Tucan Travel Tour Reviews

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Wow! Jewels of Sri Lanka Delivers

Trip: Jewels of Sri Lanka

I was so impressive with Tucan Travel, providing everything I could ever expect in my travel package and more. While the package itself seemed at first like it was promising more than it could deliver, much to my pleasant surprise I was blown away by everything that was included.

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Never Again

Never again would l travel with Tucan. The good, the bus driver was flawless in his driving ability, maintenance of the bus and his service to the group often taking on duties that should have been undertaken by the so called tour leader. The rest: food provided on tour was bland, repetitive even for this type of tour, lunch boxes consisted of rotten bruised fruit that could not be eaten, rolls that were so stale and hard you couldn't get your teeth through them and consisted of a slice of what was called ham, nothing else not even margarine, needless to say these were just thrown in the bin by the whole tour and eventually not even taken. If u take this tour tell them you cannot eat ham otherwise you will get it for breakfast lunch and dinner and it's not ham as we know it. The content of the tour is hit and miss, many days are spent sitting on a bus with nothing to see to arrive at a designation for the tour leader to spend about 5 mins of her time talking at the front of the bus to the younger travellers about where things are located in the town, the older travellers we're ignored for three quarters of the trip until another traveller enlightened her that the people at the back of the bus also paid for trip. If you made enquiries about some major tour sights, her reply was never heard of it. If you want to see the sights be prepared to do your own leg work with no assistance or knowledge from the Tucan Rep. Do not expect any consideration or assistance if you are not well, expect that if you have young fit males who will race ahead on the eight hour hikes that you will be left to fend for yourself if you can't keep up with them. Only one tour guide per hike even though National Park rules say no one should be on the trail by themself, the group was so spread out that several of our group were walking hours by themself, Our tour leader announced she was going to the top of some mountain and the group never saw her after about the first 15 mins on the track. On this walk a lady from a second Tucan tour was actually blown off the mountain and had to be stretchered down. If this had of happened to our group no one would have know because our Tour Leader was to busy having her own holiday and the Tour guide had left most of us behind. Camping, don't bother renting sleeping bag unless you want to freeze for three nights, tents, did keep out the rain but are outdated, u will only be able to crawl in and out,nowhere up to the standard of previous tour companies l have used, hot water never worked except for about 2 mins then everyone else left with cold water. While the service at the camp ground dinning area was very good, it was only after other people on the tour complained that they didn't have enough food was the standard and quality lifted to a reasonable level. Our Tucan group was running parallel with another Tucan trip while they were up and gone early in the morning and utilising all the optional tours our leader would decide we would leave later in the morning so we never had the available time to take these up, some of which were the main reasons for some for booking this trip. At one point their was a revolt on the bus because the group were told the could only do one activity when almost everyone wanted to do two. Again the leader booked people onto a tour without confirming they wanted to do it and then told they had to pay for it whether they did it or not, another riot. A majority of this trip turned out to be traveling from town to town walking the street to find a supermarket to organise food for the night or days when meals were not provided or a never ending extremely poor tourist shops with high prices and very short on quality,and not much exploring the sights in the area or culture. The highlights of course were amazing but far and few between and l would say you would be better flying and you would be able to see just as much in half the time. Our trip consisted of half over fifty and half under, the return trip which was staying at the hotel we were would have been three quarters over fifty years old. Of all trips l have taken this would be the poorest value for money, poor communication starting with trying to get a detailed itinerary of what each day would entail, to the Tucan tour leader that is clearly not mature or knowledgable enough to be an ambassador for these countries. There is a lot to said to getting a local to be a Tour guide rather than someone is just trying to see the country for free. Finally l would also recommend that the Tour Leader refrains from bagging the company she works for saying she basically gets no payment from them and relies on tips to live. Firstly the group decided to give the bus driver the majority of the tips for the above reasons, and secondary this seemed like a very poor effort to try and get us to tip her more. Just for the record l only tipped the bus driver.

Sorry Tucan l could never consider another trip with you, l worked very hard to save to have this holiday, your company let me and many others down.

Thank you for your feedback. It is disappointing to hear we have not surpassed your expectations, especially on a tour such as this one which generally receives glowing feedback. We would like the opportunity to discuss the

By: Carol Burke

Mar 01, 2014

Mayan Adventure and More

Trip: Mexico City to Antigua

This 22-day trip from Mexico City to Chiapas, through the Yucatan,around Belize and into Guatemala has well-designed itinerary. I was able to see and do most everything I hoped to do. My fellow travelers with Toucan has a considerable age range but were bonded well, had lots of enthusiasm which guarantee a fun time! Some of my fellow travelers continued their adventure on to Costa Rica and then to Panama with the same tour leader, Becky. She is a great gal, originally from New Zealand but more of an Aussie now, but has just purchased a home in Antigua, so she's making Guatemala her home.

My days in Mexico City at the start of the trip went well. Of course, one could spend months there, exploring the city and its environs. But I saw a great deal and the Majestic Zocalo was right on the Zocalo for the end of the Independence Day celebration and the arrival of the President of Mexico for the National Earthquake Preparedness Day on Oct. 19, the anniversary of the devastating Mexico City earthquake from 20 years ago. My hotel window had the best view of the Zocalo all the time. Visiting Teotihuacan twice was fine, as I was able to see different parts of the site each time, and climb the Pyramid of the Sun twice with two different groups.

The accommodations with Tucan along the way were adequate--and a few fairly good. Fortunately we had A/C in most tropical locations in the rooms at night. The chicken buses in Belize were an experience but worth it. I enjoyed the itinerary, although I would have preferred an additional day in Oaxaca and also in Merida but perhaps one less day in San Cristobal. While at Merida, I did the optional trip to Uxmal--definitely worth it but had to skip the cenotes trip. However while in Playa del Carmen, I was able to visit Tulum in the morning and found a place nearby with cenotes that I did on my own in the afternoon. The most challenging thing for me was probably the caving near San Ignacio, Belize, but I managed just fine. One unplanned event that we all got to experience was in San Cristobál, where the bar owner of a place that Becky knows invited our group to his daughter's quinceañera--a huge event that kept the tequilla flowing all night! Plenty of drinking and dancing.

I should have added a few days in Antigua should have been longer. Hikes up to the Pacaya Volcano have been limited to the first ridge right now so it is a shorter trip. The trip to Chichicastenego is very touristic and a bit over-rated, as the Mayan villages near San Cristobál are more interesting and authentic. Besides, the Mayan folk art marketed in Chichicastenego is overpriced for tourists and the same items can be purchased in the better shops in Antigua. I should have had time to visit Lake Atitán--but perhaps on another visit.

I will probably kick myself for not continuing on with my group to San Jose, Costa Rica. But I needed to get back to L.A. Toucan offers a repeat customer discount plus a late booking discount, so I could have easily afforded the added two weeks.

As an adventure tour, this itinerary was a great choice and I really appreciate all you did in setting it up and planning the extras through Kamino Tours--including the airport transfer from Antigua to Guatemala City, which I would never have figured out on my own.

I was healthy for the entire trip--fortunately. And all the medicine I brought was not really needed--so I gave most of it to others for their on-going adventures in Central America. I was the oldest person of the group, except for two ladies from Australia who are in their 50s but did not do some of the more active things that some of us chose to do.