"This is the best travel service"

This is the best travel service! Ed and his team made planning our trip to Argentina completely effortless and the best part is, it is completely free. They planned everything for us from private drivers, hotel accommodations, flights, excursions and would even give neighborhood specific recommendations. They listened to our requests of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to see,and came up with three itinerary options for us to choose from. I would use this service for every international trip from here on out if I could!

"South American Adventure"

The review is based on our direct experience with Ed Chaplin. While there were a few minor “glitches” with specific aspects of our itinerary, I have detailed these in correspondence with Mr. Chaplin, and will not repeat them here. Suffice it to say we had a wonderful experience, and I have no problem at all with a 5-star rating of services provided by The South America Specialists.

"South American Specialists are THE VERY BEST!"

South American Specialists are a 5 start company and I'd rate them 10 star if there were more to add!!

They planned a spectacular 2 week vacation for us in Argentina, stopping in Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and Patagonia. The trip ran seamlessly with each transfer handled with precision, excellent hotels suited to our budget and needs and a trip that was sequenced the expertly with just the right amount of time in each location and all in the ideal order.

Ed and Nick were accessible at every moment 24/7 should we have needed their help and they uploaded our itinerary and all the trip details on the very helpful Vamoos app which was truly a valued tool in our travels.

Don't look anywhere else if you are going to South America...they are without a doubt the VERY BEST!!

"Active family fun in Chile"

Ed and the team at The South American Specialists really know their stuff. We had a great two week active 3-centre holiday (Atacama, Lake District & Patagonia) in Chile which worked really well for all of our family of five (2 adults, 2 teenagers and a 10 year old). We happened to be in Chile when there were protest marches in Santiago and some strikes so our travel schedule had to be amended. Ed, our agent, took the initiative and moved flights, hotels and transfers with ease so that it didn't impact our holiday at all, in fact I think the itinerary we ended up with, including quite a bit of self drive, really worked well and we got to experience the amazing variety and beauty of Chile. Thank you.

"Peru for 3 weeks in October 2019"

Peru for 3 weeks in October 2019. Wow. If you’re an adventurous and energetic person looking for an authentic cultural experience complete with physical challenges (high altitude hiking at 10,000-15,000 feet), stunning landscapes and delicious food, this is for you. Even if you don’t do the high altitude hiking, prepare yourself for the experience of living in thinner air (less O2).
Our travel agency, the SouthAmericanSpecialists, did a fantastic job of arranging everything. We had a guide and driver every day of our trip which was marvelous. (Don’t drive yourself). The hotels and lodges were first class, as was the service and food. Go to Peru. Spend 3 weeks and see as much as you can, and especially do the PeruRail from Puno to Cusco. One of our favs! Hike Huayna Picchu and Vinicunca/Rainbow Mountain.

"Wonderful holiday!"

We were very pleased with the service provided by The South America Specialists in helping to arrange our recent holiday in Argentina. The tours they arranged were fabulous – we especially enjoyed the horse riding in the Uco Valley where we were greeted at the ranch by about a dozen Condors flying above us (quite unusual we were told). Our tour guide, Juan, was very knowledgeable and the lunch (Asado) they provided after the ride was amazing.

The teams they had on the ground to meet us at the airports etc were very welcoming and helpful and when we had a flight delay and missed our afternoon Brazilian tour of the Iguazu Falls, they rearranged everything for the following day so that we did the Argentinian side in the morning and the Brazilian side in the afternoon.

We loved the hotels and I would especially recommend the Selvaje, in Iguazu – the hospitality, the food and the setting were all wonderful.

Thank you – we have definitely now got a taste for South America, so maybe Patagonia and Chile next!

"Ed Chaplin organised the most fantastic…"

Ed Chaplin organised the most fantastic holiday for us, centred on San Pedro de Atacama and Torres del Paine, ending with a visit to a boutique hotel in the wine region near Santiago. We thoroughly enjoyed all the places we visited and met a lot of interesting, like-minded people during our travels. Ed was highly responsive in dealing with our concerns about the demonstrations that have been taking place in major cities in Chile and amended our itinerary accordingly to avoid staying in city centres. The local guides arranged for us in Santiago and Punta Arenas provided excellent service and insight into their areas.

"very good advice and service with…"

very good advice and service with booking. excellent on the ground teams in Chile and they were very accommodating when I was panicking about cancellations due to civil unrest in Chile during ou holiday

"Honeymoon help in Argentina"

We have never used external advisers for any holidays preferring to plan it out ourselves but we thought as it was that special holiday we would just try and see what the fuss was about.

Having planned out a rough itinerary in any case to get and estimate of costing we had a decent idea of what we wanted to do and ball park what our budget should be (including a premium vs booking.com rates). We went online to get a couple of quotes from various providers and some of the responses were either ridiculously over costed or they over-promised and the "refined quote" came in much higher than the agreed budget in typical bait-and-switch sales style!

When we spoke to Ed at the South America specialists the difference was pretty much night and day. During the initial conversation he took on the feedback about we wanted to do, put a few more ideas in the mix from his own experience having actually been out there recently and perhaps most surprisingly was able to deliver an itinerary that was on genuinely budget to what we stipulated upfront

We ended up adding an extra stop, reworking the order of travel and adding a few small luxuries along the way.

The support on the ground was brilliant and would also give a shout out to their local contacts who ensured 24 hour coverage but also gave use really practical tips like how much local currency to carry around at different parts given when it would be easy to get to money changers etc.

All in all we had an absolutely fantastic time. Partially because the country itself is absolutely stunning and can't recommend a visit enough (however you do it) and that's not to take away from the personal touch that Ed and team put in to come up with a genuinely bespoke experience and the holiday of a lifetime!

A final note would be that as it was a honeymoon we did want to do something special with it and was always going to be high end of the cost side compared to a normal holiday but definitely felt between how well everything was organised and executed it took so much stress out of the process that we really did feel we were getting value for money with the service they provided.

"I've used the South America Specialists…"

I've used the South America Specialists twice now and I've had great service and fabulous trips. I've really appreciated their time to iterate the best plan and what they then promise is exactly what they deliver on the ground. A really good customer-focused small travel company which wants to ensure you have a great experience - I recommend them highly!