As promised earlier, we respond to your survey after returning home from travels through your beautiful country. We had very good time, and our vacation was a total success, in both exceeding our expectations of having lots of fun and overcoming with ease the logistics of getting and enjoying the places we had planned for in our itinerary; of course, your agency, and you personally, were instrumental in this accomplishment.
A few comments on the individual pieces you’ve arranged for us: (1) the Iberostar cruise on the Rio Negro was a wonderful experience; the service was impeccable, as could be expected from a 5-star floating hotel; everybody received a VIP treatment at every turn, and we recommend this luxury ship to all who want to float on the “Big River” in style and comfort, while still experiencing its rich and diverse environment from a close-up with very knowledgeable guides; (2) the TRIP airline surprised us pleasantly by getting us, and all pieces of our luggage, on time both ways; it was a very smooth go and a really painless experience, considering the horror stories we read online about the difficulties of getting to and out of Tefe; (3) the Mamirauá reserve is a magical place, and the floating Pousada Uacari makes its best to accommodate visitors and enable them experience that magic. Nature in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve is relatively unspoiled and wildlife continues abundant; very knowledgeable guides make both accessible to the guests at the lodge: visitors have a reasonable chance of seeing the red-faced uacari and other species of monkey, while the waters around the lodge are teeming with caimans and the pirarucu. The condition of the lodge structure itself, however, gave us pause, as our concern is that possibly because the local communities are proprietors of the lodge, investing some of the proceeds from ecotourism to maintain accommodation standards may not be a priority; we sincerely hope this observation will prove wrong in the future!
You ask for our impressions of Manaus. Well, as every big city, it has its positives and negatives. Its exotic location as a jungle town and history as a frontier town make Manaus a legendary city for travelers. But it is also a modern busy city with the hassle and bustle to be expected. Its Teatro Amazonas, built at the end of the 19th century when fortunes were made from the extraction of rubber, and the Palacio Rio Negro, a remarkably well-preserved rubber boom mansion, are the city’s architectural jewels, but there is also a lot of decaying buildings and trash in the streets. We hope the slogan we saw plastered all over the city promising, in English translation, “educated residents and clean city” will become a reality soon.
We want to end with praising you and your agency one more time (we have already had that pleasure on several previous occasions). Your agency showed a very high level of professionalism, knowledge, and attention to detail. What really impressed us was the immediate response to our queries; rather than waiting for days for a return message, your communication was instantaneous; this gave us confidence that not only you know your business well but also that you genuinely care about your clients’ interests, desires, and anxieties. Thank you very much, Luciana!
Zygmunt & Barbara Dubiel, USA