“Our January, 2020 trip to Costa Rica was a 10-day "sampler" that immersed us in the astounding diversity and beauty of Costa Rican birds. Our superb guides, Ernesto and Paz, not only displayed an in-depth knowledge of Costa Rica's rich flora and fauna, but they also shared with us the history and culture of Costa Rica, giving us the feeling of truly connecting with this country. The logistics of the trip were carefully designed to visit a variety of habitats over a 10-day span to afford us the best opportunity to see as many birds as possible. We always felt that we were in good hands, which allowed us to relax and enjoy the adventure.”
“Great tour with a small, congenial group. Chris Burney, our guide, went out of his way to make sure we saw the birds we sought. Traveling with people who were respectful of one another and those around us was a pleasure. Puerto Rico is a beautiful place and Puerto Ricans are welcoming people, even as they recover from natural disasters.”
“My South Texas birding adventure was everything I thought it would be and more. Skyy and Adam were fantastic guides, very knowledgeable and helpful, the accommodations were first class, and I came home with so many great memories. Ellen Popkie”
“Everything was great as far as looking for birds and and finding them and giving us photographers time to take good pictures. I wished we could have stayed at the feeders a little longer to get better photos of the evening grosbeaks. Most of the people wished we had a few more restroom breaks. We are mostly older and cannot wait as long as younger folks. It would have been nice to get back for the day maybe an hour earlier so we maybe can relax with our new friends and have a beverage together before supper. The days were long and not much time to unwind. I am so glad that I went. There is no way that I could ever have found some of those life birds (6) by myself.”
“The Manitoba Owls tour was great for me. I found six life birds I had never seen before--Gyrfalcon, Great Gray Owl, Hawk Owl, Bohemian Waxwing, Hoary Redpoll and Sharp-tailed Grouse. Plus Snowy Owl and Ruffed Grouse which I had only seen once previously. The tour guides, Rudolf and Ken, were easy-going and we took our time on each bird. Accommodations and food were fine. Met some enjoyable fellow birders. I was delighted.”
“I had repeated difficulties in communicating with the office during booking and again with instructions on arrival in Mexico. They requested and confirmed my airline flight arrival and departure. I then received no further instruction and assumed I was being picked up at the airport as I had been on previous birding tours with 2 other companies I had been on. No one was there to meet me and I was stranded for 5 hours. I was told they had sent me an email which I know I never received. I do know when an email is sent and not received that you are notified, so I know they should have been aware that I did not receive it. No apologies or further explanation was given. Otherwise the trip progressed well. The bus broke down and did not have heat.”
Dear Judi,
Thank you very much for your feedback on the tour. We are very sorry that you did not receive our email with the final instructions for joining the tour. This is not a situation we would ever want to put one of our participants in. We are, however, comforted that you were able to continue on the tour and enjoyed it.
Based on your experience, we have changed our procedures when sending this final information to help ensure this does not occur in the future.
We are also working to secure a better vehicle for future versions of this tour.
Thank you again for your feedback.
Yours sincerely,
Cam Gillies
President
Eagle-Eye Tours
“Birding in Trinidad - nothing to complain about. Excellent arrangements, leadership. Large amount of enthusiasm, ensured that all participant received quality care Ernesto is an outstanding leader.”
“First rate trip. Guides were knowledgeable, patient, making sure that everyone saw everything. It was obvious that Ernesto knew his stuff exceptionally well, and Kyle was close behind. Would have preferred spending time at the Metropolitan Park rather than the old town.”
“Our Iguazu Falls and Patagonia tour Eagle-Eye Tours was an excellent experience and more than exceeded our expectations. However, we did have some concerns with several accommodations, quality of the food and vans used for transport. While the room and grounds at Iguazu Falls were spacious and quite comfortable, for us the dinners were almost to the point of being inedible. Furthermore, our room at Torres del Paine National Park was sadly lacking. We had no hot water or water pressure for three days. As well the dinners were cold and one dinner in particular was not thoroughly cooked. Several of the vans used for transport had unsafe, bald tires, rear brakes that were metal-on-metal and one did not have a working speedometer. The step into the vans was unusually high, making entering and exiting challenging. We were promised a step, but ti did not materialize. We do realize that we were traveling in third world countries, and do not expect 4 or 5 star accommodations. But we do appreciate a hot shower and edible food. We hope that these issues will be taken into consideration for future trips.”
“I went on the concurrent Eagle-Eye/Birding Ecotours Tours of South Africa consisting in The Cape and The Subtropics. I was impressed by South Africa's development: its roads and tourist infrastructure and that you can safely drink the water and eat salads everywhere. Accommodations ranged from the rustic but appealing Hartnekskloof in Tanqua, to the luxurious Wetlands B&B in Wakkerstroom and Linger Longer in Dullstroom. The rocky drive up the Sani Pass into Lesotho was a highlight for me. Domenic Rollinson was a tireless and thorough leader who had the uncanny ability to remember everything that had been seen that day. He also remembered who among us had failed to see a species so that this could be remedied when a second opportunity presented itself. Remarkably, we logged 9 owl species on these two tours, partly due to Dom's up-to-date intelligence from various sources. Dom also coped well with a couple of flat tire incidents that occurred on back roads. The cancellation, due to high winds, of the pelagic trip out of Cape Town was a disappointment. But that is the weather for you.”
“Nothing but raves about the two tours I took. The guide, Dom Rollinson, was outstanding; not only extremely knowledgeable about birds, but also mammals, reptiles, amphibians, etc. On top of that he was good company and dealt well with hick-ups in the form of flat tires. Great accommodations, fine food, well over 500 species of birds. All-in-all a superb tour.”
“This trip was even better than we hoped. Eagle-Eye ensured that the logistical stuff went very smoothly and their personal thoughts on the trip proved timely and accurate. I commend their staff on helping us to get prepared with no hic-ups. The scenery and wildlife was amazing-- we saw our polar bears, walruses and Ivory Gull which were among our targets. The partnership with Adventure Canada ensured a wonderful holiday with great experts and lectures to help along the way. I cannot figure out how Eagle-Eye ensured the weather and ocean conditions were going to be so calm and peaceful.”
“First, New Brunswick’s weather in August is perfect. The guides are excellent, food great, pelagic excursion magic, and Canadians are exactly as billed. Good birds! We want to go back.”
“This was my second trip with Adventure Canada. I have come to understand that these voyages are not "cruises" in the usual sense but opportunities to see areas that generally are not seen by other travelers. Living in Florida as I do, I am hard pressed to describe my trip to friends because there is so little here that can be used to make comparisons: no mountains, no waterfalls, no wildness, no ice bergs, and very few areas where humans are not a part of the landscape. These are things I have valued in these trips. I also have valued the concern with cultural differences. I will make another trip, I am confident.”
“All went smoothly. A pretty well organised trip with quite some side activities. Comfortable ship, good food, good service. Wonder however why there were so few Europeans on board. In the preparation of the trip, I did however encounter some payment problems. This was also due to the fact that a creditcard payment involved a 3% additional cost…do not understand why. Booked a similar expensive trip to Central America (5 countries, 3 weeks) with a US Travel Agency, did everything via creditcard without extra cost.”
“Eagle-Eye Tours were instrumental in facilitating, coordinating and fine-tuning our Adventure Canada trip to circumnavigate Ireland and Scotland - a trip of a lifetime. All details were taken care of with ease by Eagle-Eye Tours. it was good to have a local source of information and expertise.”
Czech
