This was my first tour using Explorica. Support throughout all of the Covid delays (2 years!) was phenomenal. Our guide and the experiences were great. The only major disappointment was that I had specifically stressed that I wished to limit free time and there were some days with completely unscheduled afternoons. I now know what to focus on when planning next year's trip. I will definitely be using Explorica in the future.

Overall, the tour was good. We, the other French teacher & I, had many issues with our tour guide the first few days until we confronted her. I and the other teacher had requested a new tour guide immediately, which we did not receive. Our guide, Babette Léonide, did a lot of unnecessary yelling, scolding and lecturing. My entire group of adult travelers was miserable due to her high stress level and yelling. She even pushed 2 of my former students in an attempt to move them quickly. I had witnessed her grabbing my travelers, which she denied, yet admitted to later. She also was yelling for "the boys" to lift suitcases to get off the TGV train, and when a traveling mother & myself lifted almost all the suitcases she scolded the mother not to do so & "where are the boys?!!" Many of our female travelers were offended by this. I was not pleased with our guide, but overall the itinerary and food was okay. I think she meant well by rushing us how she did, but the stress level was completely unnecessary. Also, the hotel rooms were extremely small. I was disappointed with the hotel rooms because I thought Explorica would be a little nicer than EF hotels, considering Explorica is more expensive, yet I've traveled with EF 4 other times and had better hotels. This was my 5th time leading a tour and I'm honestly not sure if I'd travel with Explorica again.

Loved this trip! The locations were fabulous and our tour director, Alvaro was incredible! So glad we chose this trip...would go back in a heartbeat.

Alfonso was an amazing guide,with knowledge of every topic and questions to every answer. he never once let us down and always knew when to let us rest a bit. due to him,and the locations and way the trip was planned we plan to go again in four years

What went right with this trip: Air travel, hotel and transportation arrangements; knowledge and experience shared by the local guides; comfort of local transport; alternative options provided when the original itinerary became difficult to follow. Areas for improvement: On this trip, due to civil unrest upon arrival in Quito, our trip to the hotel was delayed by roadblocks and other factors. The bus driver and the tour director did their best to navigate around those, however, there was not adequate communication with the group to advise of events as they occurred. Information was provided mostly at the begging, and when the group complained. Certain needs of some group members (e.g., use of bathroom, access to medication) were not adequately addressed prior to reaching the hotel although the trip took almost four hours instead of 45 minutes. It is understood that this was an unusual case, however, it is mentioned here as an opportunity for lessons learned. Food choices/quality at the islands could have been better in most cases. Suggestion: allow and communicate flexibility for travelers to order from the menu if so desired with the understanding that additional costs are involved. This happened with respect to drinks at some restaurants, but not food items. This trip involved several activities in deep water; the guides in the future need to be proactive in seeking information from the group regarding proficiency/comfort in deep water and not wait until difficulties became apparent before trying to address. Equipment rented (e.g., GoPro cameras) did not perform as expected (e.g., not adequately charged/missing sim cards). Refunds were provided, however, a rare opportunity to take pictures/videos of sea life was lost. Also, training on the use of these devices was provided last minute and was inadequate in my opinion. This also took away from the experience. Suggestion: Be proactive with the suppliers of such equipment to ensure it's adequately tested, charged and in good working order. Basic instructions should also be made available in a timely manner. Overall, it was a great trip. We learned a great deal in terms of nature, culture, and history. The local guides were very helpful and responsive to questions.

We had a very good experience that began with a direct flight to our destination (not common with student travel) and continued with a fantastic Tour Leader (Jamie) and so many wonderful experiences for the travelers. Communication and service were excellent.

The overall tour was nice. The hotels are far from the city center....which wastes a lot of time. The restaurant choices were not authentic and not good. I would never be put with another group of strangers again. They were rude to us and it just did not mesh well.

Overall, we had a great trip. Our tour guide, Jane Forrest, was exceptional. One disappointment was that our York hotel was not in York, but over an hour away in Bradford. I'm sure the reasoning was that it was less expensive for Explorica but we were only able to spend a few hours in York because of all the time spent traveling to and from this far away hotel. Another issue was that we were not able to go to Stonehenge due to a bus driver issue, which was one of the places we really wanted to go. I feel more effort could have been made to make this happen. I will try not to let these things tarnish my memories of the trip, because it was overall a very good experience.

This was my first experience with Explorica and first time in beautiful Costa Rica. I got to say I was impressed with everything we did during our trip. The schedule was well prepared by the team and for the most part everything went smooth. A few hiccups with hotels but nothing that the Explorica Team could fix right away because it was out of their hands. I want to especially thank our Tour Guide Rey for an amazing experience. He was so good with the whole group, and I feel as if I made a great friend for years to come. He was so knowledgeable about everything and made our days so enjoyable. Kayley and Katey our reps who helped organize our group from the beginning were so patient with me as a director. I often felt like I was not keeping up with things, but they always helped me stay focused on reaching goals for my group. I am truly grateful to the entire team for their hard work. All my students were pleased with the experience and are looking forward to the next trip. I highly recommend the program for educators and their students. Pura Vida!

Our tour guide Anne Marie was exceptional and the students loved her. Our bus driver Federico was second to none with his amazing driving skills. We saw so many places and had so many great experiences in 12 days. My only complaint was that a few of the hotels, not all, were under our expectations. This included overall cleanliness, location, and breakfast offered. Overall, this experience was a great deal for the price point.