Vaya Adventures in Berkeley

Review №1

2024-03-26 17:41:31

This was our second trip with Vaya Adventures and once again they did not disappoint! Gareth worked with us to put together a memorable trip to Jordan & Egypt. We went in February and there were no safety issues at all. From our arrival in Cairo to our departure in Amman we had an extremely positive experience with all our guides, drivers, the locals, hotels and their staff, food and of course all the historical sites.Gareth was wonderful to work with! He is very knowledgeable about the area and always made himself available to answer questions and accommodate any requests we had. He was even able to get us into the new Grand Egyptian Museum which is not yet open to the public.When you work with Vaya they design an itinerary with your interests and activity level in mind. They also have a fantastic phone app that has everything you need for your trip right at your finger tips. They always provide top notch guides and wonderfulaccommodations. I cannot recommend Vaya Adventure enough and all our future trips will be with them.

Review №2

2024-06-02 19:58:55

My family likes to travel and we don’t usually use travel agents. Made an exception in this case because Dervla made such an effort to get to know my family and what we enjoy. The trip she created was perfect for us and stands as the favorite of all our travels. Vaya and Dervla are outstanding.

Review №3

2024-01-24 15:48:15

We had the most memorable time on our trip to South Africa with Vaya and felt completely safe and taken care of the entire time! Our two hotels were absolutely incredible! Heather was great and knew exactly what we wanted – it was like she had known us for years. The food and experience is what we would have picked for ourselves the whole time. Our hotels were magnificent and we really enjoyed how the whole trip was structured.

Review №4

2023-03-09 18:25:00

Best organized trip Ive ever taken! It was flawless. From pickup at airport to drop off. Exceeded expectations. 5 stars all the way!Dervla Pinto was very professional, organized and an expert on travel in Tanzania. Dervla spent a lot of time with us to put our trip together and found a super guide who is French speaking which made the trip that much more enjoyable for us. She ensured that all the resorts knew that my wife and I were on our honeymoon and we got special treatment throughout our trip from every resort. Flawless execution of the trip. Many thanks Dervla!My wife and I did a 10-day Safari for our honeymoon in Tanzania that covered the Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. Jafari was our guide from start to finish and we loved our experience. He is an amazing guide. Friendly, warm smile, calm demeanor, very patient (at our request, we stopped a lot to take thousands of pictures…), very experienced (over a decade being a professional guide in the region), knowledgeable (knows all the wildlife and where to spot them), kept us informed and safe at all times and is fluent in English and French. He is also a fantastic photographer and helped us with the settings on our cameras. We plan on returning to do another safari, this time with our kids and we’ll most certainly book with Jafari. THANK YOU JAFARI for the most amazing memories that will last a life time!

Review №5

2024-05-22 22:17:34

Our trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos, booked through VAYA Adventures was fabulous! I cant say enough about our daily guides who were thoughtful, expert, and amazingly knowledgeable about everything! Loved the daily excursions and the experience of seeing the wildlife in their natural habitat was really wonderful! Vayas Gabrielle was delightful and extremely helpful. I really asked her a lot of questions, (even feared I was a pest for my inquiries), yet she always responded with immediate replies and totally helpful information! I am ready to book another VAYA trip through her. Really appreciate all she did for us!

Review №6

2022-06-12 21:07:05

Our first trip to South America was unforgettable. We are very pleased that we chose Peru. The guide that was assigned to us first 5 days in Cusco and all tours including Machu Picchu were fabulous. Wilfredo was always on time, very involved in all aspects of each tour, explaining the culture the history and whatever we did, he was always sharing stories and giving us an in-depth explanation which helped us learn so much about Peru in a short amount of time. The visit to the Amazon was amazing. We stayed on the DELFIN I for three nights and four days, it was an incredible experience. Only if I could have had a camera attached to me at all times videoing... that would be amazing. THAT COULD BE A FUTURE IDEA TO GIVE EVERYONE A BIRDS EYE VIEW OF YOUR SERVICES ;) THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the upgrades, the champagne on our Anniversary evening, the special cake while onboard the Delfin I. We will be sharing this trip for years to come and hope to visit again. A HUGE thank you to Emily! Without her amazing help, we couldnt have experienced this first trip to Peru like we did.... Thank you all on the Vaya Team!!!

Review №7

2024-01-24 00:59:23

Without a doubt this was the most organized, well-run trip we have ever experienced. Our tour guide in Cape Town for the Cape Point Peninsula tour was exceptional, a local with a front of knowledge the limits of which we never found. Fast forward to Leopard Hills and our safari - here are located the most friendly and courteous people you could ever wish to meet. The food was exceptional (and ever present!). Our guides amazed us with their knowledge and enthusiasm, and the trackers are something to behold, also happy and kind and willing to chat, answer questions, and teach us everything we want to know.Every desire that we expressed in our initial sketch of what we wanted was handled and met, and Gareth/Stephanie never failed to respond quickly to any contact/email. I have already asked them about preparing us for our next trip.

Review №8

2022-09-14 21:20:26

Our 10-day trip was excellent at the end of May. This trip was planned for 2020 but Covid-19 made us postpone it for 2022. Our trip organizer Marci has kept in contact for 2 years and has been able to keep the original prices for almost everything. She was very responsive to any frantic email I sent and answered any questions we had. She also made sure we had support at the locations and in the US too. I felt very safe and pampered before, during, and even after our trip!!! Thank you for this great experience.We had knowledgable and friendly guides at each location, who helped us have all the adventures and visit all the sites we wanted.For example, Marcelo in Rio de Janeiro had great knowledge of when to go and where to go, would move earth and sky, so we could see Cristo Redentor in some sunshine and was open for any call from us day and night. He suggested fantastic restaurants, cute artsy walks, and was right there for us when we needed him at 10pm to help get medicine for my husband from a pharmacy. We are still keeping in touch.There are 3 events that are special for us. The first is the Tango Show at at El Viejo Almacen in Buenos Aires. The atmosphere of the show, the music, dance, and traditional songs were magnificent. We felt quite enchanted.The second moment is rather visiting a place. Our family have seen many times the movie Bossa Nova over the last 5 years. Arena Ipanema Hotel was about a 10-minute walk from The Rock that is an important site in the movie. It is like a special park and offers beautiful views all around and one can watch the surfers too.The third and most wonderful moment was when close to sunset on our last full day in Rio we realized that we might be able to see Cristo Rendentor and the magnificent view of the bay that afternoon. Marcelo, our guide, and Carlos, our driver, raced us up to the visitor center where we purchased our tickets and just in time for a fantastic sunset we reached the iconic statue. It was unforgettable!Thank you Vaya, well go with you guys again in a couple of years!

Review №9

2022-08-17 18:13:11

It was great visiting many of the Galapagos Islands and seeing all of the wildlife both on land and in the water. The activities each day were very good and a nice mix of activities each day. We enjoyed the staff, the vessel, fellow passengers and the whole experience. Our vessel was the Alya, and it was very comfortable and clean. All of the staff on board were very attentive and we enjoyed talking to all of them. The vessel was great for 16 people - I would highly recommend it.

Review №10

2019-02-22 00:15:18

Best trip EVER or equal to our S. Africa trip! Liz at Vaya, did an excellent job detailing a three week adventure for 4 to Santiago, Patagonia and Buenos Aries. Excellent accommodations - not over the top but lovey and unique, our guides, drivers and all excursions were perfect. I will call upon Vaya next time we travel.