Discover South America

We booked our trip to Peru with Discover South America, after we had checked their offerings, online. We talked with Heather about our requirements and she was responsive, honest and straightforward and gave us the reassurances we were looking for, given this was to be our introduction to South America. DSA did not disappoint. Everything went like clockwork and we were looked after like VIP’s. The hotels, guides, and transport were all high quality and all we had to do was turn up at the designated times. It was a really rewarding experience. For anyone looking to discover Peru and looking for a tailored solution, we highly recommend Heather and her Company, DSA.
Declan & Maria Monaghan - October 2017

Excellent tour with Discover South America, well organised and the whole trip ran like clockwork, I highly recommend this tour company, they really listened to what I wanted and sorted out the best for me, I hope to use them again in the future.

We wanted a holiday in Peru to visit our son in Lima and then onto Machu Picchu etc and then into the jungle. We could not find an organised holiday that matched our requirements ,so we looked at companies that would help us plan and finally settled on Discover South America .we found from the start they where very helpful with Jackie sorting out our requirements and needs and dealing very well with us changing the itinerary . Our holiday was a great adventure and all went to plan as was organised by Jackie and Heather with great hotels , all tours and tour guides , taxi pickups all brilliant , so a big thank you to Jackie & Heather and will certainly use Discover South America.

On first contacting Discover South America we only had a vague idea of what we wanted to do and simply had a budget. Heather pulled together some great itineraries for us and was really flexible when we kept changing our minds about what we wanted, eventually settling on three weeks in Peru.

Everything was planned to perfection and in the run up to our trip Heather was incredibly helpful answering all our questions for us and providing advice re packing, spending and tipping etc. On the trip itself our transfers and tours all ran seamlessly. At one point there was a risk of strike action which would mean changes to our itinerary but we were kept fully informed throughout, with Heather even coming up with a back-up itinerary just in case, to enable us to still fit in what we wanted to do.

We couldn't recommend this company enough. The level of customer service is excellent, all the local tour groups they use provide a high quality service and the guides are all extremely knowledgeable and friendly.

Thank you Heather and Discover South America for a wonderful holiday :)

Heather at Discover South America put together a tailor-made 14 day itinerary for us in Peru in June 2019. From the outset, she took time to understand what we wanted, and plan an itinerary to deliver that to our budget. She booked good local hotels and engaged knowledgeable local guides to help us make the most of the trip. It was also carefully planned to make sure we were properly acclimatised to the altitude before attempting the Inca trail. Great service all round - we couldn’t be happier with our two weeks in Peru.

From the minute our group (4 couples) started planning our trip to Peru with Heather from Discover South America, her suggestions and recommendations couldn't have been more perfect for us and our interests. Heather is an extremely competent travel consultant; great communicator and very knowledgeable about the areas we were visiting. While we were planning, she always got back to us promptly to answer our questions. The properties were perfect. All our guides and drivers were warm, friendly, and loved teaching us about their country. A few times we spontaneously wanted to visit something not on our itinerary , and our guides were flexible with these new additions. Our trip was flawless! You can totally put your trust in Discover South America to organize a fantastic trip for you, whatever your budget. I can highly recommend this company.

I had a two weeks trip to Peru organized by Discover South America.
Availability and response time before, during and after the trip was excellent. Good proposal for accommodation and itinerary. Professional local operators with flow less services.

We are a couple in our mid 40s, and had an amazing two week holiday in Peru, organised through Discover South America. Heather was incredibly helpful at every stage of the process, and put together an itinerary for us based on what we wanted to do, rather on what she wanted to sell. This immediately set her apart from the other companies we had sought quotes from – her great strength is her personalised service coupled with her extensive knowledge and contacts. She arranged our flights, transfers, hotels, excursions and activities, and it all went smoothly. We consider her price to be exceptional value for money, and it was competitive with the other quotes. We found Discover South America online, and booked on the strength of the reviews left by others.

The hotels were all superb – with excellent ratings on Trip-Advisor, and justifiably so. They were a good balance of quality and affordability, and meant that although we were never more than two nights in any one bed, we felt rested and ready for the excursions. Neither of us suffered any sickness, and the food in the hotels was outstanding.

The trips were wonderful. After an initial night in Lima, we went to Paracas by coach and then had trip on a speedboat to see the Ballestas Islands (the ‘little Galapagos Islands’) to see the birds, penguins, and sea lions. Then we went on a flight over the Nazca lines which was brilliant – a tiny plane that pulled tight circles over the shapes on the ground to allow us to photograph them. Back to Lima for a night, before taking a flight to Arequipa where we stayed in a gorgeous hotel with hummingbirds in the grounds. Arequipa is a beautiful city, and we loved spending a day at the Convent and also seeing Juanita the Ice Princess. We then spent a day crossing the High Andes on a tourist coach, including at stop at 4910m above sea level, which is (literally) breathtaking. We stayed at the stunning Colca Lodge Hotel with hot-springs in its gardens, and went to the Colca Canyon to see the condors rising on the morning thermals. We then went to Puno, and had a day exploring Lake Titikaka including the ancient Uros People who live on floating islands made of reeds. We also saw the lively Puno Carnival. Then we took the ‘Highway of the Sun’ from Puno to Cusco, and stopped to see La Raya, the snow capped mountain that marks the watershed between Lake Titicaca and the Amazon, and to visit the Inca ruins at Rachi, and the astonishingly beautiful Iglesias San Pedro (known as the Sistine Chapel of South America). We had a day exploring the Inca streets of Cusco with a private guide, and stayed in an awesome hotel there, before journeying through the Sacred Valley to spend a night in another great hotel in the ‘Living Inca Town’ of Ollantaytambo where people’s houses are Inca buildings, and the cobbled streets haven’t changed in five centuries. We then made the journey to Aguas Calientes for two days exploring the ‘wonder of the world’ Machu Picchu, including a climb to the top of Huyana Picchu. We actually stayed in South America for a further week to visit friends in Chile, and Heather arranged all our flights and transfers to facilitate this as well, including a night in a well located hotel in Santiago

Heather was responsive to queries, both before and during the holiday, and made what (for us) was a big adventure feel safe and secure. We would recommend her to anyone wanting to do a similar trip.

We spent 9 days (8nights) in Peru. DSA arranged all our transport, hotels and tours. We stayed in standard hotels which were all clean and nicely decorated with good breakfasts. One of the hotels had the most spectacular view of the Andes and most had some original decor which made them a bit different. All the transport & tickets worked like clockwork. I had been a bit worried because some of the info on the foreign office website about Peru was a bit scary but everything was fine because of the good organisation. We decided to stay in Ollantaytambo first as it is a bit lower than Cusco so we had some private guides as well as group tours. The guides were knowledgeable and fun and great about taking loads of pictures of us. Machu Pichu was just incredible. We were in Cusco for new year's eve and had a great experience at a group meal with local entertainment overlooking the main square so we could go out at 12 for the main event. We were then only a few minutes walk from our hotel. I would definitely recommend DSA to anyone thinking of traveling to South America!

Amazing 19 day trip with my daughter to Peru and Ecuador with the Galapagos Islands. My daughter had a long list of things she wanted to do in an impossibly short time and Heather was the only one who would pick up the challenge!! She did an amazing job juggling our schedule to fit in Lima, The Rainforest, Cusco with local markets, Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain, Quito with volcano, the equator and local markets, and Santa Cruz with boat trips. It was a complete whirlwind but she even built in time to get acclimatised to the changes in altitude. We even managed a couple of free days. The breath of what we did was amazing, from 5025m above sea level to sea level. The lists of what to take were spot on and the contacts of all our different guides was great for the odd hiccup. It took all the stress out of travelling , we were so well looked after. It was well worth going over budget for!!

Discover South America helped me plan a 4 week trip around South America. It's far too big to cover in that time and their advice and guidance in the planning stage was invaluable.
Once the broad outline was set, they recommended trips, hotels, flights, transfers and booked everything.
Although I am not yet a seasoned traveller, my best estimate is that their involvement in my trip added something like 20% of useful time that would otherwise have been spent researching, hanging around and generally making mistakes and faffing about. Instead, I was able to fill the 4 weeks to the maximum with enjoyable travel experiences.
I will be using them again in the future.

Great experience with Discover South America
I have just got back from travelling to Peru and Bolivia
I can recommend travelling with Heather and her company eyes closed.
Super efficient at each step of my trip from organisation to proactiveness during the trip.
The team is so professional and put together a made to measure trip adapting to each need and budget. Hotels adapted with very good service and facilites and tours really interesting. As an individual traveller I was reassured and made to feel very safe and comfortable throughout the trip. What was really nice was that the local tour companies and hotels chosen were socially responsible ones.
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and would definitely book again with Heather.
Thanks to a great team
A happy traveller - Claire
13th April 2017

Fantastic tailor made trip to Peru. Excellent value. Immaculate organisation by agencies 'on the ground'. All guides were superb. All accommodation was fist class--often traditional and full of character .
The only aspect which disappointed was the return flight ( Lima - Madrid - Gatwick) which we were obliged to take since no direct flight was available in November. Sadly, Iberia ( BA) did not compare with B.A 'proper'. The flight connections also meant quite a lot of 'lost time' en route, leading to quite a lengthy return journey. I know this is outside the control of DSA!
We will certainly recommend you and indeed have already done so.
Thank you Jackie and Heather for all you help and advice in setting up the trip.
Cicely and Bob Olive

DSA organised for us the perfect itinerary for our 7 weeks trip to 6 counties in South America.

Hands down the best holiday ever with brilliant hotels and unforgettable experiences. Everything was organised and in place for us to just relax and enjoy our time in SA.

Heather is a delight to work with and has provided prompt support before, during and after the trip.

If you are planning a holiday in SA this is the travel agency to do it with. Personable and knowledgeable service throughout the whole process.

Jackie at Discover South America put together a bespoke trip to Chile for me which included a few trips within organised tours (in locations where it's difficult to do things independently) and also independent travel in our own hire car. We went to the Cayon de Maipo, the Attacama desert, Patagonia and Pucon.

I normally book my holidays on my own but I'd run out of time and had never been so South America before so decided I'd find someone to help . I described the kind of trip that I wanted and Jackie got our itinerary together and booked everything within a couple of weeks.

The trip really lived up to our expectations and we had a great time. DSA provided us with a detailed itinerary so the logistics were all sorted. Our transfers, flights and accommodation had all been booked so it was really easy to just turn up. There was one occasion when the transfer didn't turn up in time but we called DSA and they had someone who spoke Spanish on the phone to sort it out for us.

DSA knew a lot about Chile and were very selective about which local operators they work with. We felt that we got very good service through out. I definitely recommend them.

DSA have been brilliant in booking and organising our 28 day trip to Chile (and Argentina). We gave them our itinerary and criteria re transport, accommodation and excursions etc and they found, sorted and booked everything, always checking back with us each time. Jackie was very patient with our, constant, changes and always replied to emails quickly and efficiently. Jackie took the time to listen to our requirements and at no time did she try to “sell” us anything that we did not want, yet she was there to give us help and knowledge when we needed it. Having now returned I can say that every arrangement booked for us has been 100%. All the drivers, guides, hotels, excursions worked like clockwork. I would definitely recommend them and use them again. The Agents they used in both Chile and Argentina were great and arrangements in both countries went smoothly.
January 2020

Have just returned from a tailor made holiday organised with DSA and using local small hotels and local guide services. It has been an excellent trip and gave us a lot more insight into Peruvian culture, both historical and present day than we would have achieved without the private guides. All the sometimes complex arrangements went very smoothly and it was a treat and luxury not to have to organise bookings ourselves. The guides and drivers were very knowledgeable, kind, and flexible should we wish to alter plans on particular days. I cannot rate DSA and the Peruvian guiding services they used too highly. Thank you for a truly memorable holiday.

We used Discover South America for a trip to Brazil. Heather sorted out our travel around Brazil and found us fantastic accommodation at a good price. She was even happy to advise when we needed help whilst in Brazil. Thoroughly recommended!

I'd worked in South America in the 80s and was worried about the logistics of taking my family of 5 around in less than 4 weeks. Discover South America took a tremendous amount of the hassle out of the whole process and arranged everything I requested. There were a few hiccups as you might expect but nothing to spoil an excellent holiday that managed to combine relative luxury at times with a real sense of connection with the people and the landscape and the cities. We travelled mainly in Peru and Brazil.

I recently used DSA to help me book a long-awaited journey to Chile, Bolivia, Peru & Ecuador. Jackie was my first point of call & she helped me to put together a fab trip. As a solo, yet experienced, traveller I was looking for an agent who would allow me some flexibility to have input on choices and who would ensure that my transfers during the trip were all well covered. DSA tied everything together beautifully, dealing with the local detail that I didn't know about. Responses to calls were always prompt and cheery and it is very clear that DSA know what they are doing. Thanks to both Jackie & Heather for helping make a dream trip become reality!