We have travelled with TravelLocal several times, and every trip has been excellent and a lot of fun. Our first trip started with a request by our adopted son, then 12, to return to the BabyHouse in Kazakhstan where he was born. Mind you- this was 10 years after we were there for the adoption. Russians had mostly departed from Kazakhstan, and we knew only the name of Kiril's birth city, not even the name of the Baby House. Travellocal contacts FOUND the orphanage, contacted them, and arranged a wonderful visit for us-- and we were the first Westerners to visit the BabyHouse in 7 years! (3 levels of Travellocal guides and interpreters helped us with that trip deep into interior Kazakhstan.) A bit of a miracle and an incredible life experience for our son. Then Travellocal contacts arranged a fantastic tour of several Kazakh national parks, a wild bird sanctuary, an amazing greenhouse from the early Soviet era, local food cafeterias, an incredible hike across an enormous "Singing Sand Dune", all with local guides from the towns we were visiting. A lifetime gift for all of us. Next- Tanzania with one of the most energetic, knowledgeable, back country wildlife guides in the country. We always found ourselves AWAY from the crowds, and were usually the first viewers of special events like a lioness kill of a baby wildebeest, a pride of lions basking after a feast, or lions being rebuffed by elephants, or wild foxes at dawn, or the birth of a wildebeest calf. And all this at a time when most leopards or prides of lions were surrounded by up to 20 tourist vehicles. TravelLocal found the local company that took us deeper, farther, earlier, and with more detail and information into the Tanzania wilds. Again- our teenage boys and we loved it all. And- India! Spice stores in the depths of Delhi's non-tourist alleys, a walk across the Howgli River Bridge in the midst of thousands of working Indians, tent camps with gourmet meals from gardens just a few feet from the dining hall, prayer readings chanted all night long for Krishna, a rowboat trip across a beautiful Indian lake, a ride on Indian horses at the border of a national park filled with tigers, flying kites on a roof in Rajastan, listening to the midnight explosions that announced the grooms imminent arrival during wedding season. Travellocal guides brought us into the middle of Indian life and customs, introduced us to families and village streets and farmers and the beauty of India. And we head to Japan this coming spring, and can't wait for the surprises and back streets and special customs and beauty that Travellocal guides find, with joy and enthusiasm and incredible welcome and pride, for their visitors. We will choose Travellocal guide services over and over as we explore the back roads of the world.