The Llama Travel Blog

Gary Finnerty, our Sales Manager, spent 6 months travelling in Latin America before finding himself on Llama Travel's doorstep. This is his account of his time in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile.

“I will never forget it.” Those were the words uttered by a friend which convinced me that I should visit Torres Del Paine National Park, a natural wonder at the bottom of the earth. Coming from a seasoned traveller, I trusted her word - all I knew was that I wanted to visit Patagonia, I knew very little about the geography or what it had to offer. The more I learnt about it the more excited I became.

We are very pleased to announce that Llama Travel has been awarded first place in the Top Tour Operator category of the Wanderlust Readers’ Awards 2016, out of 484 entrants.

The awards, which are well-known in the travel industry, cover categories including Top City, Top UK Destination, Top Emerging Destination, Top Country, Best Guidebook and Best Equipment Brand – all things travel-related in other words. The awards’ uniqueness lies in that the winners are chosen based on satisfaction scores by Wanderlust Readers themselves, not number of votes.

All travellers passing through the US are required to fill in an online form to obtain authorisation for a US Visa Waiver. The form can be found here: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

This will take you the US Department of Homeland Security web page where you can apply. Once there, please click on the New Application button and follow the instructions. 

Although this can be filled in up to 72 hours before travel, we recommend that you fill in this form as soon as possible so any issues can be identified immediately. Please make sure that this form is filled out for all the passengers on your booking.

Please note that although you can fill in all the details requested on the online form only the fields marked with a "*" are required. If you have any questions about this please don’t hesitate to contact us.

“So why are you going to Guantanamo??” … This was a question I had to answer several times when I first announced my Central America travel plans, and I was always replying, “No I’m going to  Guatemala, a country just below Mexico!”

You may consider this an unorthodox start for a blog that is supposed to be singing Guatemala’s praises, but for me, the above exchange perfectly sums up one of my favourite things about the country – the fact that it’s that little bit off the radar. Guatemala is not as well-known as its neighbours Mexico and Costa Rica, this make it feel a little less touristy and a bit more adventurous!

One of the great benefits of working for Llama Travel is that I am able to visit some of the most beautiful places in the world, and in my opinion there is no place more magnificent than the Torres del Paine National Park  in the south of Chile.

The park is most famous for the Paine Massif, a towering collection of rocks that rise up to the sky, scraping heights of 2,800m and so creating an incredible sight on the horizon. However, this blog is not about the magnificence of the park itself, if it was it would be a lot longer with a lot more superlatives. It is instead about the Rio Serrano hotel, Llama Travel’s choice of hotel and a personal favourite of mine.

Llama Travel’s Travel Consultant Matt has travelled all over South America, from the dense jungles of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest to the colonial cities of Colombia, but for him, a certain volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean will always be a particularly special place. Read on to see why Matt thinks that the Galapagos Islands are as extraordinary today as they were when Darwin first set foot on them almost 180 years ago.

Brazil, with its beautiful beaches and colourful cities, has much to offer the adventurous holidaymaker. But for a unique and really fulfilling experience, I would recommend delving deeper inland and spending some time in the Brazilian Pantanal.

The region known as the Pantanal fills an extensive area in central Brazil, and is home to the largest wetland on earth. What makes it so special is the amount of wildlife found here: thousands of species live in this ecological sanctuary. The largely open landscape means that wildlife sightings happen all the time: a giant anteater will stumble out of a thicket, its bushy tail trailing through the grass; red and blue macaws launch out of the treetops, gliding in pairs; water birds and red-necked jabiru storks dive into water pools, feeding on trapped fish.

Just about everyone who visits Peru goes to Machu Picchu and loves it. You can visit on a day trip from Cusco or the Sacred Valley, and this is fabulous. It’s a long day (the Llama Travel excursion starts before 6am and you get back to Cusco around 9pm), but very satisfying. This includes a beautiful train journey, an in-depth guided tour of Machu Picchu and a great lunch in the restaurant next to the ruins. As Machu Picchu is quite a compact site, you visit most of the important parts of the ruins on the guided visit. So, given that you can visit Machu Picchu and see many of the significant sites in on a day trip, why would you want to spend a night there? Well, lots of reasons…

Llama Travel’s Sales Manager Graeme has always been a fan of travelling in comfort and style. For his latest blog he has reviewed some of his favourite superior hotels in Peru, from location and facilities to dining and atmosphere, and why in his opinion they are worth every pound of their upgrade supplement!

Llama Travel’s Travel Consultant Charlotte recently had the pleasure of taking her first trip to Argentina and Chile. It came as no surprise to her that the glaciers were vast and beautiful, Torres del Paine was magnificent and awe-inspiring and that Buenos Aires was elegant and thriving. Something that did come as a surprise to Charlotte was just how much she loved the Chilean Lake District. So much so that she has decided to make it the subject of her first blog from her Patagonia travels. Read on to see why Charlotte thinks the Chilean Lake District is more than worth a visit.