Adventure Life — Local services in Missoula

Completely disappointing and frustrating experience the second time around using this company. There was absolutely nothing even remotely special about the 'package' that was put together by the planner for our trip to Costa Rica. The only value add the 'expert' provided, was the significant $$$ upcharge for every activity / transfer / hotel stay. This was in direct contrast to the experience we had for our trip to Chile in dec '22. It was my mistake to believe that there would be some basic level of care for returning customers. Unfortunately, we had recommended this company to our friends for the same trip and the cringe level of embarrassment as a consequence is beyond anything we could have predicted. (a sure sign that there was some kind of auto pilot engaged internally is the fact that our friends got a send off package saying 'enjoy your trip to Ecuador') There was a complete abdication of any responsibility of the part of Adventure life to the local resource with regard to making bookings/reservations. (if interested see my google review of Hotel Montana De Fuego in La Fortuna). We decided to add tours/activities and were assured by the planner that it was the same price if we went through them or did it directly with the provider. Little did we know that there was nearly a 50% markup. on everything...why ? just because....expensive lesson learned. What made this part of the experience even more frustrating was the repeated insistence on the part of Adv. Life that they were not able to provide details of the pricing for the individual activities because of 'package pricing' it took one email and one phone call to the hotel concierge to get the detailed pricing breakdown The tone was set at the Liberia airport where we had to go looking for our driver who was outside the airport scrolling on his phone. Three nights in a very bad hotel, christmas morning transfer from Arenal to Tamarindo with a stop at and adventure park. there was supposed to be a boxed breakfast for the six of us.....of course it wasn't provided. The cherry on the top was the transport from Tamarindo back to Liberia airport...it was the most outdated dilapidated hyundai van, with no headrests or seatbelts....so much for safety.

Spent 2 days on email and phone with the Adventure life Client Relations Director to get the upcharge on the activities and the room charges for the first 3 nights refunded. To be fair this was a straightforward process once there was clarity on how terrible the property we were put up in actually was. But definitely not how I anticipated spending a vacation.

To be clear, there are other options for actually complicated trips, and for Costa Rica, there is no logic to being ripped off like this.

Forced to edit in response to response from the company: we wouldn't have realized the egregious upcharge on the activities till we asked questions at the hotel. No one from adventure life vetted the property we were put up at. We had to shame them into acknowledging that we were booked into a really bad property. Basic duty of care to paying customers was completely ignored. Forget about the fact that we're repeat customers and brought in new clients as well

To be crystal clear...if we hadn't pushed back we would never have known about how crazy the upcharge was. There has still been no acknowledgement about the missing breakfast and the absolutely unacceptable transportation on the way from tamarindo to Liberia airport. To refund money and apologize is a basic requirement in a situation like this......

"Although we initially thought we would be traveling with a group of people, we were the only two who signed up for this week in August. It ended up being a treat as we were able to experience even more than I think we would have otherwise. Adventure Life did this, that, and EVERYTHING in between. My husband found this to be a delightful treat. I missed the opportunity of having to figure things out a little bit, but with that being said, this trip was COMPLETELY stress free as everything had been thought of for us. If you are looking to take a trip to South America and have any reservations about having to figure things out (travel, money, etc.), traveling with Adventure Life makes it seamless, easy, and second nature. I could not believe the details; we even had a porto john in the middle of Peru along the Incan Trail. For someone who has roughed it many times, the camping part seemed luxurious (they set up our tents, cooked for us, set up a bathroom, broke down camp...we were spoiled). The people and culture of Peru is unforgettable. Machu Picchu was more magical, spiritual, and breathtaking than either of us imagined. Juan provided us with about 5 hours to just be there; in which we chose three different spots around the ruins to just sit and take it all in from different vantage points. When we departed, my husband and I agreed that we would be back some day with our children. To see it in pictures and to go in person is not comparable. The textiles, the food, the music, and the dancing...And the sunset from Amantani Island in Lake Titicaca was comparable if not surpassed that of which we saw from Santorini in Greece. Thank you Adventure Life for a trip of a lifetime. Two sidenotes about money to take on the trip that would be helpful to share with travelers: Peruvian banks and money exchange centers will NOT take any form of American dollar that is not in PERFECT condition. We had brought American money we hoped to exchange in Peru and were unable to exchange most of it, incurring many ATM service charges as a result. Second, the amount of money Adventure Life recommends bringing to tip is significantly underestimated due to the number of staff assigned to help travelers over a...

From August 26 th to September 9 th I travelled the Northwest Passage from Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada to Kangerlussuaq in Greenland. The journey was organised by Adventure Travel in Missoula, Montana. Through all the preparation and paperwork I was supported by Sullivan Peraino, who was a great help. In the end she had to send the travel documents to a hotel in Edmonton, Canada, where the documents waited for my arrival. In the afternoon of Aug. 26th we boarded the expedition ship "Akademik Ioffe". We were a group of 45 people from all over the world. We were on the ship for 15 days and sailed 2450 nautical miles or 4410 km. Every day we had lectures about the history of the region, wild life and the inuit culture. On top of that we went ashore every day. While the Akademik Ioffe waited off shore the zodiacs brought us to the shore for excursions. The barren arctic landscape was breathtaking. I took a lot of photos. We all profited of the photographer in residence Daisy Gilardini who was only too willing to support us. On of the highlights was the contact with polar bears at Connigham Bay near the Bellot Straight. In the afternoon and the evening we were out in the zodiacs and were able to observe polar bears at the shore. During the same outing we got near many beluga whales in the same bay. As I am interested in history I enjoyed the visit to Beechey Island, where we found remains of the famous Franklin expedition from 1850. In Greenland I was very impressed by the sight of the huge glaciers that are pouring into the sea, an incredible sight in bright sunshine. The guides of Oneocean were very competent and so friendly and helpful, that one felt at home very quickly. A word about the Russian crew. They surprised us daily with great food and an super friendly service. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the bridge was always open to us, the Russian officers spoke perfect English. Anybody who is interested in the Arctic will have an unforgetful journey through the Northwest Passage on board the Akademik Ioffe. I certainly did. Bernhard...