport and other logistics. These can be tough things in a country you are not familiar with and don’t speak the language and your team was there every step of the way.  Thanks for sharing your Amazing Peru with us and we certainly will encourage others to explore Peru with your team!

Mucho Gracias,

Nancy Mowrey

This trip changed me for the better – I can’t stop thinking about the beautiful places and people of Peru.  Can’t wait to do it again with your help.  Treated like family – I owe that to you and the Kuoda team.

Thank you!

Best wishes,

David

All 22 days we spent in Peru, and especially the 10 days of hospitality your organization gave us, are among the most memorable experiences we have had in quite some time. We are grateful you took the time to come and greet us at the airport in Cusco and again at the Bus Terminal. Nothing could testify better to your dedication to your mission and your respect and care for your guests. And thank you for the gifts.

Urpi has been very patient, diligent, and efficient in organizing our tour. She took every detail of our request into account and met virtually all of them. She is a rare precious asset. She is also a great admirer, almost a devotee, of you and your mission. Charlotte was very helpful in covering for Urpi during her brief vacation.

We would like to thank all your staff and contractors we came in contact with. I will mention those whose names I recall.

Alex in Cusco and Cesar in Lima; Gilbert, guide at Posada Amazonas; Antonio, guide in Puno; Ysabela and Pocho, guide and driver respectively in Colca and Arequipa; and Eduardo and Raphael, guide and driver respectively in Ica and Paracas.

They all knew their trade very well and were very caring and courteous to us.

The last day of our trip did not go as planned. The trip to the Paracas Island and all water activities were cancelled due to unsafe weather. Eduardo did his best to fill up our morning by tours around town and a drive to the coastal reserve. Such force-majeure was not going to spoil our experience; it gave us the opportunity to relax around the pool and enjoy the hotel grounds.

Finally, I would like to congratulate you on your philanthropic activities. I and my wife have similar philanthropies that provide modest sums of money to economically disadvantaged but academically promising high-school children. Nothing is more rewarding that giving back.

Cheers and Love

Abraham

Charlotte,we had a wonderful time.  Thank you for all of your efforts towards making the trip so successful.

Only comments I can think of echoes ones we already gave you in person.  Specifically, Carlos should be encouraged to continue improving his English.  However, his knowledge of and enthusiasm about the subject matter – plus his willingness to work to facilitate communication – was very good.  I would much rather have Carlos as a guide with his knowledge base than someone else with better English speaking but less knowledge about the subject matter.

Alfredo is an excellent driver.  We felt extremely safe with his driving.

Those who may be particularly subject to altitude changes would definitely benefit from going to Sacred Valley as soon as possible.  The way our trip was arranged with the most time at Cusco at the end worked well.

The cooking class was really fun!

All in all, I appreciated that everyone spoke English as well as they did given that I speak no Spanish.  So jobs well done.

Thank you also to Mery for meeting us at the end and for the lovely coffee mug.

Sally

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We had a fabulous vacation and any suggestions are just minor tweaks that may or may not apply to the next group.  I really appreciated Kuoda’s attention to all the details. All of our guides and drivers were knowledgable, professional, and very friendly.

My only other suggestions are the following.  I was more affected by the altitude than Sally was and wanted a shorter lunch after we flew into Cusco as a headache set in over our leisurely Peruvian style big meal.  I was really fortunate that the altitude affects did not keep me from enjoying any of our outings.  I am very glad we did not spend the first nights in Cusco and would recommend that as standard practice unless your tour group knows that they are immune.

Thanks again for a wonderful introduction to Peru.  We will definitely recommend Kuoda to our friends.  And thank you for the Sanctuary mug.  We truly appreciate that as a work of art after our visit.

Best,

Cynthia

You did an exceptional job planning our trip, and handling all the difficulties with our procrastination issues, itinerary changes and passport problems, (no trouble by the way).  Everything was exceptional; the hotels, the locations and the wonderful birthday lunch surprise in Lima at the Museum with Bart.  Bill was surprised and it made our day in Lima very special; Bart’s sense of humor matched ours perfectly, his professionalism was very evident and his care for our safety was greatly appreciated. Our guides Percy and Bart were both full of knowledge regarding Peru and even Bill; who studies everything, learned things from them!  As for our wonderful and kind driver Samuel, there are no words to express what an exceptional person he is.  Alex is amazing and all the staff went above and beyond to help us with everything we needed to give us an extraordinary and memorable trip. Their concern for our safety was an added feature that created a feeling of safety for us that helped us feel comfortable exploring wherever we were.

Percy and Samuel, as well as being great guides/drivers are also great chefs. They provided us with an excellent lunch by a beautiful lake.  We loved meeting the beautiful ladies at the co-op and bought many beautiful items; could have bought more but not enough room in luggage, so sad…  Anyway, we would love to learn more about it and give an additional donation to help the ladies and children during the upcoming holidays.  Candace got some great pictures with the ladies.  We were able to meet your lovely Founder and President Mery Calderon.  Her heart and soul are evident in the people she brings into her company and she genuinely seems to care about the people who use her company.  She is so lovely, gracious and generous.  She gave us each a beautiful gift, which was completely unexpected. I will be communicating with her also to express our gratitude.

Candace, Bill and I will never forget our exceptional experience in Peru. We fell in love with the Peruvian people; they are a kind, hardworking, and friendly people with a quiet grace and beauty.  We will certainly recommend your company to all our colleagues and personal friends.  I am sure that Bill and I will return to Peru in the future, we fell in love with the Sacred Valley and of course we will use your company again.

Thank you is not enough to express our gratitude for everyone’s hard work in giving us an extraordinary and memorable vacation.  We will carry our memories of our time in Peru in our hearts forever.

Please pass on our gratitude to everyone at Kuoda Travel, there are too many people to name, but the attention to detail by everyone that we met at Kuoda Travel will never be forgotten by us.

Blessings to all,

Bill and Geri Jones

Hopefully we will meet on our next trip

So very nice to meet up with you in Cusco and your two mugs have pride of place on our shelf. You should be very proud of your company, the attention to detail was amazing. Nothing went wrong (can I just ask though, how long should the tour of Lima take?). Jesus deserves a special mention, he was so patient when for various reasons we had to alter things, delay departures etc. and he was so helpfull when we had queries. A top man. If I’m right in assuming Kuoda haven’t done so many tours up in the north we thought things were worked out very well. It’s obviously not an easy place to tour and the guide and driver we had (Pedro and Mercedes) did exceedingly well under the circumstances as there was often very long road journeys during which they could not stop partly because to be frank there wasn’t much to stop for but also because the condition of the roads made stopping risky. They both went out of their way to keep the journey interesting and it shows what good guides they were to be able to make a ten hour road trip interesting and most importantly fun. Any guide can make Cusco/Maccu Piccu etc interesting not many can do so when faced with 3 road trips of between 8 and 10hrs each. If it was a bit of an experiment for Kuoda you should put Mercedes and Pedro’s names at the top of your list for future use. Pedro seems to know everyone in Peru and used his contacts all the time. Mercedes very kindly made a CD of photos she’d taken while with us and presented it to us which was a very nice thing to do.

Ofelia in Cusco with Marco the driver were also brilliant. Ofelia heard us discuss things we’d like to do and suggested changes to the itinerary which led to what was the very highlight of our whole month when she took us to the ceremony for St. Jerome. That day was simply amazing and they knew exactly how to get us to an excellent position in order to get the best out of the experience. Violetta (Puno/Sun Island/ etc) was yet another top notch guide, lovely sense of humour and so very helpfull as was her trainee Ximena. All guides were very knowledgeable on every subject and we’re very glad we used them because we would have missed so much without them. Tell Alex thanks very much for his help and his checking up on us (is he still at school? he looks like he is.). Henry (Taquille Island etc) was such a funny bloke, he made us very much at ease all the time and really enjoyed his job.

So, our trip is over. Peru is an extremely nice friendly country to tour. We never once felt in danger or uncomfortable.

With people like those we encountered working for Kuoda your company can’t go wrong. Thanks for the trip of a lifetime. We’ll be back and also some of our family want to do Peru you can rest assured we will have recommended you very highly and will also do so on TripAdvisor.

Steve and Lynn Cooper

I want to say thank you again to your whole team for how great a trip this was. Especially when I got sick, and everyone worked through ways to accommodate a change in plans.

Boris was a fantastic guide – he shared so much interesting information with us at each stop and was really integral in making this a great cultural experience for us, too. He was also just an enjoyable person to spend each day with. It also meant a lot that Jason, Mery and you all came out to meet us and ask how everything was – that is some solid customer service!

We will absolutely be recommending Kuoda to any friends interested in traveling to Peru or other nearby SA locations.

Thanks again!

Jenn

I cannot say enough good things about the entire experience working first with Jon, then you and all the rest of the people at Kuoda Travel.  Everything happened as planned and was smooth and seamless to us.  I know there was a lot of hard work and careful planning that went on behind the scenes to make sure it was easy for us.  Our guides were knowledgeable, attentive and best of all personable!  Likewise, our drivers were wonderful.  At no time did we feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
Rest assured that I will recommend Kuoda Travel to anyone looking for a special experience in Peru.  As I indicated, I am a frequent user of Trip Advisor and plan to post a report of our trip on their website.  Kuoda Travel will be one of the highlights of the report!
If I can be of service to you or Kuoda Travel in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
These few words seem inadequate to express my gratitude.  I wish everyone there continued success and the best of luck!
Very Best Regards,

Bill

We are both still glowing with the enjoyment of our trip with Kuoda…..it may have been the best of all of our many trips around the globe….the organization, guides and communication were all top flight…….

We did get to a Chifa restaurant for lunch one day in Cusco…..not too far from the hotel….it was just o.k….probably wouldn’t go back to another…..also went to Kintaro…a Japanese restaurant near the main plaza and enjoyed just having noodles for a change.

The surprise for us the the cooking class…..great day….lasted about 4 1/2 hours and totally enjoyable.

I guess if there was one thing that would work better it would be that last very, very long day until the midnight flight home…….maybe a later flight back to Lima and setting up in one of the nearby hotels for a few hours……we figured we traveled about 35 hours that last day until home…..

Overall…..the trip was fantastic….thank you for all of your good work.

David

, I must say that we are very satisfied customers.  We very much enjoyed the luxury of being met, being driven hither and yon, being treated in a valued manner.  Sonia, Alex, Hernan, Eyner….your choices could not be better.  Our guides were knowledgeable and informative and it appeared to me, that they love their country, which in turn taught me a new respect and care regarding Peru.

I particularly liked the manner in which you chose a gradation of getting used to the altitude and climate by choosing areas of lesser altitude and building toward Cusco’s high altitude.  Bill developed a cold, however, that has little to do with our health in general.  We were healthy and in good shape throughout our trip.  You chose local native’s homes as lovely examples of middle class life.  They were welcoming and lovely as well as informative regarding their lives and their interests.  We very much enjoyed these visits.

The women of the village town you took us to could not have been more welcoming and gentle in their teaching us of their culture through food, implements, and crafts.  We were welcomed with flowered chains and offered benches covered in textiles.  We made sure to purchase items from each lovely seller.

Machu Picchu was almost a dream. I felt as if I was in a National Geographic movie rather than there in real life.  The fact that our husbands were able to make this particular rigorous trek was due to Eyner’s gentle care as well as respect and understanding as to when help was needed or not.  He took very good care of us on both days of climbing.

We enjoyed Maras and Ollantaytambo as well as the very lovely Rio Sagrado area and hotel.  The people who are employed there are genuine and were very very kind to us.  The rooms were beautiful and the site itself a pleasure for our eyes.  The Inkaterra was a beautiful venue.  There were a couple of things that may have been due to being so busy.  Kathi and I climbed Macchu Picchu the 2nd day.  We arranged for someone from the front desk to help Bill and Richard to breakfast.  This did not occur which made it a bit difficult to navigate the steps for both since Richard is blind and Bill’s vision can be problematic.  Bill got someone from the dining room to help.  They were kind enough to come outside to help. It appears this happened twice in terms of help.

It might be wise to mention to guests that the Inkaterra is jungle like, thus full of Mosquitos.  Also, that sitting areas are not enclosed.  We were prepared for Machu Picchu and Mosquitos, but not the hotel and I would say at least Bill and I have several somewhat severe bites.  The restaurant was lovely and the staff serving were quite nice.

Oh, the J.W. Marriott was a wonderful way to begin our trip. Bill and I had a room that was mostly windows and enjoyed a spectacular view.  We all really loved the concierge services on the 24th floor as well

For me, the pièce de resistance was the Palacio Nazaranes.  Greeted with bouquets, treated with care and friendliness, we were shown our room, and I think I was in heaven.  The manager had sent lovely cheeses with tasty jams to enjoy as we unpacked.  We liked the idea of enjoying the minibar without being nickeled and dimed so to speak.  The breakfasts were filling, tasty, elegant, and with a harpist, who could ask for more.  We met William, the art restorer, and enjoyed his restoration of the courtyard wall.  We also met the manager who was most welcoming and happy to have discussions on the restoration as well as other topics.  Oh yes, I really did like that satin bathrobe.

By the way, I very much enjoyed the main food market which Eyner took us to.  It was informative to see how similar we are in our approaches to fresh foods.

The Amazon portion of the trip was Bill’s dream.  He so enjoyed sailing on the Pucate River, Marañon River, Ucayali (spelling?) River, and of course the Amazon River.  We typically had 2 full trips per day viewing mammals, birds, even piraña fishing and touching a cayman.  We loved visiting Porto Prado and meeting the teacher, parents, and the cute children.  Having been a former teacher, I was pretty excited.  Children took pictures with my cell, they sang to us, they repeated our names, and I was able to teach them a game called Duck Duck Goose.  Really, really a wonderful visit.  We also bought items from each of the families.  It felt good to know items were made with local products and natural dyes.  We even met a young artist from Holland staying in the village.

Karmelita, the cruise director could not have been more helpful.  Luis, Juan, Moises, Omar, Luis from the dining room, and Aquiles were all very nice. Their manners are impeccable and they even, after 3 days got to know what we wished to eat, or skip, and what we enjoyed drinking whether it was decaf or wine.  The rooms were comfortable spacious, and the stewards were exemplary in straightening, cleaning and forming new animals daily using towels.  From turtle eggs, to manatees, to pink dolphins and tarantulas, it was quite a learning experience.  We loved the idea that Aqua helps local communities as well as the Picaya Samira Reserve.

Thank you Jenny for arranging a trip we will always remember and value.  Please thank Meri for our drinking mugs.  I cannot wait to have my first cup of coffee tomorrow in our new mugs.

I will send some photos.

Best,

Ruth

Our trip to Peru was amazing thanks to the great organization of your company and we loved the last four days in the rainforest as well, because it completed the trip in a unique way. Many thanks and kind regards to you and the rest of the team who made our trip an unforgettable experience.  Sabine and Heino

Sabine Hofferberth

Many thanks for following up on our trip, we had a great time in South America!  Now we’re back home and it took us some time to adjust to time difference and adapt back to normal life.

We enjoyed Peru, Brazil and Argentina very much, with Peru particularly splendid, thanks so much for Kuoda’s perfect arrangement.  We’d like to thank Caesar, Alex and especially Jimmy for their professional service!

Specifically we enjoyed these arrangements:

1. Aranwa Cusco hotel is the best hotel we’ve been in, great location and service

2. The 2-day passes to Machu Picchu is very well planned, we enjoyed the hike very much.

Kuoda is a good travel planner, we’d love to recommend them to our friends should they visit Peru!

Thank you and best regards,

Hysan.

We are really missing our wonderful memories and daily actions in Peru and Bolivia and for sure this trip will stay in our heart and memory for ever. We are preparing a review about our travel with Kouda company to be published soon in Tripadvisor attached with some pictures. We need some times to download our photos from the camera and organize them as we have hundreds of beautiful pictures in Peru and Bolivia.

Finally, we would like to thank you Jenny for all the arrangements and emails as well as congratulate you on your upcoming wedding and wishing you lots of love and happiness… Please don’t forget to send our thanks to Alex and the whole Kuoda Team who make our trip wonderful and memorable…

All the best,

Weaam & Wesam

We had a fantastic time.  You did a great job, turning what I asked for into reality.  Holger was a great source of information and we enjoyed our time with him.  The hotel in Aguas Calientes after the trek was perfect (one of the best beds I’ve ever slept in.)  We also enjoyed Casa Cartagena.  They were great.  Alex was fantastic. Mery even came to see us our last morning in Cusco.  Kuoda met or surpassed our expectations across the board.  I just realized I haven’t done a review for Kuoda on Trip Advisor.  I’ll take care of that this weekend.  You’ll obviously be happy with it!

Thanks for everything.

Greg Wolter

Hi.  Absolutely flawless trip!!  Like clockwork!  And we had a ball!  Learned so much from Renee and also our jungle guides!  Breathtaking scenery!  Wonderful adventures!  Exquisite accommodations and dining!  Thank you so, so much!  I just wrote a lengthy TripAdvisor review, giving you lots of credit!  My user name is cmac889196 from Richmond, Va.  Hope it brings in more business!  Take care and hello to Renee and Fausto!

Corinne

Thank you again for making our trip to Peru such a wonderful experience. You, Alex, Mery, Fausto, Demus, and everybody else were great!  I was nervous prior to the trip, but my nerves were put to ease as soon as I met the first Kuoda guide in Lima.

As far as feedback, I only have positive.The guides were knowledgable and friendly, drivers were safe, transportation was on time, van was always clean, all of our questions were answered, logistics were handled and communicated to us…etc.  It was great.  Thank you.

If we ever visit Peru again, we will be contacting Kuoda Travel. You guys were great!

Sheryl

Everything went beautifully. Emily was totally surprised and very, very happy. Both Jose and Danny did a great job and the ladies here at Nazca House have been delightful. Dinner was perfect.

Jose has a few more pictures on his phone. We neglected to get his email address. Do you have it? We would love to get a copy of the pictures.

Thank you so much for everything! I could never have pulled this off without you!

Thank you for your email. We had a wonderful trip and cannot praise Kuoda and its people enough! I have waited to respond to you email because Louise and I wanted to gather our thoughts and comments beforehand.

First off, it was a stress-free vacation. The arrangements were super well-organized and we always felt that we were in capable hands. The drivers and guides always arrived before the scheduled time and the office followed up when necessary (Jason called to make sure we had got off at the right train station on our return from Macchu Picchu). The cars were immaculate and the drivers were professional and drove cautiously. They were also spotless.

Every guide was superb. Personable, extremely knowledgeable and pleasant in every way. They made us feel like personal guests of theirs and were outstanding ambassadors for your company.

It was also terrific that Mery came by our hotel in Cusco and had breakfast with us. Both Louise and I were struck by how lovely she is and how her vision for her company is reflected in the overall excellence of our experiences.

The itinerary that you created for us was spectacular – people have asked us what we considered to be the highlights of our trip and we tell them it is an impossible question to answer – everything was special in its own way. The hotels that you chose were over the top! It would be difficult to say which hotel was our favorite because they all had their attractions. The rooms were great as well.

Thank you again for the trip of a lifetime!

Pat & Louise

We had a wonderful time in Peru and we love Cusco.  Thank you for all the planning.  Ofelia was a great and knowledgeable guide who had lots of patience.  She was a pleasure to be with and we enjoyed being with her and laughing together. Cesear was a courteous and safe driver and we always enjoyed being with him in the car.

One regret that I have is not buying more stuff!  I felt like I bought a lot when I was there but when I returned home I realized I should have bought more, particularly wool scarves.

We liked Peru so much we plan on coming again.  I’ve been telling my friends about our exciting trip.   Many of them travel frequently so I would not be surprised if they contacted you to help in the planning.  I’ll give you a heads up.

I’m so glad we met even if it was brief.

Sharry

Thank you for your message. We were very happy to discover a country with impressive landscapes, such a rich culture, and friendly people who have preserved their traditional values. Thanks also for everything your agency did to ensure we left Peru with good memories of our trip. We will be sure to recommend your services and to use them again if we plan a trip to Peru in the future.

Jennifer you have put together a first rate exceptional trip for us.. We have already referred some folks to you personally and I told the lady that met us at the end and presented us with those fun coffee mugs what a fantastic job you did for us.  It was flawless except for that Lima airport piece and that certainly wasn’t your fault as I think Phil did want to go into Lima for that wall textile. Thank you for checking those properties for us  The gift was a request from a friend to get an EVOLVE t-shirt and I cannot believe I lost it.  Wonder if I left it on the commorant.   RATS…  Thanks for checking for me.  If it turns up I will pay for their trouble. Thanks again for absolutely flawless trip…first rate….. LOVED the property in Cusco.. and Quito  We will share our photos with you.. Just getting them on our computers.. They turned out amazing.  It was a WOW vacation and thank you for all your hard work and patience with us.   You even came through with good weather..How did you do that?  You are the best!

Ellen

Thank you for your warm message, we returned safely with wonderful memories of amazing Peru.

Your travel arrangements, care and generally the positive and professional attitude of all the Kuoda team was wonderful and we will highly recommend anyone travelling to Peru to engage Kuoda.

Wish you all much success!

Laura

We are back home safely and yes, reality has set in.

It was lovely meeting and chatting with you in Cusco and appreciate you taking the time to connect with us to see how things were going.

We would like to thank the Kuoda team for planning this wonderful trip for us. It surpassed all our expectations and we were blown away by the natural beauty (aside from Machu Pichu which was definitely the high point) of the countryside and the vibrancy of Cusco. Eyner was an enthusiastic tour guide with a lot of local knowledge and provided a wealth of information on all the sites we visited.

Our main concern about food/allergy was taken care of very well. Not only did we feel safe about the food we were eating, it was actually very good! The three course meals were a bit much for us since we typically don’t have big meals, but the food choices were all very good.

We will share some photos (Anant has about 800 to upload) as soon as they are uploaded and we have had a chance to go through them. We hope to visit Peru again in the near future to see the places that we missed on this trip and will definitely use the services of the Kuoda team again!

Abah

Our honeymoon has been fantastic and Jem & I are pretty upset about leaving Peru tomorrow ):  Thank you and the Kuoda team for putting together this wonderful itinerary in such a short time; the restaurant recommendations are particularly appreciated – our foodie cravings have been thoroughly satisfied after our visits to Pachapapa, Tres Keros, Cicciolina, El Indio Feliz, Incanto and Huaka Pucllana (we finally tried the guinea pig!!).  We even managed to visit Astrid y Gaston where we sampled the famous 30 course tasting menu you mentioned (which left us very satisfied AND concussed at the dining table towards the end) – I believe this was only possible because you scored us a reservation for La Barra which was why the restaurant allowed the switch, so thank you very much!

Sarah

I am on my way to Chicago tomorrow, but wanted to let you know briefly that the trip went really well.  All the staff was very good and we really appreciated being picked up and dropped off by the drivers.  (Jaime was especially nice, please say hello.)  No problems with any of the tickets – which again saved us time.  And I climbed Huayna Picchu in just over an hour and think I have some great photos – but have not had time to look yet.

I can see I made some errors in planning; we would have liked a couple more days in Cusco – but that was a function of the plane tickets and nothing to do with you or on your end.  Richard was delighted and surprised to meet your boss/colleague Mary at the airport and felt that was really far more than you needed to do.

I promise to write a little more, but just wanted to send a quick note.   All in all a great success (and too much good food.)

Mary Kelly

We had an amazing trip and were overall very, very pleased with the service from Kuoda and Llama Path.  The hotels in Cusco (Mercado Tunqui) and in Aguas Calientes (Hatun Inti) were especially lovely.  Our lunch in Maras with Tatiana was amazing and we enjoyed the time to relax in her beautiful backyard and enjoy the scenery.  Our guide in Machu Picchu (Victor) was not only well informed but did a great job managing our tour so we weren’t lost in the crush of humanity and entertaining us while he informed us.  Eduar was a fabulous guide to the sights around Cusco.  He was extremely well informed and very responsive to our questions as well as just being a whole lot of fun to spend time with.  Juancito was fabulous and efficient, I felt very secure with him at the wheel and he was also able to share lots of good information with us.  Our trek with Llama Path was great.  Our guide (Juan de Dios) was very responsive to our needs and our pace and patient with us.  Our chef (Dionisio) was fabulous and honestly made us disappointed with several restaurants we experienced after the trek.  I mean, the man works in a tent and created amazing meals which accommodated my dietary needs.  Very impressive!

Thank you so much for everything!  I’ve already passed along the Kuoda website to 3 different friends who’ve said that they plan to travel to Peru in the next year or 2, because we had such a positive experience.

Andrew & Julie

Thank you Charlotte, for planning a fantastic itinerary for us! We had an amazing vacation making wonderful memories! Yeah it’s a pity we couldn’t meet. The last day was not fun with the kids getting sick :-(. They’re fine now.

Bimba

First of all, thank you so much for a wonderful trip.  We loved visiting Peru and enjoyed ourselves tremendously.  We’ll be happy to recommend Kuoda to our friends; and we are quite grateful to Jeanne Finberg for referring us.

We were also very pleased with the people Kuoda assigned to be our guides and drivers.  Renato, Erica, Cesar, Luis, Jason, Holger, and Wagner (sp?) were all excellent.  The guides were knowledgeable and friendly and the drivers were dependable and confidence-inspiring.  We particularly want to commend Holger, who was absolutely terrific.

Generally speaking, we were also very pleased with the hotels Kuoda set up for us.  Overall, our concerns are pretty minor, but we thought you might like to get some specific feedback:  The hotels in Lima were fine.  The airport hotel was exactly the right choice for our night of arrival and the El Pardo was comfortable and well-located for the 2 nights at the end of our trip.  InkaTerra in Aguas Calientes was wonderful.  We would recommend it without hesitation to anyone visiting Machu Picchu.  (There were some minor communications problems, but those were more amusing than bothersome and–after all–we should speak and understand Spanish better than we do, so there you are…)

So thanks again for taking such good care of us.  We were very happy to meet you and Mery and–as I said–we would recommend Kuoda whole-heartedly to our friends.

Tom

We had a wonderful time in Peru…thanks to you and your team’s assistance!

As constructive feedback, just a few words on each Kuoda person who we met (I hope I am also speaking accurately for Barbie as well):

Renalto / Lima.  Very nice, didn’t seem to bother him that we had to wait an additional hour to receive our luggage.  He was also a great help getting us to and through the Lima airport the next morning.

Jason / Cusco  Pleasant but didn’t seem to click socially (per our discussion)

Juan Driver / Cusco.  Wonderful, charming smile each morning!  Great driver.  Glad he could join us at our lunch in Moray.

Ophelia / Cusco  Not enough words to express how wonderful she is.  She accommodated us at every moment and didn’t seem to mind answering all of  our questions.  She is funny, smart, and articulate.  You are fortunate to have her on your team!

Thank you to Mery for meeting us at the airport to say hello and introduce herself.

Ruben Guide / Puno, Titicaca.  Ruben was also an excellent guide.  He took good care of us and he was also articulate and adept in the history of Puno and Tiquile.  He gave us options whenever possible as it pertained to our physical ability, altitude sickness, or dining choice.  We really enjoyed the two days we were with Ruben.  He really made the two days in Puno special.

Lorenzo Driver / Puno  Too aggressive for my taste (Ruben had to tell him “cuidado” a few times).  However, I realize that is a tough area to navigate especially on a Sunday when the market is open.

Cesar Driver / Lima  Good driver

Erica Guide / Lima  Did a great job guiding us around Lima.  We encountered one hiccup in our schedule and she handled it quickly and efficiently.

All in all, everyone was very professional and we would not hesitate to steer our traveling friends to Kuoda.

On another note Charlotte, it was a pleasure meeting you and we enjoyed dinner together.  You are such a personable and outgoing young lady and we know you have good things ahead.  I also wanted to tell you that had we known what the Homestay on Amantani in Lake Titicaca was all about (now that we know) we would take part in it if given the chance.  It seems daunting when described on paper but it is very doable…you should definitely go for it!!

Barbie

Everything was perfect. We are telling our families about all of our adventures. I will certainly send you a photo or maybe ten.  We have so any to choose from on our camera.

Could I ask one favor?  At the airport in Lima, after Inti had checked us in and we said our goodbyes, I needed some Peruvian sols for our luggage storage.  Omar, who escorted us to the hotel our first night in Peru happened to be  at the airport and we borrowed money from him.  His presence was a gift from God.  Would it be possible to have you charge my credit card 100 sols and for the cash to be given to Omar to pay my debt?  That would be so helpful.  Please let me know and then I will send my card info if it is alright.

Paula & Family

I can’t tell you how impressed we were with Kuoda. We will surely have great things to say about you on Trip Advisor and Facebook. I cannot think of anything negative to say about our trip and the way it was handled by Kuoda. From the very beginning planning stage with you Jenny to the actual tour itself. Lauren and I were so comfortable and impressed with Pilar and Ceasar, they really made the trip enjoyable. The sights we saw and the freedom of movement afforded by a private tour were remarkable. But it was the organization, punctuality and decency of the Kuoda Team that made all of the obvious grandeur of what Peru had to offer that much better. The only thing I can suggest is that you maintain the private lunches. Lauren and I were at first skeptical when Pilar told us we would be enjoying lunch at a local house. We had visions of questionable food in difficult surroundings and we could not have been more wrong. The shock and wonder of seeing the magnificent homes and tasting the delicious home-cooked food were a real highlight. I think Lauren would like to dedicate herself to being as much like Aida Paz Motta Cornejo as possible. Anyway, we want to thank everyone at Kuoda who helped make our first wedding anniversary a memorable one.

We had a wonderful holiday thank-you, with memories that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. Thanks to all your team for their help and guidance, especially Mery for taking Nicky shopping when she was without luggage. I would be more than happy to give you detailed feedback which I’ll do in another email when I get time. We’d also be more than happy to share some photos with you, but as I took almost 1200 I suspect you’ll only want to see the edited version! I’ll probably put a selection on-line when I get the time, so I’ll send you a link.

Brian

To say that our trip to Peru was wonderful is understatement!  We cannot thank you again for the travel arrangements, hotels, and guides we had.  We particularly enjoyed being guided by Santiago who is a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge of Peru and the various sites we visited.

Again, thank you both and the Kuoda team for a once-in-a-lifetime trip.  Perhaps we can do an Ecuador/Galapagos Islands tour with Kuoda in the future.

Cliff

We had a great time in Peru, a very memorable holiday. Given the short notice, and deciding to come during the peak season in June,

We were surprised how smoothly everything went. Every transfer and pick up was on time, and we were very happy with the quality of hotels, guides, tours, meals, etc.

Certainly the highlight of the trip was Machu Picchu (and the Cusco/Sacred Valley area in general), but we also enjoyed getting a broader experience of Peru with the Jungle, Lake Titicaca, Lima, etc.

Paul

From the bottom of our hearts, we wanted to thank you and the whole team at Kuoda for an incredible trip! I can absolutely understand why you chose to live in Peru, it is an unbelievably beautiful country! It truly is a budding photographers dream! The food was absolutely divine, especially thanks to Kuoda’s choices and suggestions from Pilar & Jason.

We can’t heap enough praise on everyone we met from Kuoda while there last week – Pilar, Marco, and Jason in particular. They all went above & beyond to cater to our every need and we can’t thank them enough!

We have already happily started recommending Kuoda to our friends who are interested in coming to Peru themselves.  We hope that small gesture can contribute to your future success and that of your fellows!

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful country with us!

Mike

Yes, we had a wonderful trip & will send on some photos & post reviews once we get back on our feet after the return to normal life. Both our primary guides (Robin in the jungle & Jimmy in the sacred valley) were excellent! I would also like to get a hold of Jimmy to thank him again and send a few photos, but forgot to get his email.

Darina

Thanks for your e-mail.  Despite our flight from Lima being canceled, we were able to rebook on LAN and made it home on time last night, for which we were very grateful.

We absolutely loved Peru and had a great experience with Kuoda.  When Mery filled in for Edgar and escorted us to our cooking class Sunday morning, I told her exactly that and sang your praises and Karina’s.  I also promised to post a review on TripAdvisor.

Mery too asked for feedback, and we told her that the only minor (emphasizing minor) thing we would change is that we would have appreciated more information about the difficulty of the Huanaypicchu hike.  While the hike may be typical by Peruvian standards, it’s quite advanced by American ones, and we were surprised.  In the end, it was fine, as Steve absolutely loved the hike, and I was glad I’d done it.  But, and I didn’t say this to Mery, it would have been better if you had let us know how challenging the mountain climb is.  Also, I don’t remember being told that the hike had to happen between 7:00-8:00am or 10:00-11:00am.  That info would have been helpful too, as we planned the rest of the day.

But please don’t get hung up on that one piece of feedback.  We were thrilled with our trip – your very personalized service, the quality of our guide/drivers/host, the efficiency of the logistics, and the amazing cooking class at Marcelo Batata that you suggested.  Thanks again for all of your help planning our adventure.  It was a trip of a lifetime.

Laura

I wanted to take time to thank you, just like you and the Kuoda team took time to show us your beautiful country.

Peru is a beautiful country with intriguing history, fascinating culture, breathtaking natural beauty and colorful & friendly people. But what made our experience most memorable was the way we got to see it with your help. Right from planning our trip, to sending us off at the airport, no detail was overlooked.

Urpi, you took care of all our special requests while planning the trip. The hotels, the food (with vegetarian options everywhere) and all other arrangements were excellent. Services like picking up our bags at the train station at Machu Picchu so that we could directly go to the ruins, giving us all the tickets that we need for our free day, waiting for us at the hotel to settle us in, and being flexible on all our last minute requests were all much appreciated. Alex made sure everything ran smoothly without us having to worry about anything.

Edward was the most patient tour guide we have ever had and was very knowledgeable too. We enjoyed his company. Ronalds was such an experienced driver that we felt extremely safe with him behind the wheels. Erika was very efficient in Lima. Last but not the least, Mery’s visit to say goodbye to us was such a pleasant surprise. We felt like we were saying goodbye to old friends!

Kouda team, you were definitely the best people to trust our special trip to your country. We cannot thank you enough for making it an absolutely relaxing and unforgettable experience. You have given our family a life time of memories.

Sumana

We had a great time in Peru, and Kuoda and especially Jimmy did a great job.  It was very nice of Mery to be at the airport and give us a nice gift.  And thank you for help coordinating the trip and dealing with all our questions.  All in all a great experience.

Tom

Overall we really enjoyed the trip & we think you did a great job planning it.  Let me think about the details & get back to you.  I do want you to know that we really enjoyed our guide in Cusco & Machu Picchu; his name was Jimmie.  He was great and very patient regarding Isabella who was somewhat of a challenge.  We also really enjoyed our driver Juan.  Also Ruben in Lake Titicaca was great and Vanessa in Lima as well.  I will get back to you in the next few days with further comments.

We also really enjoyed meeting you.  I appreciate you taking time out of your day to stop by the hotel to say hello.

Susan

I would like you to know, that Kuoda provided one of the best travel services we have ever experienced. You should take this as a real compliment,  since we are really experienced travelers and have visited nearly one hundred countries using various agencies in the past. We have already recommended you to some friends who are contemplating a trip to Peru in the future.

The only sour note to our trip was provided by American Airlines, when they cancelled our return flight and rebooked the two of us on different and inconvenient flights. I don’t remember the name of the guide who helped us with our return flight check in, but we are really grateful for his help in getting us to the front of a rather long line at American saving us a 1-2 hour wait. American finally rebooked us on Copa and we actually got back to New York only two hours later than our original itinerary. Since the Copa flight departed in the afternoon, we had a 5 hour wait at the airport, but our guide took us to the airport hotel and arranged for our luggage to be stored and to use the hotel facilities, making the wait more comfortable. It is this kind of “above the call of duty” help that makes traveling with Kuoda such an exceptional experience.

Again, many thanks to the Kuoda staff for making our trip to Peru one of our very best travel experiences.

Steve

We had a great time and felt the trip went really smoothly.  We loved Carlos, he was very professional and knowledgeable.  The river rafting guide was great.  All of the people that helped us to connect were great.  We also felt very safe with all of the drivers.  At the Inkaterra, we though the guide was also great (Frey).  We also really like the food there.  All of the hotels were very clean, and nice!  We had a great time and felt the trip went really smoothly.  We loved Carlos, he was very professional and knowledgeable.  The river rafting guide was great.  All of the people that helped us to connect were great.  We also felt very safe with all of the drivers.  At the Inkaterra, we though the guide was also great (Frey).  We also really like the food there.  All of the hotels were very clean, and nice!

We would definitely recommend Kuoda to anyone traveling in Peru.  Everything was perfectly designed and organized!  Feel free to share!!!

Arlene

We were truly pleased with our interactions with Kuoda and with you. We would book with you again in a heartbeat.

Jonathan was terrific; he was an excellent tour guide, very responsive, personable, and truly enjoys what he does. He and Marco were prompt and very organized. We really liked the itinerary and where we went/what we saw. Our favorite site was Machu Picchu, but the most unique thing was the time that we spent at Pablo Seminario’s pottery studio. The cooking class was really fun and was the walking tour of Cusco/Saturday market. We opted not to hike Huayna Picchu and Jonathan gave us the option of hiking the Sungate Trail instead. Despite being in good physical shape for 58 years, the altitude and steepness of Huayna Picchu wouldn’t have been a good idea for us. The accommodations and food throughout the trip were great. (Luckily we were asked by the front desk if we wanted a box breakfast on the morning of departure. We thought that Kuoda was going to provide this; Jason arrived without a box breakfast, but it worked out as the hotel took care of it.)

Again, we truly enjoyed our trip, despite the flight hassles of getting to Peru (cancellations in the US) and the flight problems between Cusco/Lima/ and Buenos Aires.

I hope that Jonathan is available to work with Sharry and John when they travel in August. I’m glad that they chose to work with you.

We hope to someday be able to visit other areas of Peru.

Lori

I will send you feedback as soon as I have a chance to collect input from my Mom and daughter as well (could take a while). Thank you for all of your hard work! We had a fabulous trip, and thanks to Kuoda! We were very impressed with Kuoda’s services! I’ll be back in touch with a more detailed email. I would also like to send you some photos, however, that could take a while as well. We took over 5000 photos on 6 different devices! Yes, I know, CRAZY!

Marisa

We had the most amazing time in Peru!  Thank you for organizing and planning such a perfect trip for us!

Overall everything was perfectly planned and thought out.  Our only complaint was on our car trip from Ollantaytambo back to Cusco.  Our driver (Juan) arrived early and picked us up from our hotel that morning.   We even got on the road a little earlier than planned, which was great.   We were then taken to the airport in Cusco to fly to Puerto Maldanado.

Juan drove us the majority of our trip and was great, he was courtious and friendly and most of the time we felt very safe in his care.

Our guide (Katy) was amazing!!  She was so accommodating and made sure everything was perfect during our trip.  She really went out of her way to make us feel comfortable.  She was very informative and was obviously well educated on the history and culture of Peru.  She really made our trip all that we had expected and more!

Thank you again for planning us the trip of a lifetime!

Missy

Comment 1a

As you can see, we loved our vacation in Peru and Ecuador!!  The memories will be a part of our lives forever.  I am planning to start working on a memory photo album soon.

Our vacation got off to a bang right from the first day.  We all loved the countryside hike, tour of the alpaca farm, mountain bike and then of course our 2 days hiking Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu. Percy was a perfect host, very helpful, knowledgeable, concerned and polite. We also thought our biking guides were great, in fact, I learned so much about biking!  Berk, who does mountain bike weekly, was very pleased with the tour, despite the tough steep hills.  It was definitely a thrill ride.  Both open air lunches were special too, not only was the food good, but sitting countryside was really fun for the family.

Percy made our long 6 hour hiking day just so easy. I know we couldn’t have done it without him. His knowledge and love of your country is such a benefit and treat.  Each Peruvian hotel was so unique, comfortable, we truly felt special by the staff at each hotel.

I will send you a separate email regarding our trip to Ecuador later.

Thanks to you too Jenny, your promptness, thoroughness, and concern for our vacation was truly above and beyond what was expected!

Comment 1b

As a continuation of our family trip to Ecuador, we had fun on the long train ride from Aqua Caliente to Cusco, the fashion show and dance were quite the entertainment!  Cusco was a tough day for most of the Hongs, I think it was a combination of the higher elevation plus being physically tired from the 4 busy days plus travel. After an afternoon and evening in the beautiful Cusco hotel, we all felt much better. We loved meeting Mery at the airport and discussing our travels personally with her.  The airport transfers and personal attention with our luggage etc we received was sooo nice and appreciated!

Norby was an excellent guide in Quito, we loved his calming and informative details as we toured the city of Quito and the equator. We all wished we were able to stay in the old section of Quito, the historic hotel looked very interesting.  The tour at the equator was fun and educational for all.

We all felt the trip to the cloud forest may have been just too much travel for us. We had to drive in the dark to the forest arriving later so we didn’t get to really enjoy being in the cloud forest. We all wished we had more time to zipline rather than the butterfly farm. The chocolate tour was great! Very informative and we loved the brownies.  We had NO idea how much was involved in making chocolate.

After a long 5 hour flight delay in the Quito airport, we finally made it to the Galapagos Islands.  Unfortunately we all missed reading the detailed note regarding the $100 cash entrance fee.  Norby did help us in finding an ATM machine to resolve this, luckily the airport staff was reasonable.

Our time in the Galapagos seemed too quick, and involved a lot of travel. We loved our time snorkeling with the sea lions, sea turtles, penguins and taking pictures of the unique sea animals the islands are home to. Norby was not as engaged while we toured the islands, not sure if he was the best guide of the Galapagos Islands.

Overall, our Kuoda trip was a trip none of us will ever forget. Kuoda made the trip a very unique, exciting adventure that the Hongs will be talking about for the rest of our lives.

Thank you so much Jenny, keep us updated on your new adventures.

Comment 2

Yes, we are all back and had a fantastic time!

Bevin and I were there only a week and we were exhausted but so thankful for the experience. Most hiking, biking, we’ve ever done in our entire lives but survived.

Lodging, food, excursions, scenery were all great. (only feedback would be to determine our level of these activities, one nephew rode in van 1/3 of bike trip and another nephew (13 years of age) was in van 2/3 of trip and very intense biking parts that all of us walked down instead of biking.

I opted out of the 8.5 mile trek on Inca trail unfortunately since not a big fan of peeing in the woods (only suppose to be one bathroom stop along the trail), and am sorry I missed it. If I had known ahead of time that limited bathrooms each day, I would have drank less water, or prepared myself better.

Tour guides were awesome and flexible. Learned a lot about the history of Peru, and the natives.

Thanks for organizing this wonderful trip for the whole Hong family.

Becky

We really had a very nice tour; It was only possible by your thoughtful management. In Peru we really enjoyed, In Bolivia our young guide was very very good , he took care of us , and helped Malabika to climb up the highest point of the island in salt desert.

The hotel in Uyuni was not having any hot water supply. That was a little problem in that very cold atmosphere.

Only small thing is our tour to museum on the last day was in hurry, I believe we should have one more hour at least in the museum. It was very interesting and our guide had some other appointments on that day, So we finished in a hurried manner

All other parts of the tour was beautiful, my only regret is I could not meet you.

Ratnabali

The trip was fantastic and I will send you a more detailed evaluation soon.

In the meantime, thanks for all your help.  I will certainly be recommending Kuoda to my friends who are thinking of traveling to Peru.

Gary

We loved our Peru trip! John was dealing with some back problems and couldn’t walk comfortably as much as he would have liked, but he truly enjoyed seeing Machu Picchu and the other incredible sites we visited. Each day was special and memorable. Santiago was terrific and Fausto was an excellent driver.

Tom and Cande both had cameras clicking at every amazing sight. My own camera was not in top working condition, so I know that Tom’s pictures will be much preferable to mine.

Thanks for arranging a wonderful experience for us. We also loved the Amazon portion of the trip and found the Delfin to be very special. The food on board was unbelievable!

The trip was fantastic and I would not hesitate to recommend Kuoda to my friends, you guys do a great job.  I noticed you also do Galapagos trips so this may not be my last Kuoda trip

We actually loved the planetarium.  We were in a big group which of course can sometimes be a problem but the staff/family that run the planetarium make sure that everyone gets the opportunity to see everything.  It’s small but the family that runs it makes it very worthwhile.  They obviously love what they do.  It’s also always interesting to see the sky ‘upside down’ compared to what we’re used to and to see so many stars compared to what we see at home due to being near big cities.

As far as the chocolate – how can you go wrong   It was definitely fun and again the leader that we had there made the experience even better.  Also worth mentioning that being told that we didn’t have to wait for our chocolate because Kuoda/Jason would pick it up was really a nice surprise and a great example of how you guys really take extra care of people.

Also forgot to mention that you were right about Wayna Picchu – it has a scary section or two but it’s very doable and not anywhere near as terrifying as the posts on youtube and tripadvisor make it sound.  My cousin wasn’t able to do it (physical limitations) but it was a highlight for me.

Karen

We just wanted to let you know what a wonderful time we had on our visit to Machu Picchu. Dimas (I think that is how you spell his name) was a wonderful guide. He was very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of Machu Picchu. I hurt my leg on the first part of the trail and he was always there to help me if I needed a sturdy hand to help me navigate the trails. I will definitely recommend Kuoda to anyone who wants a great experience!

Deborah

We had a great time in Peru and saw all the things that were important to us. Except for the first night (which Kuoda responded to very quickly and effectively) the hotel rooms were all very good. We particularly enjoyed staying with Art in Cusco (although he really does need to do something about the hot water for the showers).

All the guides where great – very knowledgeable and generous with their time. The visits to the less touristic things (lunch at Jeremy’s, the visit to the village that Kuoda sponsors, lunch on the island with the locals) were perhaps the most interesting and enjoyable. I think we learnt more about Peru and its culture and people from these visits than from anything. The food at Jeremy’s was outstanding.

We found the trip physically very demanding and Mardi suffered from altitude sickness. It would have been good if an Oxyshot cannister had been available for the bus trip from Cusco to Puno. This trip was a bit tedious with all the stops with street vendors everywhere.

Kuoda did a great job and we would certainly recommend them to people planning to see Peru.

Geoff

Thank you Charlotte, we had a blast! It truly was one of the best vacations we’ve ever had. Everyone was very nice and helpful and made the trip so much easier not having to think about anything too much! Lol

It was a pleasure meeting you and hopefully we’ll see you in Peru again!

Jessica

We are back home safe and sound, and just wanted to thank you for organizing such a great trip for us. The guides were great and we learned a lot about Peruvian people of today as well!

Jaakko

Rajiv and I would like to thank you for a wonderful vacation.  Everything was so perfectly orchestrated that we didn’t have to worry about a thing.  All of the guides were great and we felt safe with the drivers you chose.

Manuel at Lake Titicaca was an especial jewel.  He gave us just enough information to make our tour very interesting without overwhelming us with so much info that our eyes were glazing over.  He also had no problem if we interrupted to ask questions.  Something that really endeared him to us was when we were walking up the hill of the big island we came upon a Frenchman who was in difficulty.  He looked like he was going to pass out.  Manuel stopped and picked him some herbs to breathe and showed him how to do some breathing exercises.  He took the time to help another person rather than leaving him by the wayside.  He also seemed to genuinely care about the family on the floating island as well as the family that provided us lunch on the big island.

When we are ready to go to the Galapagos in another year or two, we will most certainly give you a call.   You can check out my Trip Advisor review–look for “mahban.”

All the best to you and many thanks.

Rajiv & Mary

We had such a wonderful trip to Peru. Thank you so much for all your help in planning it. When I get settled more and get a chance to go through all of our pictures I will send a few.

We had such a wonderful time in Peru. It’s been fun going through photos and talking to friends and family about all our experiences. It truly will be an experience we will remember and cherish for the rest of our lives.

Kuoda did a wonderful time planning our trip and every host, driver and guide we had were wonderful. We really loved Holger and can’t believe how much we learned from him. We were very impressed how the situation with our luggage was handled. We understand that mistakes and surprises happen and although it was stressful to hear that we may not have our luggage for a night, Kuoda handled the situation rapidly. It was great to get our luggage that night and then have Merry come visit us at the hotel. It really made a good impression on us.

Our trip was wonderful. All the planning was perfect and we loved everything we got to experience. I will be sending photos as soon as I get them downloaded to my computer.

Amanda & Chris

I am gradually getting back to normal after our wonderful holiday, It all seems like an amazing dream now. I took1500 photographs and am busy sifting through them, it brings it all back. I presume from your comments about smiling faces that you just want pictures of Emily and I enjoying ourselves. Manuel said we should send you the photos we took on Uros of the family we visited cutting reeds as no one had seen it before.

We can’t fault your company and the service we got, we were always welcomed in each place with details of our itinerary for the day, our days were well planned and everything went smoothly. Your guides were excellent, full of interesting pertinent information giving us a real insight into your country both past and present.

They were all obviously proud of their country and culture.

One of my friends is already interested in visiting Peru after coffee this morning. Wait till she has seen the photographs!!!

I will be in touch when I have some photos to send, we are smiling on all of them!!

Judith

We had a fabulous holiday in Peru!

The itinerary met all of our expectations and was executed with professionalism throughout by the various agencies providing services. We were especially pleased with the breathtaking scenery (no pun intended) of the Andes and opportunity to visit many spectacular ruins along the Inca Trail. The personalized attention by the porters, chef, and guide from Llama Path made the experience even better—including special Mother’s Day meals prepared by our chef, Rene. The most difficult part of the trek was saying goodbye to the wonderful staff!

Holdger (our guide through the various Sacred Valley and Cuzco area activities) masterfully provided historical and cultural context as we visited each site. We enjoyed his company very much, and especially appreciated Holdger’s patience in answering our endless stream of questions about Peru. It was a wonderful learning experience! We also want to acknowledge our driver, Luis, for his stellar service in awaiting our arrival at the Puchar train station despite an unforeseen bus strike resulting in the main roads to Cuzco being closed.

Visiting Inkaterra Reserve was a highlight of our trip as well. The activities were informative and well executed by the guides, although the muddy trails were a bit challenging at times. The accommodations were very nice although some aspects of the facility were showing signs of aging (such as the suspension bridges through the jungle canopy). That said, we eagerly took a second trip through the canopy when asked by one of the guides! The food was good and the service friendly.

Our time along the northern coast was very informative and also gave us the opportunity to see daily life in a Peruvian city. The staff at Los Portales, however, was somewhat rude, presumably because of our feeble Spanish language skills. Getting laundry service was also problematic at this hotel but our guide came through in taking us to a local business instead. As hoped, we visited sites that connected the timeline of civilizations existing prior to the rise of the Inca. Admittedly, it was disappointing not to see the Sipan site but understandable due to the civil unrest in the area. The Sipan museum is among the finest collections of artifacts we have ever seen! The car trip from Chiclayo to Trujillo was a bit long, but the visit to El Brujo made it worthwhile. Trujillo offered some outstanding ruins (Chan Chan was incredible) and the Moche ceramics were mesmerizing. We also had a fantastic lunch at Big Ben!

Although we were a bit travel weary by the end of our trip, it was definitely worthwhile seeing downtown Lima—good way to spend the few remaining hours without sitting in an airport!

Our sincere thanks to you, Jenny, for an outstanding trip!

Michael & Dana

We were very glad to meet you and Tom as well.  We appreciate you coming out to see how our trip was going.  It is the personal touch your company has that sets you apart.  I am still wishing we could have stayed longer, especially in Cusco.  It is such a beautiful city!  I really fell in love with Peru and the Kuoda family is responsible for that.  You all made every day special and wonderful.  I will cherish every memory of every experience.

Since Josh and I both had cameras, we have over 2,000 pictures! We are still trying to go through them all.

I have been thinking about Peru and Josh and I have been discussing Peru quite a bit.  I have put a lot of thought into our experiences. Here is what I have come up with-

Kuoda review

Josh and I travel frequently and I always make all the arrangements for transportation & lodging.  I research EVERY place we travel, extensively.  I had been planning a trip to Peru since my husband said “I want to see Machu Picchu one day” and my response was “Let’s go!”.  However, we had many obstacles along the way.  Our house needed a new roof, so we delayed the trip one year.  I was very unhappy at my job and quit, so we delayed the trip another year.  Our pool was in very bad shape and the pump broke, so we delayed the trip another year!  All the while, I was reading articles and watching every travel program about Peru (Anthony Bourdain, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Booze Traveler are my favorites).

However, we have never done a land-based trip in a foreign country before. I needed an expert to plan this trip for me.  The travel agent that arranged our Euro trip tried to arrange Peru for us through Latour.  We gave them our budget, number of days we wanted to travel and told them at least four star accommodations.  They said it was not possible.  I knew they did not have what it takes to handle my plans.  Other travel companies need to pay attention to you, Kuoda.  You did EVERYTHING right.

Mi Kuoda Famila-

I am picky. I am highly detail oriented and I am a travel snob and you still impressed me.  That is not easy to do!

Tom Adams, you are at the top of your game, sir.  You picked every hotel AND room type I would have picked for myself.  Thank you for all of your efforts.  I really didn’t think someone else could do my planning for me as well as I can.  Everything was seamless!!  Thank you also for taking time to come out and meet us.  I wish we could’ve spent more time together but I was so sleepy.  You should’ve stayed and drank Pisco with us! (That’s okay, you’re coming to Phoenix in December, right?!?)

Rocio, Rosario, Aitel, Jason, Henry, Erica, our beloved Jimmy and Yuri and lovely Lillia – you made every minute of every day of our trip terrific.  You are friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable.  Jason & Erica, thank you for the assistance & special trip to the pharmacy for medicines!  You took good care of us. Aitel is a wealth of knowledge.  We are lucky to have had him with us traveling across the altiplano.  We really enjoyed learning so much from him.

Jimmy & Yuri, where do I begin?  I felt like we were all hermanos when we parted.  We really enjoyed your company, your knowledge, your friendly personality and showing us all there is to love about Peru.  You took good care of us and made sure we had lots of pictures of us everywhere we visited!  We’ve never had so many pictures of us on any of our previous trips!

We really enjoyed Lillia.  She was so friendly and easy to talk to.  I wish we could’ve spent more time with her, instead of just to/from the airport in Lima.  In my opinion, Lillia should be doing the Lima tours.  Erica was very knowledgable and friendly, but I felt we personally had a better connection with Lillia.

Seriously, please keep my contact information.

Please contact us anytime.  Ahora, somos una familia! Muchas gracias por todo!

Cassandra

Thanks for the nice follow-up. We had a great trip and have told many people about the wonderful arrangements you made for us.

We actually have very few pictures of ourselves on the trip. Below is one that I am sure is from a position you have seen before. When I show it to people they can’t believe it and ask if we are posed in front of a large poster! This was taken with our cell phone. It was taken late in the day after most of the visitors had left the park.

I am currently working on images from the trip but am afraid it will be some time as I like to take my time editing and working on the select images. At the end of our trips we like to put together a 150-200 page coffee-table size book on the trip complete with captions so we can remember the specifics of the trip as time the years pass. As I photograph I actually like to think in terms of pages spreads and mini picture stories for the major highlights of the trip.

If you are interested, I have a website where you can see some of the images from our past trips.  Eventually I will add some of the Peru pictures to the site. The address is psmphotography.com. From the home page click on Galleries for a listing. The trips last year to Ecuador and Iceland were particularly exciting for the wildlife and landscapes. The C&O Canal is a US National Park that starts a few miles from our house and runs along the Potomac River for 184.5 miles. This is a project Bill and I have been working on for several years and hope to publish a book on it.

Thanks again for a fantastic trip,

Bill

I think we finally have the time to respond to your letter and give you and the Kuoda team some feed back from our holiday experience in South America!

We had a truly wonderful time during our three weeks away and were so pleased with all the arrangements that you and the company put in place for our convenience while away from home.

All our guides were so friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and they made the touring experience complete! We learnt so much from all of them and appreciated the confidence they seemed to have in their job, and all the information they were able to impart to us.

The Operations people who met us at airports, and checked us in for  flights etc. were punctual and very efficient, and all the drivers were excellent and we felt safe at all times.

We enjoyed all the hotels, and appreciated the different experiences offered by so many of them, in particular the Monastery in the Sacred Valley, and the Colca Lodge in the canyon. We also especially enjoyed our trips in the Sacred Valley with Holger when we visited the horse ranch for a wonderful lunch and horse riding experience which was a total surprise, and also the picnic by the lake with him and Juan the driver the very next day!

Our guides in Rio, Iguazu, and Arequipa were excellent and we also appreciated the trip to the local weavers and the Kuoda school; that provided a wonderful opportunity to get off the beaten track and to see more Peruvian culture at close quarters.

We would definitely recommend Kuoda to anyone contemplating a trip similar to ours as it made the experience very complete, and we felt so safe all the time.

Thank you to the team, and to Mery as well for coming to meet us at the airport. The photo frames were a lovely addition, and we have so many happy memories of our time in Peru.

I will send you some photos in a separate letter.

We wish you all continued success in the future, and many thanks again.

Anne

It was lovely to see you in Cusco.  You live in a very interesting city!  Thank you for making the effort to come to meet us.  We appreciate it.

The service we received from Kuoda was excellent from start to finish.  I would not hesitate to  recommend your tour company.  Jimmy was an exceptional guide who made his explanations of his tour lively and informative.  Orlando quietly drove us safely to our destinations and was always there if we needed help.  It was also a pleasant surprise to meet Mery at our Cusco hotel after we had left you.

As I explained to Mery, we had a great tour, loved the hotels [except the Lima airport hotel, which, however, served its purpose] and were very impressed with the way the plan was changed to suit the circumstances of the strike.  We all thoroughly enjoyed our day of rest at Sol y Luna.  What an amazing setting!  The food at the Sumac was delicious and we really enjoyed the chicken soup at the Casa Cartegena.

I also mentioned to Mery that I would have really liked to have had a tour of the Cathedral in Cusco.  I did go in by myself but it would have been much more interesting to have had a guide with me to point out the special items [though I did see the famous Last Supper painting].  I didn’t get to see the Jesuit church.  However, I can appreciate that not everyone was as keen to see the churches as I was.  Seeing so many people enjoying the sunny Sunday parade in the Plaza was an unexpected treat.

What an exciting trip it was!  I haven’t looked at my photos yet as it will take a while to edit my way through a couple of thousand pictures!

Thank you for all you did to make our visit to Peru  so interesting and comfortable.

Christine

We’re sitting in the departure lounge in Santiago waiting for our flight to Australia with our holiday to South America a wonderful memory.

As you know, we went to Astrid y Gaston last night for dinner and the meal was just delicious. Thank you for recommending the restaurant and also for making the booking. Everything worked out so well.

We also appreciated Cesar’s suggestion to book into a small hotel in the Miraflores area so that we could shower and have a rest after coming out to the jungles. That worked a treat and gave us an opportunity to ‘tart up’ a little for dinner instead of wearing the clothes we’d been in all day.

We were bowled over by Mery spending some of her precious time with us in Cusco. She’s a gem and her gift of a handcrafted photo frame was ever so thoughtful. We’ll now have to decide which one of John’s ‘trillion’ photos of Peru will go into the frame. I somehow think that it will be the one of the hummingbird flying vertically inverted. He’s more than a little chuffed about that one.

Maybe you might visit Australia to photograph our bird life. John has actually taken a photo of a sulphur crested cockatoo flying backwards. This was a rare sight.

It was such a pleasure to meet you and Mery – and all of your staff – who were all lovely to deal with.

When I get home I will communicate regarding making a donation for Ermitaño which I discussed with Mery to be used to expand his obvious artistic talents.

We will most definitely make our most favourable comments to you and Trip Advisor when we get back. We felt totally spoiled by you all and have already told many travel companions about our picnic with Caesar (The King!) and Holger – it was ONE OF our many highlights with you all.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Bob

We had an amazing time in Peru! We were very happy that we choose Kuoda and would/ will recommend Kuoda to anyone who plans to travel to Peru.

We gave feedback to both Edgar and Merry, but wanted to share with you too. We chose Kuoda because of good reviews online and because you were great to work with. We had emailed a couple different travel companies. You were always so quick to get back with us. We felt that if you were going to take such good care of us before we even committed to the travel, that you and Kuoda would continue to take care of us while traveling (which you totally did).

We were blown away by the culinary tour with Penelope! That was an amazing experience and we would highly recommend to others. We felt that the staff at the hotel in Paracas was maybe not as nice as they could have been. There was a language barrier there, the food wasn’t very good and they never had any change (not just for large bills, but even if we only needed two soles back in change they didn’t have it). I know that you had recommended the Double Tree there and we probably should have spent the extra money to go there. I’m not sure if you had heard that I had received counterfeit Soles from the bank here in the states… well I didn’t know they were counterfeit and tried to use them at the hotel… so that could be some of the reason why we felt that the staff weren’t very friendly.

All of the other hotels that we stayed at were wonderful. We especially enjoyed our stay at Casa Andina. We have never stayed at such a beautiful hotel before. The time we spent in the Andes was our favorite! Jose Carlos was an amazing guide/ teacher. He was very patient with us, with all of our questions and with our struggles on the one day hike to Machu Picchu. We all knew what we were getting into with that hike (although we didn’t realize how many stairs there were), but we would say that the description on the itinerary could use some updating. It was much more grueling than just walking ‘a lovely uphill path’. 

If we did the trip over again, we would have listened to your advice and spent more time in Cusco.

We always felt safe on the trip and our guides and drivers kept us well informed of the next day’s itinerary and meeting times. It was a pleasure meeting Merry at the airport and the picture frames are absolutely beautiful… now we just have to narrow down what photo out of seriously thousands of photos we want to display.

Thanks again for all of your help with planning an amazing vacation for us. We had a great time and appreciate your hard work and all of the friendly guides and drivers that we met along the way!

Sheri & Friends

We had a fabulous day at MP with Karina. She is delightful, patient, and knowledgeable.

Thank you, and thank you again for the great tour!

John & Barbara

Hi Jennifer!

It was great to meet you and Mery and all the rest of Kuoda! We had a really fantastic trip – Peru is just beautiful, and I can totally see why you chose to stay in Cuzco! I only wish we had had more time to explore even more and I had more space for souvenirs! I guess that just means we’ll have to come back some day!

We had no troubles with our travels either – we even got our bags in like 20 minutes at JFK! That’s pretty much unheard of (last time my boss at work went through JFK she waited 2 hours for her bags!) and caught an earlier train back to Albany.

Thank you again for an amazing trip, and for all our hosts – Evelyn and Cesar and every one else – were so great!

I think that’s all my comments so far – we really had a great time. We’ll definitely think of Kuoda for our 10 year anniversary in 2020 – we’re thinking Ecuador and the Galapagos!

Christina

Urpi buenos días!!

Disculpa que no te había escrito antes, de verdad quería agradecerles por todo, la pasamos excelente, gracias a ti y a todo tu equipo, en especial a Percy y Hernan por ser nuestro guía y transporte durante todo el paseo, de verdad no me quejo de nada, la atención y los servicios prestados superaron mis expectativas!!

A mi esposa y a mí nos gustó mucho todo y esperamos en futuro poder ir nuevamente ahora con nuestros padres si dios quiere, no dudo que para la próxima vez los contactare nuevamente.

Luis

I downloaded thousands of photos and my heart was pounding with all beautiful memories when I saw them again and again. Every single day was very special for me. Especially, I loved the picnic with a magnificent view. It was breathtaking.

My son Johnny and I would like to say a huge ‘Thank-You’ to all Kuoda’s members, who organized and worked so hard for our perfect holiday and, including tour guides and drivers. The all tour guides have a deep knowledge and were incredibly helpful. We were very pleased wherever we arrived and whenever the new tour started, we were greeted warmly with Kuoda all the time.

To me every day was sensational to have incredible experiences and feel its culture so closely. Overall, my son and I were 100% satisfied about our holiday with Kuoda. On top of that, Mary turned up at the airport in Cusco and that was Suprise, Suprise and Suprise!!! I was gob smacked by her and told to my friends and families, “Look her, that is a key and the way how she is running her business so successfully!”

More happy to share my fantastic holiday in Peru.

Please, send my love and thank-you to Mary, Alex, Julie, Othello, Joseph and the team. Johnny and I had an unforgettable holiday in Peru.

Kind regards

Mrs.Chang

We had an incredible time on our trip to the Galápagos Islands and Peru. Kuoda guides and drivers were wonderful, and we felt they tailored our experiences to our interests. The hotels were luxurious and the meals were delicious. Thank you for arranging such a great trip!

Dale & Rick

We are home safely, and getting back to our normal schedules.  We had a fantastic trip, and we really appreciated your help in planning a great itinerary, and making my birthday extra special with a dinner out at Limo and the Seminaro mugs!  Unfortunately our last 24 hours in Peru was a bit rough. We (mostly I) got terribly sick on our last night in Titicaca – probably food poisoning   It lasted about 24 hours, right up until I got on the plane, so the Lima tour day and travels home were very tough. Your guide Maggie and the driver were good sports putting up with our problems, and we are very grateful we had the driver and guide that last day.

We loved the Wanchaq market tour/cooking class in Cusco, as well as our dinner at Baco in Cusco, which isn’t currently on your list.  We recommend you try both for future client recommendations!  I will forward you the contact information for the Cusco Culinary coordinator.

Joanne

Meeting you and Mery at breakfast was great and now we know why Kuoda is such a wonderful company.  I will forever be grateful for all the care and concern we received when Phil became ill.  For that alone I thank you.  For our 1st experience with a lone guide and driver, I think we are spoiled.  Thank you for a wonderful Peruvian vacation.

Chris

I would like to thank you for all of your help with the trip. Marisa and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and each day was a wonderful experience.

Every Kuoda employee we encountered along the way was excellent. Our guide Carinne and Juan our driver were incredibly helpful and a great fit for us.

I am going to recommend this particular trip and especially KUODA  travel to my friends and family.

Thank you again to all of you at Kuoda. The trip was an experience of a lifetime!

Carla

We had a wonderful time in Peru and Bolivia.

The issue around the bus transfer was well resolved and we appreciated how responsive Kuoda was in respect of this.

We hope to visit South America again- probably Argentina and Chile..If you organize travel there, we would certainly be happy to use your services again

Eileen

Thank you the Kuoda team for everything in Peru. It was really a memorable trip.

We landed last night after almost 35 hours traveling home. We have time discussing about our next trip in South America, Galapagos and Amazon, which will be in the next couple years.

Glad to know that you like the notebook and even be in Thailand. Let me know if you have a chance to come by!

We would love to share the Kuoda team our photos, please give us time.

Supapan

I just wanted to restate that we were 100% satisfied from starting with our first contact with you until we went through security on our way home in Lima.  Everything was smooth and entirely seamless.  We felt entire pampered and sure that everything would work out perfectly.  Our guides, the drivers, the hotels, the greeters – all were outstanding.

I do want to point out two people.  First, you have been so very helpful from the first contact.  You are the initial point of contact which is so vital. We could not have asked for a better person to help with our planning and to accommodate our many changes. The other person was Erica, our guide in Lima. Eric’s father was not feeling especially well on the day we toured Lima.  Erica was extremely attentive to him while also being able to give us a great tour.  I almost hate to single her out as you might think that there would have been an opportunity for improvement with the other Kuoda people.  The opposite is true. Everyone was wonderful.  She just happened to be “wonderful plus” which is difficult considering how great everyone was.

Again, thanks for a perfect visit to Peru.

Please forward this email to Mery.  It was great to have the opportunity to meet her also!

David

We first want to say how much we enjoyed our Cusco/Machu Picchu trip with you. Percy was a wonderful guide and Momberto was an excellent driver. Percy made the history of the Inca come alive for all of us.

Next, regarding our luggage situation, we had trouble getting our luggage from the Left Luggage desk in Lima airport because we had no claim ticket. I don’t think we ever would have been able to retrieve our bags because the man at the desk took his job very seriously, which we understand and respect, but he would not budge without a claim ticket, which nobody had. So we wish to thank Cesar for coming to the airport at night to take care of us and explain the situation, and do whatever magic he did to get the man to give us our luggage.

That was really above and beyond. Please tell Cesar how much we appreciate his efforts.

We have fond memories of our time in Peru, and for the most part it’s because of your fine guides and associates.

Rian and James

Thank you so very much to the Kuoda team for the amazing cake you sent Andrew for his birthday! I am not sure who was responsible but we were all so incredibly surprised to see the cake in our room when we arrived back yesterday! I can honestly say it made his birthday! Heather and I had talked of getting a cake but had not figured it out. It was delicious!

I also want or thank you for all your patience and help with our trip. You are very accommodating and everything was seamless! You definitely have worked out all the possible bugs when planning trips. We were so happy with all the arrangements you made, including transportation, hotels, meals and tour guides! We would definitely recommend you to our friends at home and hope to return to use your services again!

Lastly, it was a pleasure to meet you on Monday. It is so nice to have a face attached to a name! We wish you well in all your future plans!

Thank you again,

Marie, Heather and Andrew

We had such a wonderful time with our trip. It was just fantastic!

Everyone is feeling better—by Wednesday, they had turned the corner.

We really appreciated Kuoda’s close care and attention to detail.  It was terrific to know that you were just an email or call away. I appreciate your being available for any of the concerns we had. I would definitely choose Kuoda again for our trip and will pass your name on to others. Matt and I might have a couple of constructive things to send along—it is on our list of things to talk about this weekend—nothing major though!

Leslie

Que padre experiencia!! Están divinas las fotos! Mil gracias por todo!! La verdad gozamos, estuvo todo increíble y un servicio excelente. Quedamos encantados!! No tengo nada negativo que decir, nos encantó todo!!

Mil gracias y me dio mucho gusto conocerte😊!!

Un beso y hasta la próxima que estos niños se quedaron con ganas del Inca Trail y de conocer las playas!!

Margarita

It was a wonderful trip and thanks to you and the rest of the team for making it so memorable for us.  It was truly a lifetime experience and the accommodations, service, and guides throughout Cusco, Machu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley were phenomenal.

If I can offer one suggestion, it is that the Lima part of the trip was not up to the same standards as the rest of the trip.  The hotel was not great, and was a big let-down after the great accommodations up until that point.  The guides and service were good, but not up the level of Wilson or Laura, both of whom were fantastic.  The whole trip was wonderful, so please don’t take these comments as a complaint, but rather as feedback that I hope will be helpful for you in the future.

Disfrutamos muchísimo este maravilloso viaje al Perú. Primero muchas gracias por todo tu esfuerzo para que tuviéramos una experiencia inolvidable de las maravillas de Perú.  Me gustaría decirte que nuestro guía ( Elías) fue excelente. Hizo que nuestra experiencia fuera maravillosa. Súper atento, y siempre de muy buena disposición para complacernos. El chofer Willy también .  Los hoteles muy buenos.  La única queja que tengo es del personal que nos atendió me Lima. La guía que nos toco (Maribel) muy mala. Y los choferes con mala disposición hacia nosotros. Y el hotel de Lima estaba en restauración ,, entonces muy desagradable porque muy ruidoso y polvoriento.  Pero gracias a Dios que solo estuvimos dos días en Lima.

Todo lo demás excelente ,, muchas gracias por todo tu esfuerzo y el de tu equipo. Dale las gracias de nuestra parte a Elías por todo su esfuerzo de que nos quedáramos enamorados de las partes que visitamos del Perú con el..  Y espero en volver a hacer mas viajes con ustedes…..

Marcela

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour and got accustomed to being spoiled with the individual attention. Both our favorite part of the tour was the Inca Trail hike and Machu Picchu.

I would say the least was the bus ride from Cusco to Puno.  Too long and too many stops.  I did not mind it but my son was a bit irritable.

Most of our time was spent with Diaz (?) and Mr. Juan in the Cusco area and both were wonderful.  Diaz’s knowledge of the area and Inca culture and history was great and he was receptive to all my questions.  I think we got lucky with the weather which was great.  I was very pleased with all the guides and accommodations.  The lunches we had with our guide and driver in Cusco were very nice and memorable.

All in all I was very happy with the trip and feel it was worth the extra money I spent.

Sandra

We did indeed have a wonderful trip and are very grateful to Kuoda for your planning and execution.  We did not have ONE glitch (except for a plane that could not land, and that was hardly your fault).  The accommodations were lovely; the Kuoda personnel helpful, timely, knowledgeable and friendly; the tours and planned events just right in terms of balancing activity, learning, and exposure to the culture.

Rebecca

Again, please let the whole team know that we enjoyed our whole Peru experience.  It was really such nice gesture for Mary to come and meet us on our last day in Cusco as well.  The hotels you chose were so awesome and great for the kids!  Did you know that we were upgraded at the Hotel in Lima to the Presidential suite???  It was crazy beautiful!

Again thank you for your commitment to making our trip memorable.  If you have tours in other countries please let me know!

Maritoni

I wanted to send a huge THANK YOU to you for planning our trip of a lifetime to Peru!  Everything was wonderful- from the guides to the hotels to the weather.  We truly appreciate your attention to detail and working so closely with me to capture exactly what we wanted out of our trip.  The only negative- I didn’t get to thank you in person

I will be writing about my Peru trip on my blog over the next few weeks (two posts already!) and you can read all of my Peru posts and see photos here, with more to come later: http://www.adventuresinaubreyland.com/search/label/Peru

In addition, you can see a number of photos on my Instagram feed, though I am always posting more!  https://instagram.com/aubreyland325/

We both agree this was the best vacation we have ever been on, even better than other places I have been on my own like Spain and France.  I think for our 5th or 10th anniversary, we should come back to Peru to do the Amazon and maybe Galapagos, maybe Arequipa or something like that!  The food was so delicious, we felt safe all the time, and being in Peru during Holy Week was very special too.  I think the waiter at Limo was impressed when I was eating the cuy with my hands before he showed me how to eat it…  maybe I am a little Peruvian?

Thank you to all of the Kuoda Travel folks for giving us the best trip we ever had.  The ceramic mugs Mery gave us are on our coffee table at home on display!

Aubrey

We’re home now, safe and sound. We had a fun time on the cruise, and got to see some interesting places. None, however, compare to our time in Peru, which we owe to your planning and to everyone at Kuoda. Everything exceeded our expectations, and we all agree that there is nothing we would have changed about our trip. Jose was one of the best tour guides we’ve ever had; his knowledge and professionalism were incredible.  Marco was an excellent driver, who was always polite, and remained calm in all traffic situations. All of the hotels and meals were superb, everything and everyone was on time, and the schedule was full without being overly busy, allowing us downtime to relax. It was a completely stress-free week, knowing we would be met each day and have no worries about finding our way or wondering what to do. I cannot express my gratitude and happiness in finding Kuoda, and appreciate everything you all did to make our vacation an excellent one.

I hope all is well with you, and wish you the very best. If we get back to Peru, you’ll be the first person we contact, and we’ve already given a number of recommendations for Kuoda to people on our cruise. I’ll be posting a review on TripAdvisor soon.

Dianne

The trip was incredible and Machu Picchu and Cusco were the highlights.  Some of it seems like a dream now.   I still haven’t organized my photos, but when I do, I’ll be sure to send you a few.  I plan to take a day and organize photos, review the trip, read my journal and just savor the memories.  Our guide was wonderful and was full of historical information and, beyond that, his passionate portrayal of the Incas and their life and of their descendants today.

Thank you again for the beautiful ceramic cups and the picture frame.  They are wonderful pieces of art and even more meaningful that they came from a friend of yours.  I visited the website and was very impressed with his artwork.  If we had more time, it would have been nice to visit the studio.  Next time we are in Peru, we will plan to have a longer stay and visit even more places.

In the meantime, thank you again for arranging such a wonderful and memorable trip for my group.  I know I speak for the group, when I say that the trip was magical thanks to Kuoda Travel and your exceptional staff, especially Corey, and guides.

Marlene

From their website to their onsite services, Kuoda goes out of their way to make everything perfect. They have a very knowledgeable and helpful staff that are friendly and inviting. They can taylor make any kind of vacation you want. The key to a great travel agency is their vendors. Kuoda has tracked down the best in the area. They are attentive, knowledgeable, and friendly. We had no problem with our lack of Spanish as they all spoke very good english. Thank you Urpi and Mery for a memorable time.

Mary Lundin

We had a very wonderful trip to Ecuador.

We’re back and are beginning to write our articles.  We have already begun posting photos from our trip on our social media platforms:

Overall, the trip was great!  Along the way, we realized we weren’t bird people.  LOL! On the mainland, we wouldn’t change anything with the itinerary.  The hotels were very good and the guide was great.

In the Galapagos, the Beagle was good.  The crew on the boat was exceptional.  We liked the smaller, more intimate boat.  At the very last minute, there was a change in guide.  No idea what happened to the guide who was swapped out.  The new guide was very good friends with the boat’s owners.

Anyway, we LOVED the food in Ecuador.  The scenery in the Galapagos and the Avenue of the Volcanoes was spectacular.  We never in a million years thought we’d like horseback riding.  We loved it!

Lance

We had a wonderful time thank you very much.  All the timings were fine and we got to do what we wanted to do.

We will be recommending Kuoda to the people we met on the cruise who are looking for a Machu Picchu trip.

Thank you for all your preparations and scheduling! We had a very nice time in Peru, and Holger was a fantastic guide!!

We used Kuoda travel for a day-trip to Machu Picchu. They arranged everything: pick up from hotel; drive to train station; train tickets; bus tickets; tour tickets; guided tour; and then return trip back. There was a farmers’ strike that same day, so Kuoda called us at the hotel the day before to ensure an earlier pick-up than scheduled, so we wouldn’t miss our tour. Very pro-active!  Our guide, HOLGER, was very knowledgeable, courteous, and professional! He speaks Spanish, English, and Quechua. Truly an excellent guide! We were extremely pleased with how well everything went, especially given a potential delay with the local strike. Our experience is that their services were exceptional!!

Thank you very much. We will spread how good is your tour company. Plenty of friends and workmates were asking our tour. They loved the places we’ve visited and photos.

It’s confirmed now that Peruvian food is the tastiest food we ever tasted. We love the Peruvian sauce as well, meat and quinoa soup. Actually every food is delicious.

To all kuoda team thank you very much for everything.  You made our holiday worth keeping for. Good memories we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Thank you for organizing our tour it was fantastic from start to finish , please give this pic to Jimmy and thank Mery she has THE BEST Travel Company we have ever travelled with!!

We’re now home from our wonderful trip to Peru, where it’s starting to feel like a dream.  We would like to thank you for the unexpected gifts, and the personalized attention from yourself and the whole Kuoda team.  We were very well taken care of, and our whole trip went without problems.

Eric

Thank you for taking such good care of us, it was such a pleasure to be treated like we were special. It has been a long time since I have felt like that. I still marvel at the way every detail was thought of and handled.

I am now sitting in Palm Springs, California relaxing for a month in the sun. I remember you said you would send me your special ceviche recipe, so I will look forward to that since I am a fisherman and have lots of fish to experiment with.

Thanks again for a great trip, I will give out your company name as often as I can and some day I hope to go to Columbia and will contact you first for a plan. I also plan on giving your company high marks on Trip Advisor.

Dennis

Arrived home safely and nice to see the family after a relatively lengthy time away. We loved our time in your wonderful country and have recommended both Peru and Kuoda to a number of friends. I am sure you will see some of them over the next few years. I know we plan on coming back and touring northern Peru at some point.

I really can’t make any recommendations as our trip went flawlessly. I mentioned to Mery that you did an excellent job putting the trip together given the short time constraints. Well done.

Will go through our myriad of photos and get a couple off to you and your team. Thanks for putting together a memorable trip.

Larry

We are all back home. The short comment(s) is your agency delivered what you promised and our group had a GREAT time in Peru

We are now planning our return visit in 2016. We now know we want more time in Lima down in the city (Sheraton Hotel) center where all the museums are. 3 days at Machu Picchu staying 2 nights at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary, 1 night where we stayed. 2 nights in Paracas and Eduardo Tejade Rebatta as our GO TO Person in Paracas. Lake Titicaca, Olivia was a great guide Cousco and Sacred valley, What a lunch…..Most of all George “Teddy Bar” as our driver when ever possible WOW what a wonderful person…….

Stephanie

We want to thank you and everyone from Kuoda who looked after Judy and I. We are disappointed that we did not get to see all that you set up for us. Hopefully, we can do it again.

Scott

Thank you for welcoming us back home!  We had a wonderful trip in South America!  We would love to return there someday!

We would like to thank you and your incredible team for making our time in Peru so very special!  We really have a heart for Peru now!  We really loved it and the weather was perfect too!!  All along the way, our guides and drivers were so professional and took such good care of us.  They were extremely knowledgeable and made learning about Peru really fun!  We never suffered any effects from the altitude so going to the lower altitude first and working our way backwards was the best plan for us.  We met many people on our ship who had gone to Cusco first and really suffered from the altitude.  They kept saying they wished they had done it the way we did.  The acomodations were lovely!  We really enjoyed Sol y Luna Lodge and Spa!  Beautiful!  Their phones weren’t working so it was a little odd to not be aBueble to call if we needed anything but other than that it was perfect.  Corina was a fabulous guide!  She had wonderful energy and shared so many interesting things with us about Peru.  We loved her!  She was very patient with me as I tried to make up my mind on buying a lot of scarves for loved ones at the house where we learned all about their weaving and at the silver factory where I successfully found two necklaces.  It was nice to not feel rushed.  She also took the time in Cusco to show us an unexpected parade that was happening.  It was really fun to see the participants in their lavish costumes, hear the music, etc.!  Everyone had plenty of bottled water in the cars for us which really helped.  Thank you!  The train ride through the Sacred Valley was very beautiful.

Thank you for welcoming us back home!  We had a wonderful trip in South America!  We would love to return there someday!

We would like to thank you and your incredible team for making our time in Peru so very special!  We really have a heart for Peru now!  We really loved it and the weather was perfect too!!  All along the way, our guides and drivers were so professional and took such good care of us.  They were extremely knowledgeable and made learning about Peru really fun!  We never suffered any effects from the altitude so going to the lower altitude first and working our way backwards was the best plan for us.  We met many people on our ship who had gone to Cusco first and really suffered from the altitude.  They kept saying they wished they had done it the way we did.  The acomodations were lovely!  We really enjoyed Sol y Luna Lodge and Spa!  Beautiful!  Their phones weren’t working so it was a little odd to not be aBueble to call if we needed anything but other than that it was perfect.  Corina was a fabulous guide!  She had wonderful energy and shared so many interesting things with us about Peru.  We loved her!  She was very patient with me as I tried to make up my mind on buying a lot of scarves for loved ones at the house where we learned all about their weaving and at the silver factory where I successfully found two necklaces.  It was nice to not feel rushed.  She also took the time in Cusco to show us an unexpected parade that was happening.  It was really fun to see the participants in their lavish costumes, hear the music, etc.!  Everyone had plenty of bottled water in the cars for us which really helped.  Thank you!  The train ride through the Sacred Valley was very beautiful.  Both ways we were on the same side away from the river so we never really got to see that view.  We mentioned this to our guide who saw us off in Cusco and he explained how it is not possible to know exactly where the seats are located.  We understand.  It was just a little frustrating to not be able to see the scenery on the river side.  The Inkaterra Hotel was in a lovely setting. However, It did get cold in the evenings in our room and the lighting was too dim to read.  We had extra clothes with us but guests should be warned the toilet seat etc. gets cold.  It was beautiful but we felt like we were camping due to the coldness.  The dining room was very nice and we enjoyed eating breakfast outside overlooking the raging river!  Wow!  We’ve never seen a river like that before!  We ended up walking along the river one day to the museum and garden.  It was a nice way to spend the time and we enjoyed the museum before going up to Machu Picchu.  Our guide, Percy, was great!   He manuevered us around the site so we were never with other groups.  He had such a pleasant demeanor and was very knowledgeable about everything.  We really enjoyed him!  He was a good match for us!  Staying at the Machu Picchu Hotel was nice too.  They had live Peruvian music which was fun! We ended up buying a few of their cds. The front desk said they would wake us for sunrise if the weather was going to be good.  It wasn’t so we got to sleep in a little bit.  We did enjoy our second day of exploring on our own.  I think we would have stayed another day if we were to do it again. The weather was perfect….blue skies, puffy white clouds and sunshine!  Wow!  We took so many photos!  All the places we saw such as the salt pans, Moray, etc.  were fabulous as were seeing how the people actually live.  We wish we would have had a full day or so in Cusco.  It would have been interesting to see more there but at the time of booking we didn’t know how we’d do with the elevation.  Our guide in Lima, Alex, was very professional as well and got us around to all the sights and to our ship with plenty of time to check in. Didn’t get to see the fountains as we were there when they weren’t operating.  Next time!  All of the drivers were very polite and drove safely.  We really can’t think of anything to complain about!  Everyone did a first class job!!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your planning, attention to detail and making this trip so memorable for us.  We shared your name with many we talked to on the ship and we will continue to recommend you to people we know is Seattle.  You are a top notch travel agency and we appreciate you!  Thank you!

Susan & Dennis

We chose Kuoda solely based on Trip Advisor reviews. In short they exceeded our expectations for our trip to Peru and I would recommend them to anyone travelling there. Our starting point was hesitancy about using a local company that we hadn’t heard of. Peru is an amazing country to visit with much to experience, given its history, culture, environment, food, etc. Kuoda organized a trip for us to get the most out of our time there. A big part of what made our trip special was the people associated with Kuoda that contributed to our trip. Thomas organized our travels and schedule and was a pleasure to deal with. He made sure to meet us in Cusco one morning which was nice after so many emails with him setting up our trip. Eduardo, our primary guide, was excellent. He patiently explained everything we were experiencing and answered all of our endless questions. We thoroughly enjoyed spending a few days with him as well as our primary driver Marco. Mary, the Kuoda owner, also made sure to meet us in person one morning in Cusco. Edgar and everyone else involved were also helpful.

Peru deserves a place on anyone’s travel list and I can’t picture a better way to experience it than to let Kuoda organize a trip.

I am an American Travel Agent and Tour Operator for ski travel. When I went to Peru with friends and family, realizing that this was not my expertise, I booked with Kuoda – because it is their expertise! I had heard of Kuoda through a friend who traveled with them and recommended them. Each hotel was carefully chosen based on our desires and each one was exceptional, our van was spotless and comfortable and our driver was wonderful, and our personal guides were incredible. We never would have learned as much about the history and culture without the personal guides. They made travel simple and removed all the stress and worry, picking us up every morning and taking us to so many wonderful places, and teaching us so much about the places we were seeing. We traveled at ease knowing that every detail and every possible problem would be handled, and it was. I cannot say enough about Kuoda – they excel at what they do. After our 10 day trip with Kuoda, we stayed in Lima for a week visiting family. The stress we felt immediately upon landing in Lima and having to get a taxi to our hotel was so nerve racking (many different taxi companies bombarded us with conflicting directions and large differences in costs), that we kept on saying “we should have had Kuoda handle this for us too!” Having traveled extensively my whole life, and being in the travel business, I am comfortable traveling on my own, but for this trip I am very happy that I used Kuoda, as it was the least stressful trip of my life.

We had the pleasure of visiting Peru for 21 days. Kuoda Travels made this trip the best trip we have ever had with the private tours they offer. Kuoda was able to customize and personalize our trip to meet our desires, and far more than what we had expected. We had english speaking guides and drivers with us at all times. The guides were very knowledgeable of the local areas and showed us attractions, local events, and introduced us to people of the areas where we were in. We would have never seen these on our own, we were never rushed to get back to our hotels. From when we first started planning a holiday to Peru, until we got on the plane to fly back to Canada, Kuoda Travels took care of us. We flew 3 times while in Peru and traveled by guided vehicles and at no time were we ever left alone, or having the feeling that we may not make our next connection or destination. The accommodation, guides for the different areas, events, attractions they picked were fantastic. Because of the professional way they treated us at all times, we are planning on returning to Peru so we can visit with Kuoda personal and their guides. We will be sharing our next trip with our family.

We used Kuoda to book our honeymoon in November of 2011 and I could not be more happy with their services. Usually when I travel I like to plan the trip myself and avoid guided tours. But coming off of wedding planning left us too drained to plan an international trip too. My husband found Kuoda and decided to use them. We could not have expected better; even the initial planning emails were super helpful and they were able to come up with an itinerary that fit our time and budget constraints without any issues. Everything was super well planned. The guides we had were great! With private guides, it isn’t your typical guided tour group experience. We did have guided tours in the Amazon and traveling from Cusco to Puno, but both were great. Kuoda’s planning was so well detailed that when we arrived in Cusco it was just past lunch time and we hadn’t eaten; our guide asked us if we needed to stop anywhere like an ATM and we asked about stopping for food. He then produced two lunch boxes for us: they already knew we’d be hungry and planned accordingly. We were so impressed! When our flight back to Lima was delayed our guide was able to adjust her plan for us accordingly and made sure we saw what she considered the best of Lima, despite our losing some hours. In Cusco, where they are based, they even made sure to have an office representative introduce himself to us, just so we could meet. I have recommended Kuoda to any person who tells me they are going to Peru; they are definitely worth it! A coworker followed my advice and was happy with them as well. I cannot recommend this company enough!

Kuoda travel planned and executed out 2 weeks holiday in Peru . They gave us an itinerary that got us acclimatized before we did the Cusco walk . We started in Arequipa and then to Cocha Valley and then Puno and Lake Titicaca before Macchu Picchu .

They booked wonderful hotels and were always on time and had good English speaking Guides.

We got to Meet Mery in Cusco and it was such a pleasure to thank her in person I have nothing but praise for the way she runs her company and I would recommend ,without reservation, that you contact them to plan your trip .

We just got back from a 2-week trip to Peru that was organized A to Z by Kuoda. Our experience was fantastic. Hotels were top-notch, schedule was like clockwork, guides were interesting and attentive and – above all – the service was absolutely amazing. The staff pampered us and took care of all our needs, and any minor concerns were dealt with on the spot. I have rarely experienced such efficient and attentive service in any industry. I recommend Kuoda very, very highly.

I recently went to Peru with my father, and we had a limited amount of time and a lot of things we wanted to see. Kuoda planned in everything we asked for, and even more amazingly, it never felt rushed. I had time to spend at the places I really wanted to visit, and got to see a huge amount of Peru in just 10 days. The guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and were clearly very proud of Peru, and seemed happy to be able to share the sights with us. I will definitely be returning to Peru, and I will definitely be using Kuoda again.

We used the Kuoda travel to plan our 25th wedding anniversary. Jane Byrne was our travel agent. The trip was without a doubt the best planned trip we ever had had. We have travel extensively through out the world. A member of the agency met us in every airport, a driver and a great travel guide for each city we visit. When we were ready to go to a different city, they would meet us with our boarding passes. All the hotels were super beautiful. They arrange two meals with local families. The guides that they use in each city were local guides, they all had lived all their lives in that city. They knew all the locals. The owner of the travel agency met us at an airport, just to make sure that all of our arrangements had gone smoothly. First Class service!!!

You will undoubtedly be in excellent hands with Kuoda Travel. Thomas put together an excellent itinerary for the four of us (two couples) that lasted for 14 days. Once we landed in Lima from Houston, everything was handled for us which relieved all of the potential ‘logistics stress.’ Accommodations were beautiful, activities were unique, and we were able to relax while enjoying Peru ‘off the beaten path.’ We were completely impressed with Kuoda. Founded by Mery Calderon (President of Kuoda), the company does an excellent job of making you feel cared for while giving you the space that you need to both plan and enjoy a trip. Mery even visited with us over breakfast in Cusco – she was very interested in learning about our travel experience and gathering feedback to improve her company. We would love to travel with Kuoda again in Ecuador/Galapagos and/or Bolivia.

Note: If traveling to Peru, do not miss Lake Titicaca. It was a highlight for us

We booked a two week honeymoon with Kuoda, travelling from the UK to explore Quito, the Galapagos Islands and La Selva lodge in Ecuadorian rainforest. Kuoda were very professional and attentive and could not fault the service we received. We had a fantastic honeymoon.

I recently went on a fabulous Peru trip that included the Inca Trail Trek with Kuoda Travel and Llama Path (for the trek). My two friends and I had a great time. Mery and her staff were super. They were always willing to help and were very flexible. We had a lovely time during our two weeks in Peru. Several of our friends have used Kuoda’s services in the past and they are the ones who recommended that we go with Kuoda and we are so glad that we did. We would not hesitate to recommend Kuoda to anyone who is considering a trip to Peru. You will be in excellent hands with Kuoda.

We booked our vacation to Peru with Kuoda Travel thanks to all of the positive reviews on this website. The company was as billed terrific. We planned our personlized itinerary with Corey. She did a great job at organizing everything and was in close communication by email at all times. Our trip involved: Sacred Valley (highlights were horseback riding and mountain biking), Machu Picchu and Cusco with a day in Lima at the end. We loved our guide Edward and our driver Ceasar. Edward was an encyclopedia of knowledge about Peru. All the connections were well organized. Alex was available 24/7 for calls or questions.The hotels were beautiful, restaurants delicious. No complaints. I would book Kuoda again in a heart beat!!

My boyfriend and I traveled with Kuoda to Peru in July 2014. Kuoda worked with us every step of the way and made sure that our trip was tailored to our specific interests. With the help of Corey, we designed the perfect itinerary.

Once in Peru, the entire trip was executed seamlessly by the passionate Kuoda team. The best part of the trip was hiking a portion of the Inca Trail leading up to Machu Picchu with our informative and engaging guide Dimas. This was a trip we will never forget and it was a pleasure working with Kuoda!

This company is super! My husband and I were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary in Peru, but neither of us speaks Spanish. Mery and her staff took care of everything for us from plane, train, and bus tickets to entrance fees, hotel reservations, and many meals. Throughout the week we even received anniversary surprises! Jenny, our tour designer, was so helpful. She even made the effort to come to our hotel and meet us, just to see how our trip was going. Our guide, Alvin, and driver, Fausto, where a terrific team. Alvin’s personal experiences gave us insight into the Andean way of life that we wouldn’t otherwise have gotten. We saw so many different things in the sacred valley with these escorts and felt safe and worry free the entire time. All we had to do was enjoy! At the end of our trip, Mery came to the airport just to meet us, or so it seemed. What a great touch! These folks know how to take care of their clients!

Our family which includes three children ages 10, 8 and 7 used Kuoda for our trip to Peru (June 2014). They were an amazing company to work with. They tailored our tour to make sure the children were not bored. Tours included Lima, Cusco, and the Sacred Valley. I wish we had used them at Machu Picchu as well. The vans and drivers they use are top notch. The tour guides were excellent, interesting and knowledgeable. Additionally they planned activities that not everyone gets to do. For example, our children had the opportunity to meet with school children in a village in the Sacred Valley and they also got to play soccer with them. They found great restaurants for us and were so helpful in adjusting any last minute changes we had. I highly recommend them and only wish they were in Ecuador so they could have been our tour company there!

We did a one week tour of Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu with Kuoda. They were great hosts and took care of all aspects of our trip. Bookings, transfers, tickets, restaurants, etc were all handled by Kuoda and everything went smoothly and was first class. They worked within our budget and were flexible to adjust our schedule as we desired.

In Cusco and Machu Picchu, our guide Alvin was top notch and probably one of the best guides I have ever interacted with. Additionally, it’s always preferable to support a local tour company rather than a large foreign one. Highly recommend using Kuoda!

Kuoda was recommended to us by a friend, and I’m so glad we went with them! Kuoda tailored an unforgettable week in the Sacred Valley for three friends and me this past May/June in Peru.

Corey was quick to respond to our inquiries and provided us with two options for the trip – one with standard hotels and another with more expensive “boutique” selections. We chose the latter, and all of the accommodations and restaurants were fabulous! We were well cared for during the trip, with all the pesky details of travel seamlessly handled by Kuoda. Our guide, Percy, was phenomenal and offered so much background information during our excursions.

Even after we parted with Kuoda for a week of independent volunteer work, they continued to check in with us. Had anything gone awry during that time, I have no doubt that their helpful staff would’ve been on hand to help.

Highly recommend! We plan on returning next year and will definitely use Kuoda again.

My family visited Peru in late May 2014 with Kuoda. I found Kouda via a simple Google search and the reviews were stellar, so I figured why not send a request for information. Tom from Kouda responded quickly and was able to create an itinerary that fit our interests and needs, even with multiple changes! Once we arrived in Peru everything worked out wonderfully, we were greeted at the airport and escorted literally across the street to our hotel for our quick overnight stay. We were met in Cuzco by our fabulous guide, Jose Carlos and driver Luis, for a five day adventure in the Sacred Valley. The Kuoda team surprised our group with a lunch at a local home prepared from the ingredients in their garden and stream. This was one of our favorite experiences, to meet and see how local families live.

So much can be said but the entire trip was seamless and wonderful. Changes were made on the fly without issue. I would not hesitate to recommend Kuoda to anyone, we had a fantastic trip and will definitely use Kuoda on our next South American trip.

We can’t say enough good things about Kuada Travel and our recent trip to Peru. From Lima to Puerto Maldonado to the Sacred Valley – Machu Picchu – Cusco and finally to Lake Titicaca, Kuada Travel provided us with a uniquely personal way to experience this fascinating country. For those of us who don’t like to travel as part of a large group tour- Kuoda. Travel was an optimal solution, working with us to create a customized itinerary and supporting us every inch of the way with extremely knowledgeable and friendly guides and efficient transport. Thank you Kuoda Travel for making our trip to Peru such a rewarding experience!

Just returned from a 17 day adventure in Peru and the Galapagos. As I searched for a travel company to book this trip months ago, the Kuoda name kept coming up. I wanted a company that was based in the region that could meet my needs for a special 40th anniversary trip. Stop your search…Kuoda is the one.

Mery and her staff went out of their way to anticipate and meet our every need. Jon was very patient with me as I posed numerous questions and requests in planning the trip. When we did have a very minor issue with one of the hotels, the Kuoda staff sprang into action and our accommodations were upgraded at the next 2 locations. The guides/drivers they placed us with were top notch and Mery even met us at our hotel in Cusco.

If you are looking for a company to assist in your South American travels, check with Kuoda. You won’t be disappointed.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a food and travel writer for a Florida publication. I have recently traveled to Peru and have a tip that’s going to save you time and money! If you want to see Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley or the Amazon, then take my word, the folks at Kuoda Travel will be a lifesaver. Our trip was amazing from the moment we got off the plane in Cusco to our return to Lima. The host, guide and our tour guide where beyond our expectations. Every excursion, every meal, every transportation we experienced were topnotch. Even our travel agent at home didn’t come close to the organization and communication these experts demonstrated. Take my advice, your going to love this team!

Kuoda Travel was so easy to work with while planning the trip for myself and three friends. The staff was great checking on us throughout the trip to be sure everything was going well. The drivers, guides, and city hosts were all punctual, friendly, and knowledgeable. Kuoda Travel made arrangements for all the accommodations, domestic flights, train tickets, and entrance tickets not only to Machu Picchu, but also museums. This was one of the best, if not the best, trips I’ve had. Everything ran smoothly. The accommodations, food, and activities were all wonderful. Thank you to Mery, Thomas, Edgar, Dania, our super guide Betsy, Mr. Juan our driver, and Alyssia. I would recommend Kuoda Travel to anyone planning a trip to Peru.

We (3 couples) spent approximately a year planning a post cruise trip to Mach Picchu, Peru with Kuoda Travel. They were great to work with and all questions were met with prompt responses. However, Kuoda Travel really impressed us most when we were on tour. They met us in Lima when our ship arrived, took us to the airport and helped us check in for our LAN flight to Cusco, met us at Cusco, took us to lunch and then a tour of the Sacred Valley. After a wonderful night at the Rio Sagrado Hotel, they put us on the Peru Rail train to Machu Picchu all the while being escorted by one of their guides; Holger. Holger was a gentleman, educated, experienced, spoke fluent English and gave us a superb tour of Machu Picchu. They then reversed the process getting us back to Lima for our flight home. Everyone from Kuoda Tours that we met was top notch. The drivers and guides especially. Kuoda Tours is owned by Mery Calderon who is committed to providing small group tours with outstanding customer service. She has her highest recommendation for anyone considering a tour to Peru. We have never experienced the level of customer service provided by Mery’s team of professionals.

I recently returned from a 12 day vacation with my mother and sisters, to Cusco, The Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Lima.

I took a chance (after finding just a few TA reviews) and made all of my reservations online with Kuoda. From my first encounter and booking experience with Jonathan, Kuoda has been a wonderful company to work with. I have to say, the trip was flawless. Jonathan, our reservation agent, crafted a custom, PRIVATE, tour for the 4 of us, that included all of the highlights we’d asked for and more, that we didn’t know we wanted (and would love!)

He booked first rate hotels and meals for us. Our hosts, guides and drivers were exceptional in their knowledge and professionalism. We spent the most time with our Cusco guide, Ofelia and driver, Juan. (and host Alex) They were SO patient with our questions and shopping! I feel like we made some true friends. In Lima our host was Dania and our guide was Ruth, our driver Cesar. Very informative and lovely folks.

I feel that we had a level of custom, private, tour that far exceeded my expectations, and cost no more than a US group tour with 30 people on a big bus. Kuoda Tours helped us to share a dream of our mother’s. The owner, Mary Calderon, topped it off with a personal visit in Cusco, just to make sure everything had gone well. It definitely had!!

Kouda Travel has the nicest, most flexible, well informed, and friendly staff I’ve encountered in a tour company, I am so happy to have gone with them vs. some of the others (which I later encountered/overheard at Machu Picchu).

They worked well with my budget and time which still allowed me to be comfortable and not feel rushed, their selection was excellent and when I arrived a few hours early in Cusco at the last minute, I barely had to wait 10 minutes (I was expecting to have to wait an hour or so). Eliacin, my guide, was extremely well informed and flexible, allow us to adjust the itinerary based on where I wanted to spend more time or on how to avoid the crowds. I highly recommend Kouda travel for anyone traveling through Peru, I will use them for all future travels!

If you want to travel to Peru and see Machu Picchu without having to worry booking anything yourself or travel to and from or in and around the country, book a trip with Kuoda Travel. Our trip was PERFECT and absolutely seamless. We typically coordinate our trips ourselves and find the best places to go/stay through various outlets (such as Trip Advisor), but we were extremely happy we decided to book our trip with Kuoda.

From working with Jesus to customize our trip beforehand, to having him book all of our excursions and sight seeing and transfers while in Peru, to our wonderful personal guide Juan and driver, Luis, to meeting the company founder Mery for breakfast at our hotel, it was all as wonderful of a trip as could possibly be expected. Peru is not an easily country to navigate and having them take us everywhere and book everything for us (including our entrance to Machu Picchu) was extremely helpful.

If you are booking a trip anywhere in Peru or to the wonderful site of Machu Picchu, we HIGHLY recommend using Kuoda Travel to do so. You will not regret it.

My trip to Peru exceeded every expectation and Kuoda’s help with the planning ensured that each leg of my travels was flawless. I chose Kuoda after contacting several agencies because Kuoda seemed the most interested in helping me personalize my trip while others seemed to have a more established agenda they preferred tourists to follow. I was very pleased at the level of help they offered, their prompt replies to my many questions and the degree of customization they provided. The personal guides and drivers were all attentive, extremely pleasant, knowledgeable and patient. The accommodations they arranged were all well run, beautiful, interesting and conveniently located. Each meal was excellent and memorable. Even the agency owner, Mary Calderon, added a remarkable personal touch by making the effort drop in over breakfast while I was in Cusco. This agency is top quality in every way and I recommend them without hesitation.

For our 50th birthdays my friend and I met in Peru for a 7 day trip to Cusco, Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley and Lima. Kuoda travel modified our trips according to our requests. We were greeted at the airport and excorted to each stop. Everyone was very pleasant and helpful. Our guide through Cusco and Machu Picchu (Pilar) was wonderful. Everyone was accommodating to any minor changes requested. I highly recommend Kuoda Travel. Make sure that you get to Machu Picchu in the morning. It tends to rain in the afternoon.The accommodations they arranged were all well run, beautiful, interesting and conveniently located. Each meal was excellent and memorable. Even the agency owner, Mary Calderon, added a remarkable personal touch by making the effort drop in over breakfast while I was in Cusco. This agency is top quality in every way and I recommend them without hesitation.

I have never used a travel tour company. Have always booked everything myself. Peru posed some big challenges in coordinating transport to the different areas we wanted to explore. I decided (reluctantly) to inquire with tour groups, two I found on tripadvisor, one I just called locally in the U.S. (the one in U.S. was worthless but thought I would give it a try) Both peruvian tour companies responded quickly. But what set Kuoda apart from the other is that when I told them what I wanted to do, they really worked with me and listened! I worked with Jesus in the office via emails and he came up with ideas for our itinerary that I would have never thought of! They also gave advice and information prior to the trip which was incredibly helpful for packing and being prepared! As stated in my title of this review, working with Kuoda was seamless! It made the trip almost stress free! We travel with our kids and we are vegetarian and my one kid has allergies. Everyplace we went to Kuoda had prepared them for our meals. We had tour guides for Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, and finished our trip in the amazon at hacienda concepcion..all transport, many meals and tours were completely set up via Kuoda. Our guides were informative, professional and very caring and drivers were safe and punctual! We were lucky to have Ofelia – our tour guide for Machu Picchu/Sacred Valley and Cusco – she is so passionate, smart and totally gets traveling with kids! Mery has created a wonderful company to be very proud of – she helped escort us back to the airport as we were leaving for the Amazon. If you are thinking about travel to Peru and want an amazing unforgettable experience, look no further! Kuoda is worth every cent!!

Didn’t know what to expect but was so blown away with my trip to Cusco with Kuoda. My guide Sheila was not only wonderful but knowledageable. She really knew her facts, myths, behind the door storires and communicated them easliy. I loved the personal attentionl When we were driving back from Machu Picchu, she stopped on the side of he road – it was very dark – and asked us to look at the stars. We could almost touch them! When we were going to Machu PIchhu she made sure we had mosquito cream – and boy were we glad. No question was too “dumb” she answered them all. Our driver was a good communicator too and so gracious. My trip was last year and when I reeturned someone asked me who they should hire as guides while in Peru and in Cusco, and without any hesitation I said Kuoda. Kuoda thank you for making my tirp meaningful.

Had the opportunity to travel to Peru and wanted to stay longer to visit Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley but didn’t have time to plan this myself for a group of 5 traveling together. Based on Trip Advisor advice, chose Kuoda Travel. Couldn’t have been happier. Every detail was taken care of and the itinerary was customized exactly to our request. We wanted a guide but didn’t want to be “hand held” the entire trip. They designed an itinerary that left us with just the right amount of free time, yet the information and guided parts of our travels were great. The guide Karina was very knowledgeable and put up with our group with grace (we sometimes got off schedule). Having a US office for payment was also helpful as we weren’t wiring money to a foreign country.

We wanted to visit Peru in order to see Machu Picchu. The trip that Mery and staff at Kuoda worked with us to design was so much more than “just” Machu Picchu. First, the hospitality of the Kuoda staff and the guides and drivers along the way could not have been any better. Second, the variety of places we visited and experiences we had was educational, enlightening and fun. Third, it was amazing how many times we said, “can you believe what a great value this is?” And finally, Machu Picchu was magnificent, the perfect capstone to a wonderful 10 days with Kuoda Travel in Peru.

We just got back from a 28 day vacation in Peru and it was perfect thanks to Kuoda and Thomas Adams, my trip coordinator. Thomas and I spent 4 months honing down the perfect itinerary and then he and his company made it happen. We hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, toured Lake Titicaca, rode the Andean Explorer, whitewater rafted, cruised the Amazon and all the details were in order. All the guides were wonderful and very knowledgeable. The drivers were punctual and skilled. These guys specialize in planning a unique experience just for you and they do it well!!! Nothing but praise and kudos!! By the way, Peru is an awesome place to visit!!!

Four of us turned 2 weeks of our lives over to Kuoda Travel and Mery Calderon … and it was awesome! The planning for our trip was easy and we were able to customize the tour exactly to our desires. Throughout the trip, we were provided with a private vehicle, driver and guide – wonderful, friendly and knowledge people all. We stayed in outstanding and varied hotels (check out the Monasterio in Cusco, the Casa Andina in Arequipa and Colca Lodge in Colca Canyon!). We saw many incredible and well known sites in Peru – Machu Pichu, soaring condors in Colca Canyon, the Uros floating islands in Lake Titicaca, the Andes, llama and the Maras salt mines.

But, we also saw many unexpected things – me hand feeding grass to a llama (!); small towns with local artisan, food and medicinal markets with yarns and clothing made in every color of the rainbow; dishes like causa, ceviche, quinoa and hundreds of types of potatoes. Other favorite memories include: riding the Orient Express train to Machu Pichu and standing on the caboose’s open-air deck with live music and drinks in hand, breakfast at the Monasterio hotel, crossing Lagonillas pass at 14,468′ and trying to breath, standing on the balcony of the Casa Andina Arequipa’s Imperial Suite – the nicest hotel room we’ve ever stayed in – and looking down on the sites!

All of these great memories are due to the exquisite planning and flawless execution by Mery and her team. Thanks again, Kuoda, for a GREAT trip. We’ll be back!!

Kuoda planned part of our student trip to Peru, specifically to Cusco and the surrounding sights. The travel was coordinated perfectly and our schedule was planned so considerately to include a mix of cultural activities, culinary treats and real local experiences. Everyone who we worked with from Kuoda was professional yet warm and everyone went above and beyond.

Our van drivers felt like a part of our group by the end of the trip and were getting extra water for students who were ill and watching out for us as we crossed streets in the city. We really felt a part of the Kuoda family! I would recommend using Kuoda to plan your Peru travel if you’re looking for a service with high attention to detail and a genuine personal touch.

It might not be the cheapest option for travel in Peru, but Kuoda Travel is definitely worth the higher cost. Everything from the travel planning in advance to the excellent service and outstanding guides throughout our July 2013 three-week trip was simply wonderful. They offered flexibility in choosing our trip options, were responsive to our feedback to the initial itinerary they presented (for example, we asked for hotels that were not international chains and they came back with lovely, local boutique hotels with charm and character), and were incredibly quick to respond with confirmations for our chosen dates when we were ready to book our flight.

The guides in Peru are all free-lance and local, and so we had a different guide for each region we visited. Across the board, Kuoda chose excellent guides who were knowledgable, nice, fun, punctual and when we asked them about their experience working for Kuoda (as free-lancers) we could tell that it was a favorite of theirs for trips to guide.

Kuoda worked to make our experience more personal, for example a lunch on Taquile Island (Lake Titicaca) was on a private outside deck for just the four of us traveling together, where we noticed lunch set for 20+ participants elsewhere. For the few occasions that we needed to be part of a larger group, they chose the highest quality outfitter, as with Llama Path on our Inca Trail hike.

We very quickly discovered that we had nothing to worry about anywhere that we went and that we were in good hands throughout the trip. The accommodations were great. We can’t say enough good things about the guides. And Mery Calderon, the owner, was very eager to make a personal connection with each group who booked with Kuoda. She came to the Cusco airport to meet us herself. Kuoda relies on word of mouth for finding new customers. We’re happy to join the group of people who praise Kuoda Travel and would recommend it to anyone.

My husband and I have traveled quite extensively and have always planned our own itinerary. After researching internal flights’ rental cars etc it was much easier for me (I was planning my husband’s birthday trip) to try a tour company. I provided 4 tour companies with a wish list and waited for replies. In the end Kuoda was my choice, due mainly to the interest and response of our tour planner, Thomas. His attention to what we wanted and our time line and his lightning responses were truly exceptional. We were travelling in the UK at the time we were required to finalize the trip and Tom went into the office on his day off to assist with this. Truly exceptional.

Our guides (Yuri, Jose Carlos, Luis Carlos) and drivers were all wonderful. The accommodation selections, train tickets, internal flights, suggestions for free days were all put together seamlessly and fit our preferences.

We cannot say enough positive things about this tour company. My husband and I were greatly impressed and would highly recommend Kuoda to our family, friends and business associates.

Our time in Peru could not have been better. Edgar, Maria Theresa and Marco looked after us so well, and our time was spent in a rich variety of experiences that we could never have been able to organize into such a short time frame on our own. The accommodation was excellent (especially in the Sacred Valley!) and the activities organized – the llama farm, the horse riding, the Hacienda dining, the visit to the local community, the salt mines, the Cusco tour of the ancient buildings and the colorful markets, are all fresh in our minds and without being rushed packed such value into our trip – I did not talk to anyone else who had done as much! Maria Theresa has such a wealth of knowledge of the history of your country, and her guided tour of the ruins at Machu Picchu was fascinating and educational and delivered with such warmth and humor – we missed her so much after we left Peru!. Also, the little touches, like being met in Lima, and Edgar’s nightly phone calls, were appreciated and really helped to keep the trip worry free.

I will certainly be recommending Kuoda to Australian friends and family (and have already done so!)

I hope if time is kind to us that we can travel with you again soon

Wow – my husband and I returned home last night from another vacation in Peru. A few years ago we discovered Kuoda who organized the most amazing journey for us throughout Peru. Have to say it did not stop there we have returned to Peru every year since ( 6 times). In the process we have learned a little Spanish and become more familiar with doing some things on our own but we always look to Kuoda for the special touches. Once again we enjoyed a few splurge days at Sol y Luna where we never tire of the beautiful gardens. Also discovered a new restaurant for us in Cusco called Greens. We actually enjoyed organic greens here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This time our Kuoda friends involved us in some of the philanthropic work they do for outlying villages where few tourists ever visit. As a person who knits and spins Kuoda helped me satisfy my desire to connect to the fiber related activities in local communities. Sometimes after all our trips to Peru I get to thinking we have seen it all but this time we were introduced to an amazing old Hacienda (Huayoccari) in the Sacred Valley that is still inhabited by the descendant of the owners . This is a place that is a living museum full or amazing art and an extensive display of ancient artifacts and treasure from Inca period and before. Here we had a gourmet lunch complete toasts of good wine. And just when I thought there was not a new store for me to discover for shopping treasures I found a jewelry store on San Blas (Esma) that had some unique jewelry made from silver and fiber. Ah fiber and silver for me a perfect combination. For my husband and I Kuoda is not only a fantastic travel company – it is an ongoing experience in our travel lives.

When we were planning our trip to Peru with our four kids, we really wanted to see as much of the Country as possible, get up and close with the people and the culture and see as many of the incredible sites that Peru has to offer that we could. Kuoda gave us that, and so much more. From the first stages of planning and finding out what was really important to us as a family to the final day of our journey, we were in the BEST hands with Mery and the wonderful people that work for Kuoda. All the travel arrangements (accomodations, many meals, flights, bus tickets, train tickets, and guides) were flawlessly put together to weave the most amazing adventure for our family. And speaking of the guides (Jorge, Hector, Herbert and Ivan) were superb-knowledgeable, helpful and personable–you could ask them anything. And they really enjoyed sharing their traditions and life with us. Our kids were very comfortable throughout the trip and never tired of the stories and information provided by our wonderful guides. And if any activity seemed like it might be too much for the kids at the given time, we switched it up and did something better suited to the present situation (and I can admit our guides were usually more aware then we were when the kids had hit their limit!) We also had flexibility within our daily travel plans. If we wanted to stay a little longer at a site or have a little more free time as a family at any given location, they supported and facilitated our wishes. The accommodations were wonderful–from the Amazon to the home-stay on Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca–and everywhere in between–we couldn’t have been happier. We were always met at airports, bus stations, train stations by the friendly faces of Kuoda–a really wonderful thing when traveling with four young children–and lots and lots of water (So nice)!! We also liked that Kuoda gives back in a sustainable fashion to communities in Peru. It was nice to know that, when we were there, money from our visit to the village of Umasbamaba would be going to help construct a pharmacy there. Our children talk about our trip to Peru to this day in great detail. Peru, and Kuoda, left quite an impression on us all! We were treated like family and can not recommend Kuoda enough.

Just a note to say that our trip throughout Peru with Kuoda was fantastic. All of our guides – and drivers – were excellent. Plus all the back office people, such as Alex, who kept everything working in the background, made everything happen smoothly. We appreciate everyone’s efforts for making our first visit to Peru so memorable.

Many thanks,

I wanted to tell you how enjoyable our trip was to Peru. The guides were the best. They knew the history of our excursions and were very knowledgeable in English. They could not have been any better. We went with our friends the Sheitelmans. We could only say good things about the trip. The hotels were great and all accommodations, including the vans (buses) were superb. I would highly recommend your company to anyone that I knew that would be going to Peru. If you need anything that I could help you with, please don’t hesitate in contacting me. It was a vacation that I will never forget.

We did enjoy ourselves in Peru, and the other S American places which we visited. We are very happy with the arrangements you made for us, and your colleagues have been very friendly and efficient in their jobs. Our trip to Cusco/ Machu Picchu/ Sacred Valley has been very memorable. Pilar is very good tour guide, and she is friendly and most sensitive to our needs. Her explanations of Machu Picchu and other places was very detailed, clear, and interesting that we had a stranger listening on with us and commenting that she was better than the guide she had.

A few of my friends have expressed that they would like to visit Peru, especially Machu Picchu, I shall be recommending you and your company to them. Perhaps, we will come back to see more of Peru.

Thank you again for a fabulous holiday in Peru.

Warm regards,

The end of the trip was as great as the beginning.

We only saw one condor for about 15 seconds. It was a very still day and I do not think there was enough wind. Looked to me like this one condor decided to give it a try but gave up early? Oh well one is better than none!

The weather was great at Machu Picchu. The climb was a little scary at times (very steep, small steps). Clearly nothing you would ever find in the USA (it would be all fenced in). But we feel good that we made it to the top.

Karina suggested that we visit the market in Cusco. An excellent suggestion. We like to get some exposure to the real life in the countries we visit and found the market quite interesting.

We have had trips before using a single travel company and multiple travel companies (in order to see everything we wanted). This was by far the best! It was simple to arrange, everything went smoothly, our guides were excellent and flexible to last minute changes.

I will definitely be recommending Kuoda to others.

Thanks,

My husband and I have traveled quite extensively and have always planned our own itinerary. After researching internal flights’ rental cars etc it was much easier for me (I was planning my husband’s birthday trip) to try a tour company. I provided 4 tour companies with a wish list and waited for replies. In the end Kuoda was my choice, due mainly to the interest and response of our tour planner, Thomas. His attention to what we wanted and our time line and his lightning responses were truly exceptional. We were travelling in the UK at the time we were required to finalize the trip and Tom went into the office on his day off to assist with this. Truly exceptional. Our guides (Yuri, Jose Carlos, Luis Carlos) and drivers were all wonderful. The accommodation selections, train tickets, internal flights, suggestions for free days were all put together seamlessly and fit our preferences.

We cannot say enough positive things about this tour company. My husband and I were greatly impressed and would highly recommend Kuoda to our family, friends and business associates.

What an amazing experience we had in Peru largely in part to the service that Kuoda Travel provided. From planning, organization, activities, hotels, restaurants and travel they did it all! All top notch professionals. They helped to plan a wonderful trip for us and took care of little details that we didn’t even know we needed, such as tickets to hike Huayna Picchu, lunch at a great Cusco restaurant, private museum tour and even lunch in a locals home. In the background they tracked our progress as we traveled through Sacred Valley, Machu Pichu, Cusco and Lima. They were also helpful in negotiating through airports. Our guide Ophelia was awesome. Knowledgeable and also knew the best spots for shopping and a much needed cappuccino! Many thanks to Mery and her team: Tom, Alex, Ophelia and Fausto!! First class all the way.

We have recently returned from our South American holiday and for our time in Peru we used Kuoda Travel. Mery and her team are first class operators, very dedicated to ensuring their clients enjoy every minute of their vacation.

They were very easy to deal with in planning our trip and were very accommodating and flexible in allowing us to select our hotels and room types. They were prompt with their replies to questions and provided very comprehensive itineraries. They were very happy to organize reservations for all our dinners for the restaurants we had selected, even though those dinners were not included in our itinerary.

Upon our return to Cusco after travelling through the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, Alex met us at the train station and accompanied us to our hotel and looked after our check in for us. This was around 8.30 pm in the evening. He then waited in the hotel lobby for us to freshen up and he then escorted us to the restaurant in Cusco that we had booked for dinner for that evening. This was really great service. We bumped into Alex a few nights later near the main square and he greeted us with his big smile and a hug and we had a good chat about our evening.

Peru was my favourite country visited in South America and we loved everything about it.

I would be surprised if any other operator offers a better service than Kuoda. Don’t hesitate in having Kuoda look after your trip. You’ll enjoy every minute of it.

First of all, we’d both like to say THANK YOU to you, and to your staff for giving us such a wonderful experience in Peru! We have been reviewing all the different places we visited, the experiences we had, and especially all the fascinating and wonderful people who we met in Peru. We were very impressed with Kuoda’s arrangements, and we were most impressed with our guides: Victor Hugo in Arequipa, Evon (spelling?) in Puno, and of course, Maria Theresa in the Cusco area. Our drivers were great as well: Christian, Jaime, Denis, Louis, & Rafael. Jaime and Maria Theresa were our absolute favorites as a guide & driver duo, and we had fun and learned so much from the two of them. All of your staff who we met were helpful and very friendly, and we would highly recommend you and the entire Kuoda staff to anyone visiting Peru.

In all our years of traveling, this was actually our very first time using an “in-country” travel service, and we were extremely impressed with Kuoda! We loved our itinerary, and we were so glad we included Puno, Arequipa, and Colca Canyon, as those were areas originally in question as to whether we should travel to, since we really did not know much about those areas. We learned that southern Peru is so very different from the Cusco and Sacred Valley area, and we’re certain northern Peru will be different from all the other places we’ve seen of Peru so far. We feel we learned so much about Peru, but we realize there is so much we have yet to learn. This recent trip has most definitely made our top 10 list of adventures, and we feel certain you will be getting e-mail enquiries from folks we know as people continue to ask about our trip experience. Without a doubt, Kuoda will come very highly recommended by us!! With all best wishes!

We just returned from a three week tour of Peru (with 3 days in Bolivia). We have always planned all of our own vacations, but the complicated logistics were better served by a tour company. Kuoda is based in Cusco and provided us with excellent guides and drivers who took care of everything. All we had to do was sit back and marvel. As well as Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, Tiwanaku and the sacred islands in Bolivia, we also went fishing for and swimming with piranha, as well as a taking a canopy walk in the Madre de Dios jungle. Kuoda went out of their way to find us the best accommodations possible. When one hotel took it upon themselves to upgrade us to a room that we did not like, Mery (the company owner) came to the hotel twice to make sure that we were happy. They understood who we were and what we wanted and they gave us a tour that was completely customized to our requests. Our only problem was that we did not stay longer.

Gracias por tomar el tiempo de ir a conocernos al hotel en Cusco fue un lindo detalle. Nuestro viaje fue uno excepcional, disfrutamos mucho de la ciudad de Cusco muy colorida y llena de historia. Como te habiamos mencionado Machupicchu fue impresionante y mas impresionante aun fue haber tenido la experiencia de subir el waynapicchu, es algo que deben fomentar y orientar mas no solo porque es una experiencia unica sino para que el visitante vaya preparado y vestido con ropa adecuada. El final de nuestro viaje fue mejor aun, visitar Puno y haber tenido la oportunidad de ver el Lago mas alto del Mundo no tiene precio!

Gracias Mery a ti y a tu equipo especialmente a Pilar y a Juan que estuvieron mas tiempo con nosotras y nos hicieron sentir muy bienvenidas a Cusco. Todas nuestras amistades han quedado muy impresionadas con nuestras fotos. Y muchos de ellos han mostrado interes en visitar Peru.

Definitivamente recomendare Kuoda a mis amistades para que disfruten tanto como lo disfrutamos nosotras.

Thank you! and Happy Holidays to you and everyone at Kuoda.

We really had a marvelous time – thanks to you – and have been singing our praises about Peru and Kuoda! Best wishes,

Kuoda Travel is a wonderful tour company. Lotte, our trip advisor, did an exceptional job of arranging a 30 day tour of mainly pre-inca civilizations. Many of the ruins we visited in September and October 2013 are relatively unknown, but so astounding that we ran out of ‘wow’s’ long before reaching touristy Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. Despite the remoteness of some of the sites (e.g., Chavin de Huantar, Kuelap, el Brujo), food and accommodations were always suitable. Indeed, many of our hotels were far above the three star standard we had requested. Our guides were knowledgeable, conscientious, accommodating, and friendly. And our drivers were just the best. It is too difficult to pick the best part of our trip, because the whole thing was the best part, but we certainly appreciated having just the two of us in our own tour group. We could leave for and arrive at a site earlier than bus tours, and our guides always knew where to go to avoid crowds. Mery and her staff at every location went out of their way to make this the trip of a lifetime, and we have no reservations about highly recommending their services to anyone.

Thank you for your note. We really appreciated you stopping by the hotel in Cusco to visit with us. It meant a lot and was a very nice touch of additional customer sensitivity on your part. Your approach to the development and operation of Kuoda Travel is spot on and we wish you great success as you continue to develop the company.

Please know that all of us will recommend Kuoda as the travel agency of choice to friends and colleagues.

Take care,

We just returned from a three week tour of Peru (with 3 days in Bolivia. We have always planned all of our own vacations, but the complicated logistics were better served by a tour company. Kuoda is based in Cusco and provided us with excellent guides and drivers who took care of everything. All we had to do was sit back and marvel. As well as Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, Tiwanaku and the sacred islands in Bolivia, we also went fishing for and swimming with piranha, as well as a taking a canopy walk in the Madre de Dios jungle. Kuoda went out of their way to find us the best accommodations possible. When one hotel took it upon themselves to upgrade us to a room that we did not like, Mery (the company owner) came to the hotel twice to make sure that we were happy. They understood who we were and what we wanted and they gave us a tour that was completely customized to our requests. Our only problem was that we did not stay longer.

The only problem with our trip to Peru was that it was too short! We didn’t want to leave! It’s really difficult to identify the highlights, as there was so much that we enjoyed (pretty much every minute of the trip). I would say that we particularly enjoyed some of the “small things”. Sitting in the church square at Tipon having our box lunch, strolling around the town of Andahuaylillas. We are they type of people that really enjoy the “off the beaten track” experiences, and I think you will find that many others that want a customized trip also really enjoy those respites from the tourist crowd.

Of course, Karina needs to be commended both for her excitement in her guiding, as well as the personal attention she gave to Mary, who wasn’t quite as mobile as us. And Marcos was always early, making our days full and without a hitch. Special thanks to Thomas, who really coordinated the whole trip and was very responsive to both my inquiries and adjustments. Getting met in Lima (even though we weren’t spending time there) was a very good thing, as it gave us the assurances that everything was going to be “just fine.”

Your company did an amazingly great job of making the time seamless and without a hitch. All of the transfers went like clockwork. Also, you get HUGE points for our prepaid lunches being some of the best meals we had (Cusco, the place near Moray, Urubamba, the box lunches). Many other tourist agencies would just try to make money on these items; you made them part of the experience. That is very important and shows that you are trying to deliver quality, quality, quality.

Hotels:

• Since Naomi and I have already been to Amazonia (Napo in Ecuador); this is what I would call “Amazonia Light.” Fantastic food and good accommodations (a little crowded). The excursions are OK, because they don’t really have much to work with in that area. Your guests should be presented with options for Amazonia (hard core, luxury, etc, depending on what type of experience they want). For us, it was perfect, because Mary has never been and we couldn’t do hard core with her; others may want something that is more challenging with more opportunities for wildlife.
• Inkaterra (Machu Picchu). Fantastic. Would have thought about doing 2 nights there (first day, just going to hotel; second day doing Machu Picchu very early; then leaving the third day), so can climb Wayno Picchu (which I did, but would have preferred collapsing at the hotel!)
• Palacio Nazarenas. Five nights was perfect. Really let us get to know Cusco and get the visit to Tipon and Andahuaylillas. A great hotel. We only ate there the first evening for convenience. Extremely expensive dinners (poor value, no ambience). With all of the great restaurants in Cusco, you would be best to have all of those recommendation (and possibly reservations) for dinners outside the hotel ready for your clients. We ate at MAP (incredibly great but incredibly expensive), Limo (lunch, and dinner; solid), Chiccolini (dinner; the best we had by far) and the Grill (lunch care of you, and dinner; solid).

You have our highest recommendations and we will spread the word to anyone interested in visiting Peru. Best,

We are home safely after a couple of days stopover in San Francisco.

It was very nice to meet you and also Mery in Cusco. We had a wonderful time in your part of Peru, far beyond our expectations. The culture, history, scenery, people and food were amazing. We kept thinking that we are so lucky to be experiencing all that your region has to offer.

We could not have asked any more from Kuoda from the moment we first contacted you to when we were met at Cusco airport until the time we left Alex to board our flight to Lima. Your company’s professionalism and passion is a credit to Mery and her team.

Once again thanks to you, Eduard, Hernan, Alex & Mery for a wonderful experience that we will both treasure for a very long time. (Hopefully I spelt the names correctly). One day we hope to come back.

Thank you! We had a wonderful time in Peru and would definitely recommend Kuoda to our friends. As we told you before, Pilar is a great tour guide and Marquio is a safe and punctual driver. We also appreciate Edgar’s daily phone calls and you taking the time to talk to us in Cusco.

We couldn’t have asked for more in a trip and we want to thank you and your team for arranging this memorable experience for us.

Best regards,

Sorry for the late to reply to your mail.

Katia and I enjoyed a lot our trip in Perou.

Keep going with quality of services. You know how to do it.

We’ll advise the friends who plan to spend time in your country to get in touch with you.

Best regards from France,

We had a great time with Kuoda and greatly appreciate the organisation that went in to making the trip so enjoyable. Joelle and I are still travelling (Canada) but Katia and Gerard are back in France.

When we slow down for a couple of hours I will give you some more detailed feedback but for now would just like to say that the whole experience was marvelous. We loved the country and the people, especially the Kuoda team.

Thank you for explaining the Marriott situation in more detail. Overall, it was one small item in a truly wonderful trip. Everyone we encountered was great and we really enjoyed everything. Of course Machu Picchu was the highlight, but we were quite pleasantly surprised by Pachacamac after the seal trip was cancelled.

I’ve mentioned you to a couple of colleagues who are hoping to visit at some point. I’ll be sure to tell them again when they get a bit more serious about their planning and timing.

Please pass along our thanks to everyone who helped us with planning, driving, and